Notes about Recipes in this book

• Buttered steamed rice (Sada chaval)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    This technique uses the double-steamed approach. Rice and water sit in a closed pan which rests in a larger closed steamer pan. Steam surrounds the closed rice pan, producing very soft, evenly cooked rice with fluffy, well separated, unsplit grains. It is far superior to any other method that I have tried, although it takes some time and effort. I like to make it for special occasions.

• Simple yellow rice (Haldi chaval)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    Turmeric lends a sense of glamour to a rice dish, tinting it deliciously yellow. In this dish, the herbs and spices are subtle and compliment basmati rice’s lovely nutty flavour. It can be eaten with a soup as Devi suggests, or salad style dish and also goes well with a simple dal and some chutney and pickle.

• Savory rice and green pea pilaf (Masala hari matar pulau)

  • kimslist on September 13, 2010

    Follow Yamuna's notes on rice at the beginning of the chapter. It's worth it to get the perfect texture. This is a lovely blend, though it's so flavorful I would serve it with a simpler main dish.

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    Green Pea Pilaf is a great 1-pot meal or the basis of a larger meal, and, of course, it is delicious. It is great lunch food and also good comfort food for sensitive times, you know what I mean. Eye-catching, it is perfect for a buffet, or a light dinner. Rich in texture and flavour.

  • Ganga108 on December 29, 2023

    Made a simpler version of this to go with a curry, dal and chickpea/greens dish. Omitted the garam masala and cumin seeds due to the accompaniments, kept the peas, herbs and raisins.

• Rice and cauliflower pilaf (Gobhi pulau)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    The cauliflower is butter soft, delicately seasoned with a yoghurt and spice mixture, nestled into a beautiful rice dish. You will be amazed at this rice-cauliflower combination

  • jenburkholder on September 17, 2022

    Mild but tasty. I found it needed significantly more salt, but otherwise well-balanced. Made a nice base for a bowl with dal and beet poriyal.

• Curried eggplant rice (Baigan pulau)

  • Barb_N on October 08, 2014

    I heavily adapted this (cheated big time) to make it amenable to a weeknight. Instead of toasting and grinding spices I stir fried the eggplant marinated in turmeric and salt, fried a batch and added the curry leaves and rice. I used fresh ginger and garam masala for seasoning. I had a very large eggplant so I cooked most of it separately along with stir fried turnip and beet greens. Served these as a vegetarian meal; and alongside Diana Henry's Spiced chicken with melting onions and preserved lemon for the omnivores.

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    Is it the golden brown cashews or the butter soft spears of eggplant that make this a succulent rice dish? The eggplants are first marinated in turmeric and salt to maximise the flavours, before being sauteed with spices and then cooked with the rice. The sesame-heavy spice mix is freshly made – dry roasted and then ground – and adds a nuttiness to the basmati rice. This is a great main dish rice for lunch or dinner. It is a tiny bit fiddly, with more steps than we normally choose for a week night. But the result is worth the extra effort.

  • h0lly on November 01, 2023

    I have been making this on repeat for a couple of decades. Those butter soft eggplant pieces are so good and the entire dish has this amazing nutty spicy scent. I recommend letting the eggplant/turmeric/salt mixture take its rest in a colander so the liquid that ensues can drain off.

• Herbed rice with mixed vegetables (Sabji-ki chaval)

  • Ganga108 on September 15, 2024

    Yum, excellent rice.

• Simple mung dal soup (Sada moong dal)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    Sometimes we want a break from spice heat, right? We want to be coddled by our food. We are feeling a little sensitive, a little vulnerable, and long for something gentle and delicious that will make us feel loved and supported and a little bit in heaven. This is the dish for you. You are welcome.

• Creamy mung dal with chopped spinach (Palak moong dal)

  • PinchOfSalt on June 24, 2013

    This is a soup. I had not expected it to be so watery, even as soups go. On the positive side, the flavor was very good. I used home made ghee in the final step. It really shone through. Next time, try cutting back on the water by quite a bit.

• Mung dal soup with tomatoes (Tamatar moong dal)

  • Ganga108 on August 27, 2023

    Fairly easy to make and delicious. It takes a bit over an hour to cook.

