Traditional recipes
Time-honoured dishes from every region, with their history and meaning.
Showing 421–480 of 977
- Rava-fried fish
रवा फ्राई मछली
Slices of kingfish or whole small fish rubbed with chilli masala, coated in semolina and shallow-fried until crisp.
Goa30 min + 20 min marinatingNon-vegetarian - Sha saw (red tea)
शा सॉ (लाल चाय)
Strong black tea with sugar and no milk, the everyday drink of the Khasi Hills, served with rice cakes.
Meghalaya10 minVegan - Singori
सिंगोड़ी
A khoya and coconut sweet wrapped in a cone of malu leaf, which gives it a light, fresh fragrance; a speciality of Almora.
Almora, Kumaon, Uttarakhand45 minVegetarian - Sishnu (nettle) soup
सिस्नु सूप
A thick green soup of young stinging-nettle leaves cooked with cornmeal or rice flour, garlic and chilli.
Sikkim30 minVegan - Tender coconut cooler
कच्चे नारियल का शरबत
Fresh tender coconut water blended with its soft flesh and a little lime, a simple drink for hot island days.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands10 minVegan - Tudkiya bhath
तुड़किया भात
A spiced pulao of rice, lentils, potatoes and yoghurt from Chamba, cooked with whole spices in mustard oil.
Chamba, Himachal Pradesh50 minVegetarian - Aloo palda
आलू पलदा
Potatoes in a light yoghurt gravy flavoured with whole spices, a mild dish of the Kangra feast.
Kangra, Himachal Pradesh35 minVegetarian - Arsa
अरसा
Fried sweets of soaked rice flour and jaggery, sent by Garhwali families to a daughter’s new home after marriage.
Garhwal, Uttarakhand1 hr 30 min + overnight soakingVegan - Awadhi mutton korma
अवधी मटन कोरमा
Mutton braised slowly in curd, browned onion paste and aromatic spices, rich but gently spiced.
Lucknow and Awadh1 hour 30 minNon-vegetarian - Axone chutney
अखुनी चटनी
Fermented soybean roasted and pounded with chilli and tomato into a pungent, savoury chutney.
Nagaland15 minVegan - Bamboo shoot stir-fry
बांस की कोंपल की सब्ज़ी
Tender bamboo shoots stir-fried with garlic, chilli and greens, from Mizoram’s vast bamboo forests.
Mizoram30 minVegan - Bedai with aloo ki sabzi
बेड़ई और आलू की सब्ज़ी
Crisp puris stuffed with spiced urad dal, eaten with a thin, tangy potato curry. A breakfast of Gwalior and the Chambal region.
Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior and Chambal), also Agra and Braj1 hour + soakingVegan - Chhurpe (dried cheese)
छुरपी (सूखा पनीर)
Cottage cheese from buttermilk, dried in the sun and wind until hard, chewed as a snack or added to dishes.
Ladakh, especially herding villages1 hour + several days dryingVegetarian - Dal puri
दाल पूरी
Soft fried bread stuffed with a dry, spiced chana dal filling, made for festivals and special breakfasts.
Bihar1 hour + soakingVegan - Girda
गिरदा
A round, soft leavened bread from the Kashmiri bakery, pressed with fingertip marks and eaten every morning with noon chai.
Kashmir valley30 min + 2 hr risingVegetarian - Gud ki meethi roti
गुड़ की मीठी रोटी
A thick, sweet whole-wheat roti made with jaggery and ghee, packed for journeys and field work.
Haryana30 minVegetarian - Jowar bhakri
ज्वारीची भाकरी
A hand-patted flatbread of sorghum flour, the staple bread of rural Maharashtra.
Maharashtra (Deccan plateau)30 minVegan - Kaali gajar di kanji
काली गाजर दी कांजी
A tangy, deep-purple drink of black carrots fermented in water with mustard seed and salt, made in north Indian homes each winter.
Punjab and north India15 min + 3–5 days fermentingVegan - Kankada jhola
कँकड़ा झोल
Mud crabs cooked in a thick onion, tomato and spice gravy, a speciality of the Chilika and coastal fishing villages of Odisha.
Odisha (Chilika and the coast)1 hourNon-vegetarian - Khasi black sesame chutney
खासी काले तिल की चटनी
Roasted black sesame ground with onion, chilli and salt into a smoky paste served with rice and meat.
