Indian

Palya is a classic South Indian recipe usually composed of a single vegetable chopped into bite-size pieces and sautéed in oil that has been seasoned with black mustard seeds, asafetida, chile, and curry leaves. The dish is then finished with lemon juice, grated coconut, and cilantro. This same preparation is referred to by different names such as thoran or poriyal depending on which state in South India you are in. Seasonal produce is preferred, but the combination makes even the saddest of vegetables at the back of your fridge sing. 

Growing up, my mum would make these moong dal dosas often. I love their vibrant green color, but they're also deeply flavorful and extremely nutritious, thanks to the mung beans and spinach. 

This impossibly smooth, thick, saffron-studded treat is yogurt in its dreamiest, creamiest dessert form.

This dish of saucy, seared paneer channels the flavors traditionally found in matar paneer—coriander, cumin, chile, and ginger—into a quick-cooking cherry tomato sauce that's packed with bright spring-y sugar snap peas. If you can’t find paneer, give this a try with another sturdy non-melty cheese like Halloumi or queso fresco. Or think of it as a simple sauce you can serve over any protein, like a crispy-skinned salmon fillet, seared shell-on shrimp, sliced feta, or even just a bed of salted yogurt. 

This deeply comforting, spice-forward Indian soup is deceptively simple, easy to pull off, and perfect over a bowl of white rice.

The vibrant flavor and color of this spicy, finger-licking-good fried chicken comes from an abundance of ground dried spices, so be sure to use the freshest ones you can find.

Whole jammy eggs are seared in ghee until blistered and crispy, then smothered in a gently spiced coconut sauce. 

Both the marinade and the cooking method (low and sort of slow) have a huge payoff: Charred, spicy, juicy chicken.

Colorful, crunchy, and incredibly easy, you can pull this bright Indian dish together in 20 minutes or less.

This satisfying rice dish can often be an elaborate, ambitious affair, but our version simplifies the process without sacrificing any complexity of flavor.

We opted to use cherry tomatoes for this poached cod recipe because we like their sweetness and how quickly they collapse into a sauce.

Boiled peanuts tossed with chile and coriander remind Vivek Surti, chef at Tailor in Nashville, of Cajun peanuts from Southern gas stations, but also of India.

This iconic Gujarati dish is sweet with jaggery, spicy with green chiles, and sour with lime juice. And it’s exactly what you’d eat if you walked into Tailor chef Vivek Surti’s mother’s house in India.

These crispy, crackly zucchini fritters take inspiration from the traditional Bengali onion snacks piyaju.

Shoutout to all the other Indian kids who snuck Fatafat packets out of the pantry after dinner.

Her cheeky illustrations draw from comic-book-style pop art and the Indian soap operas she watched as a kid.

This classic (and familiar) potato-and-cauliflower dish is a great make-ahead party dish.

The O.G. of Indian cookbook authors just wrote one of the best Instant Pot cookbooks out there.

It’s time to make these unfussy, deeply flavorful dishes part of your repertoire.

There’s no other spring cookbook with as much personality, point of view, and chaat masala.

Vigorously squeezing the cucumbers to remove as much water as possible helps to concentrate their flavor and creates a thicker dip.

This hearty, textured chutney—made from a blend of chiles, peanuts, cilantro, ginger, and lime juice—packs some heat.

Because the fish, which is flavored with garlic, chile, ginger, and turmeric, is sealed in a pouch before it's baked, it stays extra moist and flavorful with no risk of drying out.

With only a handful of ingredients and ten minutes of hands-on time, you'll have a beautifully impressive dessert that's creamy and cardamom-spiked.