• Toasted mung dal soup with tender eggplant cubes (Baigan moong dal)

  • jenburkholder on November 04, 2020

    A nice dal that was acceptable even to eggplant-dislikers. The eggplant melts in well, so it's not bothersome in the dal. Flavors are mild, but quite pleasant, and it's easy to throw together. Probably will make again - this or a similar dal from 660 Curries.

• Urad dal with tomatoes (Urad tamatar dal)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    This recipe is an adaptation of a Rajastani recipe (rather than a Punjabi recipe which might be expected), where chilli and asafoetida powder are essential ingredients of any urad recipe. It takes a while to cook, but very little attention during that time. Good for Sunday-Afternoon-At-Home cooking. It is a gentle dish. We thrust so many robust flavours at our taste buds every day, from strong black coffee to salty foods, to hot spicy foods, to tangy lemony dressings, to peppery pasta sauces, and so it goes on … and on … To find gentle dishes like this one and pay attention to the subtle flavourings is a very different way of eating. It is a lovely dal of medium consistency, wonderful served rice, yoghurt and a small Indian salad. Alternatively, thin it down slightly and eat as a soup. A favourite dish. Yum.

• Chana dal purée with tender bottle gourd cubes (Louki chana dal)

  • jenburkholder on October 01, 2022

    Tasty, simple dal. Good use of half a lingering bottle gourd. Had with roti from the freezer and some yogurt for an easy supper.

• Golden pumpkin toovar dal soup (Toovar kaddu dal)

  • kimslist on September 13, 2010

    My friends took their first spoonful and said, "Wow." It was the best soup they ever had. I used toovar dal (red lentils) and butternut squash. The cooking time for the final chaunk is key - you want it to be smoky, not burnt. Careful with the asafetida - it is quite potent and is sold in diluted and undiluted forms.

  • radishseed on February 20, 2012

    Even after a couple of hours of cooking, my toovar dal (split pigeon peas) did not break down and remained a little crunchy. This may have been a result of adding lemon juice at the beginning of the cooking time, as the acid might have kept the peas from softening. Next time I would pressure cook this soup or use red lentils instead, and add the lemon juice at the end. The soup's flavor is very good.

• Quick cream of split pea soup with sliced carrots (Gajar matar dal)

  • radishseed on February 14, 2012

    I made the pressure-cooker version of this soup, and it came out quite watery. If I made it again, I would decrease the amount of water from 6 3/4 cups to 3 or 4.

• Hearty five-dal soup (Panch dal shorba)

  • Wlow on May 12, 2015

    As recipe mentioned, old chana dal takes longer to cook, and this was not fully cooked after 5 hours soaking and 1-1/2 hours cooking. May have added too much water (did I lose count while measuring?), but it was definitely not thick.

• Curried whole brown chickpeas (Chole)

  • jenburkholder on October 20, 2020

    This is good, but wow it is strong, and that's coming from someone who loves spices. Maybe we over-measured / undershot the amount of chickpeas, but it's extremely well-spiced and needs lots of rice or bread to balance it out. Might make again, but there are recipes out there that I prefer for kala chana.

• Curried red kidney beans with panir cheese (Rajma)

  • jenburkholder on January 06, 2021

    Good - the cheese is an interesting addition to a straightforward curry. The fresh spices are nicely flavorful. This makes A LOT, though. I cut down the amount.

• Spicy cauliflower with braised tomato (Gobhi tamatar sabji)

  • Tommelise on May 30, 2010

    My favorite cauliflower recipe ,spicy and good. Tastes great next day, if there is any left!

  • jenburkholder on November 04, 2020

    We thought this was pretty regular. Tasty (I mean, spices! Cauliflower! Tomato!), but nothing special. Wouldn't choose this recipe over any similar one.

• Curried cauliflower and potatoes (Gobhi aloo sabji)

  • Ganga108 on August 25, 2022

    I wanted to go out for Indian tonight but it is freezing cold! To sate my longing for spices and chillies, I made this simple version of Aloo Gobhi and added peas as well. It is very easy to put together, although it takes longer to cook than the recipe states. Served with pickle and cumin rice. Delish.

