Traditional recipes
Time-honoured dishes from every region, with their history and meaning.
Showing 1–60 of 977
- Moong dal khichdi
मूंग दाल खिचड़ी
Rice and lentils cooked soft with ghee and cumin. India's oldest comfort food.
All of India40 minVegetarian - Ven pongal
वेन पोंगल
Peppery rice and moong dal tempered in ghee. Its sweet twin is cooked in a new pot on Thai Pongal.
Tamil Nadu35 minVegetarian - Idli
इडली
Steamed cakes of fermented rice and urad dal, documented in Kannada and Sanskrit texts over a thousand years old.
South India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and beyond)20 min + soaking and fermentingVegetarian - Kheer (payasam)
खीर (पायसम)
Rice slow-cooked in milk with cardamom and nuts. A temple offering and a festival sweet everywhere in India.
All of India50 minVegetarian - Ragi mudde
रागी मुद्दे
Finger-millet balls, the strength food of rural Karnataka. Shree Anna on a plate.
Karnataka15 minVegetarian - Avial
अवियल
Mixed vegetables in coconut, curd and coconut oil. A must on the Onam sadya leaf.
Kerala35 minVegetarian - Thekua
ठेकुआ
Crisp wheat-and-jaggery cookies pressed in wooden moulds. The sacred prasad of Chhath Puja.
Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh45 minVegetarian - Tilgul ladoo
तिलगुल लड्डू
Sesame and jaggery sweets shared on Makar Sankranti with a promise to speak sweetly.
Maharashtra (and across India at Makar Sankranti)25 minVegetarian - Sattu sharbat
सत्तू शरबत
Roasted-gram flour stirred into cold water with lemon and cumin. Bihar's protein-rich summer cooler.
Bihar and Jharkhand5 minVegetarian - Puran poli
पूरन पोली
Soft flatbread stuffed with sweet chana-dal and jaggery filling, served with ghee.
Maharashtra (holige in Karnataka, bobbatlu in Andhra Pradesh, vedmi in Gujarat)1½ hoursVegetarian - Ukadiche modak
उकडीचे मोदक
Steamed rice-flour dumplings with coconut and jaggery, the favourite sweet of Shri Ganesha.
Maharashtra, Goa and coastal Karnataka1 hourVegetarian - Pakhala bhata
पखाल भात
Cooked rice soaked in water, often fermented overnight, with curd and tempering. Odisha's summer staple.
Odisha10 min + soakingVegetarian - Khatta dhokla
खट्टा ढोकला
Steamed, fermented rice-and-chana-dal cakes with a mustard-seed tempering.
Gujarat30 min + soaking and fermentingVegetarian - Sarson da saag
सरसों का साग
Slow-cooked mustard greens with makki di roti and white butter. The taste of a Punjab winter.
Punjab and Haryana1½ hoursVegetarian - Masor tenga
मासोर टेंगा
A light, tangy Assamese fish curry soured with tomato, lemon or elephant apple.
Assam30 minNon-vegetarian - Masoor dal with tadka
मसूर दाल तड़का
Red lentils cooked soft and finished with a sizzling tempering of ghee, cumin, garlic and chilli. Everyday dal eaten with rice or roti across India.
All of India30 minVegetarian - Jeera rice
जीरा राइस
Fluffy basmati rice cooked with ghee and cumin seeds, served with dal, curries and kadhi across India.
All of India30 minVegetarian - Masala chai
मसाला चाय
Black tea boiled with milk, sugar, ginger and spices. India's everyday drink, served at home, at roadside stalls and at railway stations.
All of India10 minVegetarian - Lassi, sweet and salted
मीठी और नमकीन लस्सी
Chilled whisked curd, either sweetened with sugar and cardamom or salted with roasted cumin. A cooling summer drink across India.
All of India10 minVegetarian - Suji ka halwa (sheera)
सूजी का हलवा
Semolina roasted in ghee and cooked with sugar syrup, cardamom and nuts. Made for prasad, pujas and happy news across India.
All of India25 minVegetarian - Gajar ka halwa
गाजर का हलवा
Grated red carrots slow-cooked in milk with sugar, ghee and cardamom. A winter favourite across North India and beyond.