Meghalaya (Khasi Hills)15 minVegan - Kismur (dried shrimp salad)
किस्मूर
A dry, tangy relish of roasted dried shrimps or dried fish with coconut, onion and chilli, eaten as a side dish with rice and curry.
Goa25 minNon-vegetarian - Kodo ko roti (finger millet bread)
कोदो को रोटी
A dark, thick flatbread of finger millet flour cooked on a griddle, a traditional food of farming families in the Sikkim hills.
Sikkim30 minVegan - Kondakadalai sundal
कोंडकडलै सुंडल
Boiled chickpeas tempered with mustard, curry leaves and grated coconut, sold in paper cones on Puducherry's beach and made for Navaratri.
Puducherry and Tamil Nadu20 min + soakingVegan - Kurthi dal (horse gram dal)
कुरथी दाल
A warming dal of horse gram, a hardy pulse grown on Jharkhand’s dry uplands, tempered with garlic and mustard oil.
Jharkhand1 hr + overnight soakingVegan - Malpua
मालपुआ
Soft, crisp-edged pancakes of milk-thickened batter fried in ghee and soaked in syrup. Pushkar is famous for them.
Rajasthan (Pushkar and beyond)45 minVegetarian - Mysore pak
मैसूर पाक
A rich sweet of gram flour, ghee and sugar, either soft and melting or porous and firm, named after the city of Mysuru.
Karnataka (Mysuru)40 minVegetarian - Palada pradhaman
पालडा प्रधमन
Thin flakes of rice ada slow-cooked in milk and sugar until pink and creamy, often called the queen of Kerala payasams.
Kerala1 hr 30 minVegetarian - Palakura pappu (spinach dal)
पालकूरा पप्पु (पालक दाल)
Toor dal cooked with spinach, green chillies and a little tamarind, finished with a garlic tempering.
Andhra Pradesh35 minVegetarian - Patra
पात्रा
Colocasia leaves spread with a spiced, sweet-sour besan paste, rolled, steamed and tempered.
Gujarat1 hrVegetarian - Pork with bamboo shoot
बांस की कोंपल के साथ पोर्क
Pork cooked with sour fermented bamboo shoot, ginger and chilli in very little oil, a feast dish across Arunachal Pradesh.
Arunachal Pradesh (Adi, Galo, Nyishi and other communities)1 hourNon-vegetarian - Sana thongba
सना थोंगबा
Soft cottage cheese (paneer) and peas cooked in a light, golden gravy, a vegetarian favourite at Manipuri feasts.
Manipur40 minVegetarian - Shidol chutney
शिदोल चटनी
A pungent chutney of fermented shidol fish, roasted and mashed with chillies, garlic and mustard oil, loved by Bengali households in Tripura.
Tripura (also the Barak Valley of Assam)20 minNon-vegetarian - Shukto
शुक्तो
A mildly bitter and gently sweet mixed-vegetable stew with bitter gourd, raw banana, drumsticks and sweet potato in a milk and mustard base, served at the start of a Bengali meal.
West Bengal50 minVegetarian - Sunga saul (rice cooked in bamboo)
सुंगा चाउल
Sticky rice packed into green bamboo tubes and cooked over a fire, then sliced and eaten with curd, jaggery or meat.
Assam1 hour (plus soaking)Vegan - Takla bhaji (sickle senna leaves)
टाकळा भाजी
Young leaves of takla, a wild plant that springs up with the first rains, cooked with onion, garlic and grated coconut.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli30 minVegan - Tamatar ka kut
टमाटर का कुट
A smooth, tangy tomato curry tempered with garlic and curry leaves and served topped with halved boiled eggs.
Hyderabad, Telangana35 minEggetarian - Tirunelveli sodhi
तिरुनेलवेली सोधी
A light coconut-milk stew of vegetables and moong dal finished with lime, served with rice and ginger chutney.
Tirunelveli and southern Tamil Nadu35 minVegan - Urad dal kachori with aloo sabzi
उड़द दाल कचौरी और आलू की सब्ज़ी
Flaky, deep-fried kachoris stuffed with spiced urad dal, served with a thin, tangy potato curry; a classic breakfast of Old Delhi's halwais.
