Notes about Recipes in this book

• Foamy white steamed rice and bean dumplings (Idlee)

  • Agavegal on July 09, 2020

    This recipe is so simple and the idli taste so good. Remember there is a 8 hr soak time for the dal and the batter needs to ferment for 12 hours after that. I didn’t have an idli steamer so I used ramekins and steamed in a pot.

• Steamed rice and bean dumplings in spicy lentil and radish sauce (Idlee sambaar)

  • Agavegal on July 03, 2020

    Pg136 This dish is fantastic. It can be served cold too. Great with the sweetness of Butternut squash with jaggery.

• Cauliflower and split pea dumpling cake in tangy tomato sauce (Handavo)

  • Poppyseedbagel on August 28, 2022

    This was good though takes a lot more cooking than the recipe says. I also took it out of the tin then reheated it, sort of accidentally, on a far higher temperature which gave it a crispy outside, and helped it stay up better. It is a gala dish for a vegetarian which is often hard to find. My cauliflower was tiny, so I had to pad it out with carrot. I might use large desiccated coconut rather than flakes as some of the frozen flakes I got were a bit hard to chew.

  • lesliec on January 28, 2025

    I love many recipes in this book. While this one was unique, it was not my favorite. In my opinion, it was a bit bland, especially for the effort. Note, I used brown mustard seeds instead of black and reconstituted coconut flakes instead of desiccated coconut.

• Brahmin beaten rice and vegetable pilaf

  • michalow on January 02, 2013

    This tasted just right as salty, spicy, easy-to-eat comfort food.

  • London_Mummy on January 06, 2026

    This was a quick, easy, healthy dish to make, particularly since I used a frozen chopped vegetable mix, & flattened rice is supposed to have a lower glycaemic index even than brown rice. I also took the liberty of omitting the potatoes to avoid double carbs & of adding soya mince to increase the protein content. We found it on the blander side so followed the recipe's suggestion to eat it with a fiery relish (I had homemade Afghan Gashneetch from "Persepolis").

• Chick-pea crepes with ginger and hot chiles (Chilla)

  • zorra on January 20, 2014

    Nice with curried cauliflower soup. Other versions add chopped tomato. They broke if I made them too thin & crepe-like, better pancake size, but that may be a novice's issue. Added 1 teaspoon ground coriander & a handful of minced cilantro.

  • cedarmakesthings on March 06, 2016

    I omitted the chilies and and ginger and just added a nice bunch of chives and slathered them with butter right out of the pan. These made for a delicious breakfast that the kids loved. Make sure to use a well seasoned pan, they are very fragile and can break very easily.

  • jdub1371 on June 19, 2022

    I have been making these chilla for about 30 years, mostly for breakfast. Easy to make and SO tasty. I get two small non-stick pans going on the stove and crank them out fast. I like them made with only a small amount of oil, maybe 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon per side. The batter can be made ahead a and kept in the fridge for a day or two. Regular chickpea flour works ok, but if you can get besan from the Indian grocery (which is milled much finer, and from a different variety of chickpea) they are even better. Likewise, serranos or jalapenos work fine in these but if you can get real Indian green chiles (I keep a stash in the freezer) they're even better. I like to serve these with yogurt and/or just about any kind of chutney and/or Indian pickle.

• Bombay spicy and crunchy appetizer (Bhel-poori)

  • michalow on January 02, 2013

    Fun party dish!

• Cauliflower, eggplant, and potato in herb sauce (Sabzi korma)

  • michalow on October 25, 2019

    This ended up being more subtly spiced than I expected, but it is really delicious. In my final adjustments, I added more tomato, paprika, some amchoor, and a bit of cinnamon. I chopped the veg smaller than instructed and the cauliflower was pretty broken down by the time this was done--will experiment with this next time. Also, this makes a lot: close to eight servings. I could barely fit the lid on my 6-quart pan until it had cooked down for a while. Works nicely on its own, doesn't really need rice or bread.

• Tanjore broccoli and mung bean stew with coconut (Tandoo kootoo)

  • IsaSim on May 28, 2014

    Delicious; I love the taste of curry leaves. Doubled the quantities, modified with 1 cup dried flaked coconut mixed with 1 cup coconut milk instead of 2 cups fresh flaked coconut, replaced saambar powder (which I was not able to find nearby) with Madras curry powder.

• Hearty Blue Mountain cabbage and tomato stew (Muttakos sambaar)

  • michalow on February 01, 2019

    This is delicious and not all that much work. I used masoor dal and the stew was a beautiful rust color. Fantastic results from simple ingredients.

