Traditional recipes
Time-honoured dishes from every region, with their history and meaning.
Showing 721–780 of 977
- Kutki kheer
कुटकी की खीर
A sweet porridge of little millet (kutki) cooked in milk with jaggery, from the Gond and Baiga areas of Mandla and Dindori.
Madhya Pradesh (Mandla, Dindori and other tribal districts)45 minVegetarian - Kuttu ki puri with vrat wale aloo
कुट्टू की पूरी और व्रत वाले आलू
Buckwheat-flour puris with a simple potato curry made with rock salt and no grains, eaten during Navratri fasts.
Across Uttar Pradesh40 minVegetarian - Mangodi ki sabzi
मंगोड़ी की सब्ज़ी
Sun-dried moong dal dumplings fried and cooked in a tomato gravy, often with potatoes.
Rajasthan35 minVegan - Missi roti
मिस्सी रोटी
A rustic flatbread of gram flour and wheat flour with onion, green chilli, ajwain and coriander, cooked on a tawa or in a tandoor.
Punjab30 minVegetarian - Mohabbat ka sharbat
मोहब्बत का शरबत
Chilled milk with rose syrup and small cubes of watermelon, a pink summer cooler sold from carts in Old Delhi.
Old Delhi15 minVegetarian - Nadan kozhi curry (Kerala chicken curry)
नाडन कोझी करी
Home-style chicken curry cooked with roasted coconut and whole spices in coconut oil, eaten with appam, parotta or rice.
Kerala1 hrNon-vegetarian - Outenga dail (dal with elephant apple)
औटेंगा दाइल
Red lentils cooked with slices of outenga (elephant apple), giving a gently sour dal for hot days.
Assam35 minVegan - Sakinalu
सकिनालु
Crisp spirals of rice flour, sesame and ajwain, shaped by hand and fried; Telangana's special snack for Makar Sankranti.
Telangana1 hour 30 min + overnight soakingVegan - Tilkor tarua
तिलकोर तरुआ
Crisp fritters of tilkor (ivy gourd) leaves dipped in rice and gram flour batter, a Maithil side dish.
Bihar (Mithila region)30 minVegan - Agra petha
आगरा का पेठा
Translucent, firm sweets made by cooking ash gourd in sugar syrup, the best-known sweet of Agra.
Agra1 hour + overnight soakingVegan - Bihari aam ka achaar
बिहारी आम का अचार
Raw mango pieces cured in mustard oil with fennel, nigella and mustard, matured in the sun.
Bihar1 hour + 7–10 days in the sunVegan - Chhena tarkari
छेना तरकारी
Fried cubes of fresh chhena and potato in a spiced tomato gravy. Odisha’s home-style cottage cheese curry.
Odisha40 minVegetarian - Dhokar dalna (lentil cake curry)
धोकार डालना
Diamond-shaped cakes of ground chana dal, steamed or fried and simmered in a ginger and cumin gravy, a classic of Bengali vegetarian cooking.
West Bengal1 hour + 3 hours soakingVegetarian - Ellu bella (Sankranti mix)
एल्लु बेल्ला
A mix of roasted sesame, peanuts, dry coconut, roasted gram and jaggery that families exchange on Makara Sankranti.
Karnataka40 minVegan - Gunde ka achaar
गूंदे का अचार
A pickle of gunda (lasoda) berries, sticky green fruits of the Cordia tree, with mustard, fennel and mustard oil.
Rajasthan30 min + 3–4 days maturingVegan - Guntur kodi kura (Guntur chicken curry)
गुंटूर कोडी कूरा (गुंटूर चिकन करी)
A fiery chicken curry made with plenty of Guntur red chillies, from the chilli capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh (Guntur)1 hourNon-vegetarian - Jaljeera
जलजीरा
A tangy, cooling drink of cumin, mint, black salt and tamarind or dried mango, sold from earthen pots in Delhi's summers.
Delhi and north India15 minVegan - Kansar
कंसार
Coarse wheat cooked with water and jaggery or sugar and topped with ghee, the first sweet a Gujarati bride and groom share.
Gujarat30 minVegetarian - Khatta-meetha kaddu
खट्टा-मीठा कद्दू
Yellow pumpkin cooked with fenugreek seeds, amchur and jaggery into a sweet-sour dish, served with puri at village feasts.