All of India1 hour 15 minVegetarian - Aloo gobi
आलू गोभी
A dry stir-fry of potatoes and cauliflower with turmeric, cumin and ginger. A homely sabzi eaten with roti across India.
All of India35 minVegan - Matar paneer
मटर पनीर
Cubes of paneer and green peas in a spiced onion-tomato gravy. A popular party and festival dish across India.
All of India40 minVegetarian - Vegetable pulao
वेज पुलाव
Rice cooked with mixed vegetables and whole spices in one pot. A one-dish meal made across India.
All of India40 minVegan - Kheera raita
खीरा रायता
Grated cucumber in seasoned curd with roasted cumin. A cooling side dish for pulao, biryani and parathas.
All of India10 minVegetarian - Phulka (chapati)
फुलका रोटी
Soft whole-wheat flatbread puffed over an open flame. The daily bread of most of North and Central India.
All of India30 minVegan - Nimbu pani (shikanji)
नींबू पानी (शिकंजी)
Fresh lime juice with water, sugar, salt and roasted cumin. India's simplest summer refresher.
All of India5 minVegan - Besan ke laddoo
बेसन के लड्डू
Round sweets of gram flour slow-roasted in ghee with sugar and cardamom, made for Diwali and other festivals across India.
All of India45 minVegetarian - Aloo matar
आलू मटर
Potatoes and green peas in a light tomato gravy. A comforting everyday curry, especially in winter when fresh peas are plentiful.
All of India35 minVegan - Anda curry (egg curry)
अंडा करी
Hard-boiled eggs in a spiced onion-tomato gravy. Cooked in homes, dhabas and hostel kitchens all over India.
All of India35 minEggetarian - Home-style chicken curry
घर जैसी चिकन करी
Chicken simmered in a gravy of browned onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and everyday spices. The Sunday-lunch curry of countless Indian homes.
All of India1 hourNon-vegetarian - Bhindi masala
भिंडी मसाला
Okra stir-fried with onions and spices until tender and lightly crisp. A summer favourite eaten with roti or dal-chawal.
All of India30 minVegan - Onion pakora (pyaz ke pakode)
प्याज़ के पकौड़े
Crisp fritters of sliced onion in spiced gram-flour batter. The rainy-day snack of India, eaten with chai and green chutney.
All of India25 minVegan - Haldi doodh (turmeric milk)
हल्दी दूध
Warm milk with turmeric, a little pepper and jaggery. A traditional home remedy and bedtime drink in Indian families.
All of India10 minVegetarian - Andaman coconut fish curry
अंडमान नारियल मछली करी
Fresh reef fish simmered in a coconut-milk gravy with tamarind, chilli and curry leaves, the everyday fish curry of island homes.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands40 minNon-vegetarian - Appam and vegetable stew
अप्पम और वेजिटेबल स्टू
Lacy, bowl-shaped pancakes of fermented rice and coconut with a mild coconut-milk stew, a Kerala breakfast and a Christmas and Easter favourite.
Kerala45 min + soaking and overnight fermentingVegan - Bai
बाई
The everyday Mizo stew of leafy greens, bamboo shoot and other vegetables boiled with a little soda, mild and lightly salted.
Mizoram30 minVegan - Bajre ki khichdi
बाजरे की खिचड़ी
Pounded pearl millet slow-cooked with moong dal into a thick porridge, eaten with ghee, jaggery or buttermilk in winter.
Haryana1 hr + soakingVegetarian - Bedmi puri with dubki aloo
बेड़मी पूरी और डुबकी आलू
Crisp puris stuffed with spiced urad dal paste, served with a thin, tangy potato curry. A classic breakfast of Agra and western UP.
Agra, Mathura and western Uttar Pradesh1 hour + 4 hours soakingVegetarian - Berma (fermented dried fish)
बरमा (किण्वित सूखी मछली)
Small puthi fish, sun-dried and fermented in sealed pots, the key flavouring of Tripuri (Kokborok) cooking.
TripuraSeveral days of drying + several months of fermentingNon-vegetarian - Bisi bele bath
बिसी बेले भात
‘Hot lentil rice’: rice and toor dal cooked with vegetables, tamarind and a freshly roasted spice powder, finished with ghee.