• Spiced green beans (Masala barbatti sabji)

  • kimslist on September 13, 2010

    The only bad thing about this recipe is that, no matter how much I make, I never have leftovers. It's that addictive. A splatter screen for cooking the mustard seeds is essential. I would cut the salt by at least 50%, more if you use salted butter. I don't find it necessary to cut the beans into pieces smaller than 1", but don't overcook them.

  • lorloff on September 28, 2014

    Very good. I cooked the green beans less thn recommended until they were just al dente. The spices were great. Only added a pinch of sugar and 1/2 of the salt called for in the recipe. Nice and spicy the amount of mustard seeds were perfect. I used brown mustard seeds. Made this again in 2020 and it is still great. Used Japanese sugar just a pinch.

  • jenburkholder on January 06, 2021

    Nice, basic green bean stir-fry. Nothing special, but easy and versatile.

  • Avocet on September 03, 2022

    p. 187 Very good and quick. I cut the green beans into 1.5 inches and just cook them until done; less time than the recipe calls for. Like lorloff, I use much less salt and sugar.

• Cubed potatoes with fresh fenugreek (Khatte aloo methi)

  • Ganga108 on July 04, 2024

    Excellent! I didn't have enough fenugreek leaves so added some chopped mustard leaves as well. Excellent with some GF Chapati that my local Indian grocery keeps in the freezer section. Yum. Hint: Cook the potatoes beforehand, then it comes together very easily.

• Baby potatoes with seasoned tomato sauce (Aloo tamatar sabji)

  • kimslist on September 13, 2010

    I've been using this recipe for 15 years, and it always amazes me. Wonderful colors and complex flavors. Err on the side of making too much sauce, because you won't be able to get enough of it. In my 1987 copy of the book, an important step is omitted in the directions: The blended paste of spices and fresh ingredients should be added to the frying pan, over moderate heat, immediately after the mustard seeds pop, and stir-fried for a minute or so before the tomatoes and turmeric are added. This allows the oil to bring out the flavors in the fresh herb/spice blend. In place of the baby potatoes I often use full-sized Yukon Gold, peeled and diced. Less time spent scrubbing/peeling, and boiling time is reduced or eliminated. I usually skip the boiling step, but the acid in the tomatoes can lengthen the time it takes for non-boiled potatoes to soften in the frying pan. (I use cast iron and cover it to help speed the cooking process.)

  • Ganga108 on July 21, 2023

    Strongly spiced sauce for a good dish. A rare omission in my copy of the book - the spice paste should be added to the pan and stirred for a few moments after adding the the curry leaves and before adding the tomatoes. This is the second recipe for baby potatoes in a tomato sauce that I have made recently. This one is spicier, yum, but the other one ("Garlic and potato curry - Lasaniya batata", from From Gujarat, With Love, by Vina Patel) just nudges out this one.

• Curried potatoes with eggplant (Aloo baigan sabji)

  • given22fly on July 18, 2011

    One of my favorite dishes. Sometimes I add more chilies to make the dish spicier and use fewer potatoes than the recipe calls for.

  • Tommelise on September 20, 2011

    This is a very good recipe, with nice flavours, a favorite recipe in our household too.

• Summer squash and green peas (Louki hari matar sabji)

  • lorloff on July 21, 2017

    We had fresh peas and summer squash from the farmers market. This dish was perfect and really delicious. Easy to make on a weeknight. It will become one of my go to zucchini recipies. Continues to be great most recently we started to add garlic along with the chilies at the beginning.

• Red bell peppers with roasted chickpea flour (Simla mirch sabji)

  • jenburkholder on November 04, 2020

    I liked this more than I was expecting, but less than I was hoping. There was too much chickpea flour - as much as there was pepper; I would definitely cut that down. It also needed more water relative to the chickpea flour, as it seized immediately, nowhere near the two minutes she suggests. Other than that, the flavors were nice. Might make again, with changes.