Haryana and neighbouring north India30 minVegan - Kodo bhaat with dal
कोदो भात और दाल
Kodo millet cooked like rice and eaten with a simple dal, a daily meal in the tribal hill villages of Dindori and Mandla.
Madhya Pradesh (Dindori, Mandla, Balaghat)40 minVegan - Kodo kutki khichdi (millet khichdi)
कोदो कुटकी खिचड़ी
A one-pot meal of kodo or kutki millet cooked with moong dal and vegetables, a traditional food of Chhattisgarh’s hill and forest villages.
Chhattisgarh40 minVegan - Kuttanad duck roast (tharavu roast)
बत्तख रोस्ट (तारावु रोस्ट)
Duck from the backwater farms of Kuttanad, cooked with pepper, spices and onions and finished in coconut milk, a Christmas and Easter speciality.
Kerala, Kuttanad (Alappuzha and Kottayam districts)1 hr 30 minNon-vegetarian - Lai xaak bhaji (mustard greens)
लाई साग भाजी
Tender mustard greens stir-fried lightly with garlic and green chilli, keeping their colour and slight bitterness.
Assam20 minVegan - Malvani kombdi vade
मालवणी कोंबडी वडे
Spicy Malvani chicken curry with coconut, served with vade: puffed, deep-fried breads of rice and pulse flour.
Malvan and Sindhudurg, Konkan, Maharashtra1 hr 15 minNon-vegetarian - Pachi pulusu
पच्ची पुलुसु
A raw, uncooked tamarind soup with onion, roasted chillies and a little jaggery; a cooling summer dish of Telangana eaten with rice and dal.
Telangana15 minVegan - Pahadi mutton
पहाड़ी मटन
Hill goat meat slow-cooked in mustard oil with whole spices, a feast dish in Garhwal and Kumaon.
Uttarakhand1 hr 45 minNon-vegetarian - Shab deg
शब देग
Mutton and whole turnips slow-cooked overnight with spices in a sealed pot, a winter dish of Kashmir.
Kashmir valley4–6 hours (slow cooking)Non-vegetarian - Tandoori roti
तंदूरी रोटी
Whole-wheat flatbread slapped onto the inner wall of a clay tandoor, where it puffs and chars in a minute, the bread of the village sanjha chulha.
Punjab30 min + 20 min restingVegan - Vanjaram meen varuval (seer fish fry)
वंजरम मीन वरुवल (सुरमई फ्राई)
Slices of seer fish marinated in chilli, turmeric, ginger-garlic and lime and shallow-fried crisp.
Coastal Tamil Nadu, from Chennai to Thoothukudi30 min + 30 min marinatingNon-vegetarian - Walnut chutney
अखरोट की चटनी
A fresh chutney of walnuts, mint, green chilli and curd or lemon, made in the walnut-growing valleys of Himachal Pradesh.
Himachal Pradesh (Kullu, Chamba, Shimla and Kinnaur)15 minVegetarian - Adadiya pak
अड़दिया पाक
A winter sweet of urad dal flour roasted in ghee with gum, dry fruits and warming spices.
Gujarat (especially Kathiyawad)1 hrVegetarian - Arisa pitha
अरिसा पीठा
Crisp, chewy discs of rice flour and jaggery dough, coated in sesame and deep-fried. One of Odisha’s oldest festive pithas.
Odisha1 hour + soakingVegan - Baadi
बाड़ी
A soft, dough-like dish of finger millet flour stirred into boiling water, eaten with ghee and phaanu or greens in Garhwal.
Garhwal, Uttarakhand25 minVegan - Baingan da bharta
बैंगन दा भरता
Large brinjals roasted over an open flame until smoky, then mashed and cooked with onion, tomato, green chilli and coriander.
Punjab45 minVegan - Chironji barfi
चिरौंजी की बर्फी
A milk fudge rich with chironji, the small nut-like seeds collected from forest trees in Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh45 minVegetarian - Chok wangun (sour brinjal)
चोक वांगुन
Brinjal fried in mustard oil and cooked with tamarind, Kashmiri chilli, fennel and dry ginger into a tangy, dry dish.