Karnataka (Old Mysore region)1 hourVegetarian - Butter chicken (murgh makhani)
बटर चिकन (मुर्ग़ मखनी)
Tandoor-roasted chicken simmered in a smooth tomato, butter and cream sauce, the dish that made Delhi's Punjabi restaurants famous.
Delhi1 hour 15 min + 4 hours marinatingNon-vegetarian - Chawal ka chila (rice-flour pancake)
चावल का चीला
Thin pancakes of rice-flour batter cooked on an iron pan, the everyday breakfast of Chhattisgarh, eaten with tomato or green chutney.
Chhattisgarh25 minVegan - Chha gosht
छा गोश्त
Mutton cooked in a tangy gravy of yoghurt and gram flour with whole spices, a festive dish of the Kangra valley.
Kangra, Himachal Pradesh1 hr 30 minNon-vegetarian - Chole bhature
छोले भटूरे
Spicy, tangy chickpea curry with puffed, deep-fried bread: a popular weekend breakfast in Chandigarh.
Chandigarh (Punjabi cooking)1 hr + overnight soakingVegetarian - Dal baati churma
दाल बाटी चूरमा
Hard-baked wheat balls dunked in ghee, served with spiced mixed dal and sweet crumbled churma. Rajasthan’s best-known meal.
Rajasthan1 hour 30 minVegetarian - Dalma
डालमा
Toor dal cooked with vegetables and finished with a roasted cumin-chilli powder and ghee. Odisha’s everyday dal and part of the temple Mahaprasad.
Odisha45 minVegetarian - Daman bombil fry
दमन बोंबील फ्राई
Fresh Bombay duck flattened, coated in spiced semolina and fried crisp outside and soft inside, a favourite of Daman’s fishing families.
Daman40 minNon-vegetarian - Dhuska
धुस्का
Deep-fried, slightly crisp breads of soaked rice and chana dal batter, Jharkhand’s best-known breakfast, eaten with potato curry or ghugni.
Jharkhand40 min + 4 hr soakingVegan - Eromba
इरोम्बा
Boiled vegetables mashed with roasted fermented fish (ngari) and fiery chillies, the most loved side dish of every Manipuri meal.
Manipur30 minNon-vegetarian - Goan fish curry (xitt kodi)
गोवा फिश करी (शीत कोडी)
Fish cooked in a smooth, tangy coconut gravy coloured red with chillies and soured with kokum or tamarind, eaten with boiled rice every day across Goa.
Goa45 minNon-vegetarian - Hyderabadi kacchi gosht biryani
हैदराबादी कच्ची गोश्त बिरयानी
Raw marinated mutton layered with part-cooked basmati rice and cooked together on dum, the best-known dish of Hyderabad.
Hyderabad, Telangana2 hours + 4 hours marinatingNon-vegetarian - Indori poha
इंदौरी पोहा
Steamed flattened rice with onion, fennel and a tangy spice mix called jeeravan, topped with sev. Indore’s everyday breakfast, often eaten with hot jalebi.
Madhya Pradesh (Indore and Malwa)25 minVegetarian - Jadoh
जादोह
Red or local rice cooked with pork, ginger, onion and turmeric. The best-known Khasi dish, eaten from breakfast to dinner.
Meghalaya (Khasi and Jaintia Hills)50 minNon-vegetarian - Kafuli
काफुली
A thick, green dish of spinach and fenugreek leaves thickened with rice paste and slow-cooked in an iron pan, a Garhwali staple.
Garhwal, Uttarakhand45 minVegan - Kanda poha
कांदा पोहे
Flattened rice cooked with onion, turmeric, peanuts and curry leaves: the everyday breakfast of Maharashtra.
Maharashtra20 minVegan - Kashmiri rogan josh
कश्मीरी रोगन जोश
Mutton slow-cooked in a deep red gravy of Kashmiri chillies, fennel, dry ginger and yoghurt, a centrepiece of the Kashmiri table.
Kashmir valley1 hr 30 minNon-vegetarian - Ladakhi thukpa
लद्दाखी थुकपा
A warming noodle soup with mutton or vegetables, eaten through Ladakh's long, cold winters.
Ladakh1 hourNon-vegetarian