• Sautéed Brussels sprouts with coconut (Chaunk gobhi foogath)

  • eve_kloepper on December 20, 2011

    I was looking for a different way to prepare brussel sprouts and this is a wonderful recipe. Didn't have the Urad Dahl (listed as an optional ingredient) and used dried unsweetened coconut instead of fresh. Results were still super.

  • jenburkholder on November 04, 2020

    Very pleasant. We used frozen coconut, but other than that made according to the recipe. A perfectly nice side dish to an Indian meal when the only veg in the house is decidedly non-Indian :)

• Curried cabbage with tender whole mung beans (Bandhgobhi moong tarkari)

  • Avocet on June 13, 2020

    Very good and easy. My mung beans did not need presoaking, and only needed to cook about 30 minutes until done.

• Butter soft zucchini and tomatoes (Louki tamatar tarkari)

  • cedarmakesthings on August 23, 2015

    Loved this. It was light, creamy, full of complex flavors. I plan on making this one again for guests....and for myself.

• Sliced white radishes with golden pumpkin (Mooli kaddu foogath)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    An underused vegetable, Daikon Radish or White Radish is the feature of this curry. Mixed with Butternut or Kent Pumpkin, it is a golden delight.

• Butter soft eggplant wedges (Bhona baigan bhaji)

  • Barb_N on October 08, 2014

    I have made this several times. In contrast to many Indian dishes the ingredient list is short making it a good weeknight recipe. One of my favorite ways to prepare eggplant.

• Deep-fried julienne potatoes and carrots (Aloo gajar bhaji)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    Once upon a time, it is hardly believable now, we didn’t eat much fried food. Falling in love with Indian food changed that, as their snacks and street foods are over the top delicious. Not all are deep fried, of course, but there are a fair number that are. This is a simple dish – it just takes time to fry the strings of potato and carrot in batches. It is moreish and you may have to make more than you anticipated. It makes a great afternoon snack with a cuppa, or a late night supper. But note that the vegetable strings need to soak for 30 mins before cooking.

• Garden tomato soup (Tamatar shorba)

  • kimslist on September 13, 2010

    The best tomato soup I've ever tasted. Ecstasy. Make it when you have really fresh, really ripe tomatoes. Cut the salt to 1/2 teaspoon; add more to taste. Go easy on the chilies, and don't use habaneros. :-)

• Curried greens and eggplant (Baigan sak)

  • Mumpkinator on January 06, 2016

    Delish!! I used a fraction of the oil called for in the recipe. eggplant wasn't crispy, but it was still super tasty!

• Baked eggplant purée with seasoned yogurt (Baigan bharta)

  • MelMM on January 31, 2019

    This is my favorite baigan bharta recipe that I've been making for 30 years.

• Char-flavored eggplant and green peas (Baigan hari matar charchari)

  • Ganga108 on February 26, 2026

    Nice, rich and earthy flavour. The dish lives up to her wonderful description of it.

• Creamy karhi sauce with chickpea flour dumplings (Pakora karhi)

  • anu_luke20 on February 22, 2026

    This was very delicious, and different from how I usually make it as it had no fenugreek and instead warming spices (cinnamon, cloves, while peppercorns). I did take the cinnamon stick out once karhi was boiling, then added salt (erroneously omitted from recipe), cayenne, and fresh ground coriander. Was very flavorful and fragrant.

• Fried okra in smooth yogurt (Bhindi raita)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    Yoghurt is such an important part of the diet in many parts of India, and it is often a part of every lunch and dinner meal. Sometimes served as is, and often mixed with a vegetable, there are many ways to ensure yoghurt, spices and vegetables have an increased presence in the daily diet. This recipe is terrific, with the combination of textures and flavours. It can be served as both a raita (yoghurt dish) or as a side dish – okra in a yoghurt sauce.

• Cucumber and coconut in dill yogurt-cream (Kheera nariyal raita)

  • Tommelise on September 20, 2011

    Even if I like this dish, Id o think there are to many flavours, and it becomes a bit "messy "

• Chickpea and ginger root salad (Kabli chana adrak kachamber)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    Oh new ginger! So soft and sweet, without the strong ginger bite of its older sister. In this salad use only young ginger, without any fibres – it is gentle enough for this dish whereas the older ginger, brown in colour and more fibrous, will overwhelm the dish and be tough to eat.