Kashmir valley35 minVegan - Dhekia xaak bhaji (fiddlehead fern)
ढेकिया साग भाजी
The curled young fronds of the dhekia fern, stir-fried with garlic and chilli or cooked with potatoes.
Assam25 minVegan - Echorer dalna (raw jackfruit curry)
एंचोड़ेर डालना
Young green jackfruit cooked with potatoes and warm spices in a thick gravy, so meaty in texture that it is called ‘gaachh-patha’, the goat that grows on a tree.
West Bengal1 hourVegan - Kadhai doodh (kesariya doodh)
कड़ाही दूध (केसरिया दूध)
Milk simmered for hours in a wide iron kadhai, sweetened, flavoured with saffron and served hot with a layer of malai.
Old Delhi1 hourVegetarian - Kairi ki launji
कैरी की लौंजी
A sweet, sour and spicy relish of raw mango pieces cooked with jaggery, fennel and nigella seeds.
Rajasthan25 minVegan - Malvani fish curry
मालवणी माशाची आमटी
Surmai or pomfret simmered in a coconut gravy soured with kokum: the everyday fish curry of the Konkan coast.
Konkan coast, Maharashtra40 minNon-vegetarian - Mathura peda
मथुरा का पेड़ा
Brown, grainy milk fudge made by roasting khoya with sugar until caramel-coloured, the famous prasad of Mathura.
Mathura and Braj45 minVegetarian - Nellore chepala pulusu (fish in tamarind gravy)
नेल्लोर चेपला पुलुसु (इमली वाली मछली करी)
Fish simmered in a tangy, red tamarind gravy, traditionally in a clay pot; it tastes best the next day.
Andhra Pradesh (Nellore and the coast)50 minNon-vegetarian - Neureos (Christmas pastries)
नेवर्यो
Crescent-shaped fried pastries filled with coconut, jaggery or sugar, cardamom and dried fruit, made for the Goan Christmas sweet tray.
Goa1 hr 30 minVegetarian - Nonbu kanji
नोंबु कांजी
A soothing rice and lentil porridge with spices, coconut milk and minced meat, cooked in mosques of Tamil Nadu to break the Ramzan fast.
Tamil Nadu (Tamil Muslim communities)1 hourNon-vegetarian - Nuvvula saddi (sesame rice)
नुव्वुला सद्दी (तिल चावल)
Rice mixed with roasted sesame powder and a light tempering, one of the saddulu (rice dishes) offered on the last day of Bathukamma.
Telangana30 minVegan - Oal ki chutney
ओल की चटनी
A tangy chutney of boiled elephant foot yam with mustard oil, garlic and lemon.
Bihar40 minVegan - Pahadi rajmah
पहाड़ी राजमाह
Small, flavourful hill kidney beans slow-cooked with ginger and whole spices, grown in the high valleys of Himachal Pradesh.
Himachal Pradesh (Chamba, Kinnaur, Kullu and Lahaul)1 hr 15 min + overnight soakingVegetarian - Sabut moth ki dal
साबुत मोठ की दाल
Whole moth beans cooked into a thick, earthy dal tempered in ghee, a staple of the dry south-west of Haryana.
Haryana (especially Bhiwani, Mahendragarh, Rewari and Hisar)50 min + soakingVegetarian - Thalassery chicken biryani
तलश्शेरी चिकन बिरयानी
A Malabar biryani made with short-grained, fragrant kaima (jeerakasala) rice and a mildly spiced chicken masala, layered and sealed with dum.
Kerala, Thalassery and the Malabar coast2 hrNon-vegetarian - Adhirasam
अधिरसम
Dark, chewy-soft fried discs of rice flour and jaggery syrup with cardamom, made for Deepavali and weddings.
Tamil Nadu1 hour + 1–2 days restingVegan - Bharwan karele
भरवां करेले
Bitter gourds stuffed with a spiced onion and amchur filling and slow-cooked in mustard oil until tender and caramelised.
Punjab1 hourVegan - Bhuna kaleji
भुनी कलेजी
Goat liver stir-fried with onions, tomatoes and spices until dry and dark; an Old Delhi favourite, especially on Eid-ul-Adha.
Old Delhi35 minNon-vegetarian