Traditional recipes
Time-honoured dishes from every region, with their history and meaning.
Showing 601–660 of 977
- Goli baje
गोली बजे
Soft, fluffy fritters of maida and curd flavoured with ginger, green chillies and coconut, a teatime snack of Mangaluru.
Coastal Karnataka30 min + 2 hours restingVegetarian - Irani chai
ईरानी चाय
Strong tea brewed separately and mixed with thick, sweetened milk, served in Hyderabad's Irani cafés with Osmania biscuits.
Hyderabad, Telangana40 minVegetarian - Kandali ka saag (stinging nettle greens)
कंडाली का साग
Tender leaves of the stinging nettle, cooked into a soft, spiced saag; a wild green of the Uttarakhand hills.
Uttarakhand40 minVegan - Karil ki sabzi (bamboo shoot curry)
करील की सब्ज़ी
Tender bamboo shoots of the monsoon cooked with onion, tomato and spices, eaten across Chhattisgarh’s forest districts.
Chhattisgarh45 minVegan - Missi roti
मिस्सी रोटी
A spiced flatbread of wheat and gram flour with onion, chilli and coriander, cooked on a tawa with ghee.
Rajasthan30 minVegetarian - Sev usal
सेव उसल
A spicy curry of white peas topped with sev, onion and chutney, the best-known street breakfast of Vadodara.
Vadodara, Gujarat45 min + soakingVegan - Sharkara varatti
शर्करा वरट्टी
Thick pieces of fried raw banana coated in jaggery syrup with dry ginger and cardamom, a sweet snack of the Onam sadya.
Kerala50 minVegan - Tehri
तहरी
One-pot yellow rice cooked with potatoes, peas, cauliflower and whole spices: the home-style vegetable pulao of Uttar Pradesh.
Across Uttar Pradesh40 minVegan - Tree tomato chutney
ट्री टोमैटो चटनी
A tangy chutney of roasted tree tomato (tamarillo) and chilli, made in the cool months.
Nagaland15 minVegan - Aratikaya vepudu (raw banana fry)
अरटिकाया वेपुडु (कच्चे केले की सब्ज़ी)
Cubes of raw banana cooked with mustard, curry leaves and red chilli until golden at the edges.
Andhra Pradesh, especially the Godavari districts30 minVegan - Bajra khichdi
बाजरे की खिचड़ी
Pounded pearl millet cooked with moong dal into a thick porridge and eaten with ghee and kadhi in the desert winter.
Rajasthan1 hour + 6 hours soakingVegetarian - Begun bhaja (fried brinjal)
बेगुन भाजा
Thick slices of brinjal rubbed with turmeric and salt and fried in mustard oil until soft inside and golden outside.
West Bengal20 minVegan - Bhopali paya
भोपाली पाया
Goat trotters simmered overnight into a rich, spiced broth, eaten hot on winter mornings in old Bhopal.
Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal)6–8 hours (mostly slow cooking)Non-vegetarian - Bilona makkhan and desi ghee
बिलोना मक्खन और देसी घी
White butter churned by hand from set curd, then slowly cooked into fragrant desi ghee, the pride of every Haryanvi home.
Haryana1 hr + overnight settingVegetarian - Chaman kaliya
चमन कलिया
Paneer cooked in a golden gravy of milk, turmeric, fennel and dry ginger, a classic Kashmiri Pandit dish.
Kashmir valley30 minVegetarian - Chettinad chicken curry (kozhi kuzhambu)
चेट्टिनाड चिकन करी
A fiery chicken curry built on freshly roasted spices such as pepper, fennel, star anise and kalpasi, from the Chettiar homes of Karaikudi.
Chettinad (Karaikudi, Sivaganga and Pudukkottai districts)1 hourNon-vegetarian - Dubuk
डुबुक
A thick Kumaoni dish of soaked and ground pulses such as bhatt or gahat, cooked slowly with spices and eaten with rice.
Kumaon, Uttarakhand1 hr + overnight soakingVegan - Ghanta tarkari
घंटा तरकारी
A thick mix of many seasonal vegetables and soaked pulses, cooked together with coconut and roasted spices for festive days.
Odisha1 hour + soakingVegetarian - Gil-e-firdaus
गिल-ए-फ़िरदौस
A rich milk pudding of bottle gourd and rice, thickened slowly and flavoured with cardamom and nuts; its name means 'clay of paradise'.
Hyderabad, Telangana1 hourVegetarian - Gur de gulgule
गुड़ दे गुलगुले
Small, round fritters of wheat flour and jaggery deep-fried until dark and crisp outside and soft inside, made on rainy days and at Teeyan.
Punjab40 min + 30 min restingVegetarian - Handi mutton
हांडी मटन
Goat meat slow-cooked in a sealed clay or metal pot (handi) with mustard oil, onions, garlic and whole spices, a festive dish of Jharkhand.
Jharkhand2 hr + 1 hr marinatingNon-vegetarian - Kangra tea
कांगड़ा चाय
A light green or black tea from the gardens of the Kangra valley, brewed simply to keep its delicate taste.
Kangra and Palampur, Himachal Pradesh10 minVegan - Maddur vada
मद्दूर वड़ा
A crisp, flat fritter of rice flour, semolina and maida with onion and curry leaves, named after the town of Maddur in Mandya district.
Maddur, Mandya district, Karnataka30 minVegetarian - Matkichi usal
मटकीची उसळ
Sprouted moth beans cooked with onion, coconut and goda masala: a protein-rich dry curry.
Maharashtra30 min + sproutingVegan - Mulayari (bamboo rice) payasam
बांस चावल का पायसम
A jaggery and coconut-milk pudding made with bamboo rice, the seeds of flowering bamboo gathered by forest communities in Wayanad and other hill districts.