• Banana and pomegranate salad (Kela anar kachamber)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    On one trip to Kerala in India, the hotel had the sweetest and most succulent pomegranates at each meal. They were so unlike anything that we could get at home that I ate more that I care to mention. In Kerala, the pomegranates were beautiful. The salads and side serves featuring the bright red globules were wonderful. For many years our local pomegranates were tough and bitter. Fortunately times have change and good pomegranates are more widely available. This is an amazing and beautiful salad. I have added coconut like in Kerala, even though Devi sites the recipe as a North Indian one.

• Shredded radish, coconut and carrot salad (Mooli nariyal kachamber)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    Kachumbers are the freshest of salads, crispy and crunchy, in the Indian cuisine. They dispel the myth that Indian does not use fresh, raw vegetables or include salads. Kachumbers are very easy to make, although some can take a little chopping. With a good food processor, the shredding or chopping is made even easier and quicker. This salad is daikon radish, carrot and coconut – a fresh and lively taste especially in late Autumn and into Winter when these veg are at their best (at least in my part of the world). But because good quality daikon and carrots are available the rest of the year too, this vivid salad can grace your Summer table as well.

• Shredded carrot and cashew nut salad (Gajar kaju kachamber)

  • radishseed on April 11, 2012

    I make this into a delicious carrot-raisin salad by subbing raisins for the bell peppers.

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    Salads bring such a freshness into the diet, lifting the day with its flavours, and complimenting other dishes. We often eat them as a snack or a course before the main meal. This salad is special – an Indian salad of carrot, capsicum and cashews that can be made any time of the year. It is dressed with yoghurt and tempered black mustard seeds.

  • monicahorridge on September 04, 2024

    Incredibly easy and yet completely delicious. So much more than the sum of its parts. Will be making on repeat

• Apple salad (Seb kachamber)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    This salad is the type of dish that is usually an accompaniment to a meal, and can be served that way or eaten as dessert. It is easy to make and I often make it for “bring a plate” events. It is wonderful garnished with pomegranate seeds and pistachio slivers. If you don’t have pomegranate seeds, soft dried cranberries or barberries are also very good, or drizzle with a little pomegranate molasses. Add a little sugar if you are serving it for dessert.

• Whole cauliflower crowned with creamy avocado (Gobhi salaad)

  • Tommelise on January 22, 2011

    The combination of flavors is very good and makes this a favorite recipe of my family. I always serve the avocado cream on the side.

• Mixed bean salad with fennel (Rajma kabli chana salaad)

  • radishseed on April 24, 2012

    This tasted great when it was warm, but bland when I ate it chilled, as the recipe suggests. Next time I would try doubling the dressing ingredients (or at least the lemon juice) to make the flavor sharper.

• Creamy cashew chutney (Kaju chatni)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    A gorgeous chutney - highly recommended.

• Apricot chutney with currants (Khumani chatni)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    This is outstanding chutney, especially when the apricots are tree-ripened, sweet and fragrant. For those of us resorting to fruits sold at supermarkets or corner grocers, look for barely ripened fruit with a fragrant smell. If they are absolutely without smell, Devi says to use dried apricots which require an overnight soaking in lime juice and water and a slight increase in cooking time. It is a chutney that is sharp, tangy and sweet at the same time. Make it the star of the meal, even though it is a chutney. It’s strong flavours should not have to compete with other dishes.

• Chickpea, almond, sesame sauce (Kabli chana til sas)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    Chickpeas really are little balls of sunshine. This recipe is extremely versatile – make it thicker or thinner to suit your use from a thick spread to a thin dressing. Using chickpeas and sesame seeds, it is an Indian take on Hummus. It takes about 5 minutes to make. Easy. Perfect for a such a lazy Sunday afternoon at home.