Old Delhi1 hour 30 min + 3 hours soakingVegetarian - Ada pradhaman
अडा प्रधमन
Rice flakes cooked in jaggery and three extracts of coconut milk, flavoured with cardamom and dry ginger, the classic payasam of Onam.
Kerala1 hrVegan - Aloo posto (potato in poppy seed paste)
आलू पोस्तो
Potato cubes cooked with ground white poppy seeds and green chillies, a simple, cooling dish especially loved in western Bengal.
West Bengal30 minVegan - Bamboo shoot pickle
बांस की कोंपल का अचार
Fermented bamboo shoot pickled with chilli and mustard oil, a sour and spicy side kept through the year.
Nagaland30 min + 1 week restingVegan - Bangdyachi uddamethi (mackerel in fenugreek curry)
बांगड्याची उडदमेथी
A Goan Hindu curry of mackerel in a coconut gravy flavoured with roasted urad dal and fenugreek seeds and soured with tamarind or raw mango.
Goa45 minNon-vegetarian - Bhaturu
भटूरू
A soft leavened bread of the Himachali hills, made from naturally fermented wheat dough and cooked on a griddle or fried.
Kullu, Mandi and Kangra, Himachal Pradesh40 min + 6–8 hours fermentingVegetarian - Butter tea (suja)
बटर टी (सुजा)
Brewed tea churned with butter and salt into a warm, savoury drink, a daily drink of Bhutia and Tibetan families in high Sikkim.
Sikkim (especially North Sikkim)20 minVegetarian - Chakki ki shaak
चक्की की शाक
Steamed wheat-gluten pieces cooked in a spiced curd gravy, a traditional Malwa dish for days when fresh vegetables were scarce.
Madhya Pradesh (Malwa), also parts of Rajasthan1 hour 30 minVegetarian - Dharwad pedha
धारवाड़ पेड़ा
A grainy, caramel-brown milk sweet of Dharwad, made by slowly cooking milk solids with sugar and coated with fine sugar.
Dharwad, Karnataka1 hour 30 minVegetarian - Dung po (rice cooked in bamboo)
दुंग पो (बांस में पका चावल)
Rice packed into green bamboo tubes with water and roasted over a fire, taking on the bamboo's fresh aroma.
Arunachal Pradesh1 hourVegan - Idiyappam with coconut milk
इडियप्पम
Steamed nests of fine rice-flour noodles, eaten for breakfast with sweetened coconut milk or a curry.
Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala40 minVegan - Kulith saar (horse gram soup-curry)
कुलीथ सार
A thin, warming curry of horse gram cooked with garlic, chilli and kokum, eaten with rice in the villages of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli45 min + soakingVegan - Kusli
कुसली
Half-moon pastries filled with roasted semolina, coconut and sugar, fried until crisp; the Chhattisgarhi festive sweet for Diwali.
Chhattisgarh1 hour 15 minVegetarian - Kutchi dabeli
कच्छी दाबेली
A soft bun stuffed with sweet and spicy potato filling, pomegranate and masala peanuts, first made in Mandvi, Kachchh.
Kachchh, Gujarat40 minVegetarian - Lavasa
लवासा
A thin, large unleavened flatbread from the Kashmiri tandoor, soft enough to roll around kebabs or eat with tea.
Kashmir valley30 min + 1 hr restingVegan - Makhana kheer
मखाना खीर
Fox nuts from the ponds of Mithila simmered in milk with cardamom, a light sweet for fasts and festivals.
Bihar (Mithila region)40 minVegetarian - Mandua roti
मंडुवे की रोटी
A dark, wholesome flatbread of finger millet (mandua), eaten with ghee, jaggery or greens across Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhand30 minVegan - Mansa tarkari
मांस तरकारी
Odia goat curry with potatoes in a spiced onion gravy, the traditional Sunday lunch in many homes.
Odisha1 hour 30 minNon-vegetarian - Meethe pude
मीठे पूड़े
Soft sweet pancakes of wheat flour and jaggery fried in ghee, made in Haryana for Teej and the rainy season.
Haryana30 minVegetarian - Mizo chicken and ginger stew
मिज़ो चिकन और अदरक स्टू
Chicken boiled with plenty of ginger, chilli and seasonal vegetables in a clear, warming broth.
Mizoram50 minNon-vegetarian