• Madras fiery eggplant, lentil, and chili stew (Pitlai)

  • michalow on January 02, 2013

    Wonderfully flavorful. Can't imagine how blazing hot this would be with 12 chiles -- I use three. Adding some tomato brightens it up a bit.

• Fragrant rice and mung bean porridge with potatoes and sweet peppers (Khichdee)

  • anu_luke20 on May 07, 2026

    Ratio of dal to rice was off on this recipe. Also, over complicated for such a simple weeknight meal.

• Mysore cinnamon-scented lentil and rice casserole with vegetables and cashew nuts (Bese bele olianna)

  • michalow on January 04, 2022

    A delicious and satisfying one-dish meal. The rice to lentil ratio is perfect, but there's room to bulk up the vegetables quite a bit. I like carrots instead of potatoes, and the other veggies are easily swapped out for whatever's on hand. Garnish with cilantro in addition to cashews, lemon juice. My last batch was so spicy it made my nose run, so be cautious!

• Jain coriander-scented millet and mung bean pilaf (Ahmadabad Jain pullao)

  • MNChiqqie on January 07, 2017

    Thinking the author means "toast" the millet instead of "fry". Too, I might have soaked the beans too long. Will try again with instant soaking using pressure cooker, while toasting the millet in less ghee/oil.

• Bitter melon with spicy onion stuffing (Bhara karela)

  • thorson on February 21, 2026

    This is a good beginner’s bitter melon recipe. The treatment knocks down bitterness effectively. Due to life, my melons sat in the lemon juice, turmeric, and salt mixture in the fridge for two extra days. I also used two much larger melons instead of four, which made handling and stuffing easier. I scaled up the stuffing since the larger cavities needed more than expected. Final tweak: I simmered them longer so they felt fully tender, assuming most of the cooking happens there. The levers for bitterness seem to be soak time and how well they’re cooked in the simmer. Mine came out very mildly bitter. I’d make this again. It’s spice-forward but not overwhelming. A bit futzy with prep and twine, but forgiving of rough technique.

• Braised butternut squash with jaggery (Meetha kaddoo)

  • Avocet on February 04, 2016

    p. 312 Very good and easy. Nice side dish that can be made ahead of time. It's easier to peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler before cutting up the squash.

  • Agavegal on July 09, 2020

    This is very tasty, I used kabocha squash and brown sugar

• Whole mung beans and spinach in a spicy tomato butter (Palak moong)

  • Avocet on March 21, 2020

    p. 324. This was excellent, and pretty easy. Made this with kale instead of spinach, which I blanched before adding to the beans. The beans were done in much less time than the hour and a half the recipe called for. I used more tomatoes than called for and we thought that was good.

• Smoked eggplant and yogurt salad (Baigan ka raita)

  • michalow on January 02, 2013

    I cannot think of a better way to eat eggplant. Made with greek yogurt, this tastes decadent. Smeared on bread, it's a meal.

• Coriander chutney (Dhania chatni)

  • lorloff on September 28, 2014

    This recipie made as written does not work well. it is watery. I amended it adding roasted cumin that was then ground, coconut, and ground coriander. I blended it in a vitamix which gave it a good consistency

• Sweet and fragrant pineapple chutney (Chatni annanaas)

  • michalow on October 26, 2019

    Yummy, but too salty. I added some apples and they melded well.

• Tandoor bread (Nan)

  • cedarmakesthings on March 05, 2016

    This is a great naan recipe. I used buttermilk in place of the milk and unbleached all purpose flour. Really tasty, though I followed the suggestion and put the bread under the broiler after it had baked and they got a bit too crispy. I think I will skip that suggestion next time.

• Indian baked cheese pudding (Chenne ki mithai)

  • IsaSim on April 15, 2014

    Delicious as modified. I had 2 containers of cottage cheese and one of ricotta, so I tweaked the recipe in adding one egg and about 2 tbsp of butter to the mixture: it worked great! I also used dried flaked unsweetened coconut, not fresh or canned.

• Low-calorie papaya drink (Papeeta lassi)

  • jdub1371 on March 28, 2024

    Delicious, even with thawed frozen papaya chunks and buttermilk a bit past its best-by date. I cut the sugar by half a Tbsp but with a fresh carton of buttermilk and/or really sweet, fresh papaya I would cut it down to 1 Tbsp total. It's pretty much a lassi and I'm sure it could be made with yogurt. I don't care about the low-calorie part but the combination of ingredients appealed to me. It's fresh, smooth, and creamy but light. As much as I love the papaya version I may give it a whirl (ha ha) with other fruit.