• Fragrant tomato and yogurt gravy (Tamatar dahi sas)

  • cedarmakesthings on March 08, 2016

    I made quite a few changes to this sauce (based on what I did and didn't have), but it turned out excellent. The flavor is so whole and completely comfort food to me. The changes I made; I used heavy cream in place of the yogurt, I omitted the chilies and used a light sprinkling of red chili flakes (I have kids who won't eat anything spicy), I used two 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes instead of fresh, and unfortunately I ran out of ginger yesterday and had to use the powdered junk. It still turned out superb served with the zuchinni koftas. Husband and kids loved this sauce.

• Zucchini pakora with crushed peanuts (Louki pakora)

  • okcook on September 07, 2012

    The batter wasn't very flavourful at all but the added crunch of the chopped peanuts is a concept I like. Needs some madras curry powder and more chili for sure.

• Potato pakora with dried pomegranate seeds (Aloo pakora)

  • Ganga108 on August 31, 2024

    On a windy afternoon, potato pakora - crispy puffy batter with soft oh so soft potato inside. What could be better. Chickpea flour + a little rice flour batter. Deep-fried of course. It is Saturday, after all, a day for treats. Yamuna adds some melted ghee to the batter, and it works really well. She also adds anardana powder for a street-food-like tang. Extremely delicious and moreish.

• Zucchini kofta (Louki kofta)

  • cedarmakesthings on August 25, 2015

    Really good. I made these with the fragrant tomato and yogurt gravy.

• Cabbage kofta (Bandhgobhi kofta)

  • Ganga108 on June 26, 2023

    Fantastic!

• Paper-thin dosa stuffed with herbed potatoes (Masala dosa)

  • Barb_N on September 23, 2014

    I only made the potato portion of this recipe (the masala or spiced part). I bought prepared dosa batter but skipped it altogether in the interests of time. The potato stir fry is delicious, not too spicy b/c my chilies were very mild. I will definitely make this again.

• Crunchy urad dal patties with black pepper (Urad dal bada)

  • Ganga108 on January 07, 2025

    Most excellent! And they live up to their name - very crunchy on the outside, softer in the middle. Perfect for dunking into sauce, sambal or Indian chutney. A favourite. Addictive.

• Crunchy chana dal patties with coconut and sesame seeds (Masala chana dal)

  • Ganga108 on May 30, 2023

    Crunchy indeed! These beautiful, healthy-for-a-fried-item, channa dal patties are simply the best. With a side of coleslaw and an Indian chutney, and an accompanying cuppa tea, we demolished them for a mid afternoon snack. The method of blending the dal in 2 halves works really well, and will use that method for other Indian patties/fritters I make. I made the patties slightly smaller than suggested, and it made 16. They cooked quicker than the recipe.

• Spicy nuts (Masala badaam kaju)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    Lovely. Salty, hot, sweet, sour. Addictive.

• Spicy matchstick potatoes (Masala allo latche)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    Devi makes a note here that potatoes and carrots can be combined, and that is what I prefer to do. An over-the-top-delicious snack. This makes it very similar to her dish Deep-Fried Potatoes and Carrots.

• Bubbly lime cooler sweetened with gur (Khajur gur nimbu jal)

  • Ganga108 on February 24, 2022

    A lovely drink but perhaps an over-complicated version of Sweet Lime Soda. Devi's recipe takes at least 8 hours as it needs to infuse. I mix lime, grated jaggery, salt, and top with tonic water or soda water. Add a slice of lime, ice cubes, and serve. Consume with some snacks while sitting on a cool verandah or garden seat.

• Potatoes cooked with seasoning #1 (Chaunk 1)

  • Ganga108 on February 22, 2022

    I love to read Devi's notes. She talks about how simple changes to a dish changes the whole taste. The method of cutting the vegetables produces different flavours. Whether the tadka is added to the vegetables or the vegetables added to the tadka changes the flavours. The amount of time the tadka is cooked changes the flavours – it is more potent if you cook it fast or long. Heat and timing alter the flavours. Seasonings alter the flavours. So you can see that, with one vegetable and very few changes in the spices, you can create innumerable dishes. India truly is the cradle of the art of cooking vegetables. This dish is a great potato dish suitable for all seasons. It is a dry dish ie no gravy. It is one of 3 recipes she uses to showcase flavour differences with subtle recipe changes.