Kerala, mainly Wayanad and other forest districts1 hr + soaking overnightVegan - Patot diya mas (fish in banana leaf)
पातत दिया मास
Fish coated with mustard paste and spices, wrapped in banana leaf and cooked on a pan or over embers.
Assam35 minNon-vegetarian - Shakarkandi chaat
शकरकंदी की चाट
Sweet potatoes roasted over coals, sliced and tossed with lemon, chaat masala and black salt; a simple winter street snack.
Delhi45 minVegan - Surti locho
सुरती लोचो
A soft, loose steamed chana dal batter served hot with butter, spice powder, sev and green chutney.
Surat, Gujarat40 min + soaking and fermentingVegetarian - Tikhur sharbat
तिखुर शरबत
A cooling summer drink made from tikhur, a starch from the roots of a wild turmeric-like plant, with milk or water and sugar.
Chhattisgarh15 min (plus chilling)Vegetarian - Zarda
ज़र्दा
Sweet saffron rice cooked with ghee, sugar, dry fruit and cardamom, served at Awadhi feasts.
Lucknow and Awadh45 minVegetarian - Bhopali gosht pulao
भोपाली गोश्त पुलाव
Rice cooked in a fragrant mutton stock (yakhni) with whole spices, lighter than a biryani and served at Bhopal’s feasts.
Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal)2 hoursNon-vegetarian - Bundelkhandi mahera
बुंदेलखंडी महेरा
Rice or coarse grain slow-cooked in buttermilk with a light tempering, a cooling dish of dry Bundelkhand.
Bundelkhand (Jhansi, Lalitpur, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur)45 minVegetarian - Chintapandu pulihora (tamarind rice)
चिंतपंडु पुलिहोरा (इमली चावल)
Rice mixed with a thick tamarind paste, peanuts and a hot tempering: a temple prasadam and festival favourite in Andhra.
Andhra Pradesh45 minVegan - Hentak
हेनताक
A fermented paste of sun-dried small fish and colocasia stems, a traditional Meitei food also given to new mothers and the sick.
Manipur1 hour + 1–2 weeks fermentingNon-vegetarian - Khandeshi vangyache bharit
खानदेशी वांग्याचे भरीत
Large brinjals roasted over fire, mashed and cooked with green chilli, garlic and spring onion in the Khandesh style.
Khandesh (Jalgaon and Dhule), Maharashtra40 minVegan - Kottayam fish curry (meen kudampuli curry)
कोट्टयम मछली करी
A fiery red fish curry soured with kudampuli (Malabar tamarind) and cooked in a clay pot, without coconut; it tastes better the next day.
Kerala, especially Kottayam and central Travancore40 minNon-vegetarian - Kulle chaat
कुल्ले चाट
Hollowed-out fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, tomato, potato and banana, filled with chickpeas and pomegranate and sprinkled with spices.
Chawri Bazar, Old Delhi30 minVegan - Lal mirch lehsun chutney
लाल मिर्च लहसुन की चटनी
A fiery pounded chutney of dried red chillies and garlic, eaten with bajra roti and white butter.
Haryana15 minVegan - Lapsi
लापसी
Broken wheat roasted in ghee and cooked with jaggery, the auspicious sweet of Rajasthani homes.
Rajasthan40 minVegetarian - Majjige huli
मज्जिगे हुली
A gentle curry of vegetables simmered in spiced buttermilk thickened with a ground coconut paste, eaten with rice.
Karnataka35 minVegetarian - Masor konir bora (fish roe fritters)
मासोर कोणीर बोरा
Crisp fritters of fresh fish roe mixed with onion, chilli and a little rice flour.
Assam25 minNon-vegetarian - Mathi
मठ्ठी
Flaky, savoury deep-fried crackers of flour and ghee flavoured with ajwain, eaten with mango pickle and tea.
Punjab and north India1 hourVegetarian - Mochar ghonto (banana flower curry)
मोचार घोंटो
Finely chopped banana flower cooked with potato, coconut and Bengal gram, a dry, gently sweet vegetarian dish that takes patience to prepare.
West Bengal1 hour 15 minVegetarian - Mohanthal
मोहनथाल
A rich fudge of coarse gram flour roasted in ghee, set with sugar syrup and flavoured with cardamom and saffron.
Gujarat1 hrVegetarian - Nimbu sana
नींबू सना
Big hill citrus fruit mixed with curd, jaggery and spiced hemp-seed salt, a winter snack shared in the sun.
Kumaon and Garhwal, Uttarakhand20 minVegetarian - Pahadi mutton
पहाड़ी मटन
Goat meat cooked slowly in mustard oil with whole spices and curd, in the style of village feasts in the Himachali hills.
Himachal Pradesh1 hr 45 minNon-vegetarian - Pallipalayam chicken
पल्लिपालयम चिकन
A dry chicken fry with shallots, dried red chillies, turmeric and thin slivers of coconut, from the Kongu town of Pallipalayam.
Pallipalayam, on the Cauvery near Erode (Kongu Nadu)40 minNon-vegetarian - Rasiao (gur ki kheer)
रसियाव (गुड़ की खीर)
Rice cooked in milk and jaggery on the Kharna evening of Chhath Puja.
Bihar50 minVegetarian - Saga bhaja
साग भाजा
Leafy greens stir-fried with garlic and dried chilli, the simple side that goes with pakhala and dal-rice in Odisha.
Odisha15 minVegan - Tribal-style pork curry
आदिवासी शैली पोर्क करी
Pork cooked slowly in its own fat with garlic, ginger, onion and chilli, a favourite festive dish of many tribal communities of Jharkhand.
Jharkhand1 hr 30 minNon-vegetarian