From crispy pakora with green chutney to slow-braised chicken and soft dal, these Indian recipes showcase a range of flavours and cooking techniques. Choose a quick lunch, a vegetable-rich side dish or a meal with rice and curry. In every dish, spices, acidity and texture make all the difference; the regional names also help you find just what you’re looking for.
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Side dishSoft sweet potato, warming cumin and ginger, with peanuts for bite and a crisp breadcrumb coating. These oval chops are a familiar, contemporary take on Bengali vegetable chops; serve them warm with kasundi.
Side dishCrispy chickpea batter wraps around a soft, spiced filling of sweet potato, ginger and green chilli. Served with fresh coconut chutney, these make a flavourful starter best enjoyed warm.
Side dishIn kumror chhokka, tender pumpkin is paired with hearty chickpeas and the warm, slightly nutty aroma of panch phoron. This Bengali side dish has enough substance to serve alongside rice or roti.
Main courseThis sambar brings together tender toor dal and sweet potato in a spiced, gently tangy sauce. Mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried chilli give it its distinctive aroma; serve with rice or idli.
Main courseTender chunks of sweet potato simmer in a fragrant tomato sauce with ginger, cumin and turmeric. Peas add fresh color and a little bite. This Bengali version is delicious with rice or roti.
Side dishRoasted sweet potato, warm cumin and chili, bright lime and juicy pomegranate: this little Indian chaat gets plenty of contrast from just a handful of ingredients.
Side dishThin slices of sweet potato get a spiced coating of chickpea flour, ajwain and chili. The bright coriander-mint chutney with lemon and a hint of ajwain cuts through the warm, crispy pakora beautifully.
BreakfastA thin, spiced omelet with tender tomato, fresh cilantro and a little cumin. Serve it straight away with lime and toasted bread for a hearty breakfast or a simple brunch.
Main courseSmall eggplants are stuffed with a roasted masala of peanuts, sesame and coconut, then gently simmered until the filling becomes a rich, spiced sauce. Serve with rice or bhakri; turn the eggplants carefully so they stay whole.
Main courseThis South Indian chicken curry gets its bold flavor from toasted spices, fennel and black pepper. The sauce is thick and spicy, with tamarind adding a subtle sour note. Serve it with rice so none of the masala goes to waste.
Side dishIn this mild Kerala stew, tender pumpkin and black-eyed peas are coated in a light, creamy layer of coconut milk. Curry leaves and green chili add fragrance and a gentle kick, while a little coconut oil rounds everything off. Serve olan as a side dish with rice and spicier curries.
Main courseTender chicken in a creamy coconut sauce gets depth from toasted coconut and warm spices. Tamarind keeps the sauce lively, while curry leaves add a fresh, fragrant note. Delicious with rice or appam.
Main courseCreamy kidney beans in a spiced tomato masala, with fragrant rice on the side. By cooking the beans until tender first and then letting them simmer in the sauce, they absorb plenty of flavor without falling apart.
Side dishThis savory Gujarati cake gets a gently tangy depth from fermented rice-and-lentil batter and a crisp sesame crust. Cut it into wedges and serve warm with fresh green chutney.
Main courseThis Goan vindaloo brings together tender braised pork with garlic, chili, warming spices and the bright sharpness of vinegar. Slow cooking makes the sauce mellow and concentrated; rice soaks up the spicy, tangy gravy beautifully.
Main courseSmall potatoes develop golden-brown edges, then slowly cook in a red, aromatic sauce of yogurt, fennel and Kashmiri chili. A hearty main course with tender potatoes and a gently tangy sauce, delicious with rice or flatbread.
Main courseFirm white fish cooks briefly in a spicy sauce made with ground mustard seeds, green chili and mustard oil. Serve with soft white rice, which soaks up the sharp, fragrant sauce beautifully.
Side dishTender pumpkin with caramelized edges gets a fresh lift from lime and yogurt. A crunchy crumble of coconut, mustard seeds, and curry leaves finishes off this modern, South Indian-inspired side dish.
Main courseA slow-cooked Gujarati vegetable dish with eggplant, potatoes, yam and spiced fenugreek dumplings. Coconut, sesame, peanuts and spices give the vegetables a rich, fragrant flavor, while lemon keeps everything fresh.
Side dishAloo gobi is a North Indian vegetable dish in which potatoes and cauliflower are coated in warming spices. Cooking the vegetables with just a little water helps them hold their shape, while giving them a lightly browned edge here and there.
Main courseChickpeas simmer in a spiced tomato sauce with a bright, tangy flavor from amchur. Let the sauce reduce gently: it will cling to the chickpeas, keeping the dish thick enough to serve with rice or roti.
LunchThese thin Gujarati flatbreads combine whole wheat flour with fresh fenugreek, yogurt and warming spices. Cook them in a hot frying pan until brown spots appear, and serve with cool yogurt and spicy achar.
Main courseTender white fish cooks in a light coconut sauce with ginger, green chili and fragrant curry leaves. Tomato and lime keep it fresh; serve with rice to soak up the sauce.
Main coursePointed cabbage gets golden-brown edges, then simmers in a creamy coconut curry with ginger, mustard seeds and curry leaves. It’s served with rice that has crispy edges; lime and coriander keep everything fresh.
‘Indian’ is a broad umbrella term here, not one fixed style of cooking. The recipes come from different regions: the coconut milk and curry leaves in Kerala fish moilee point to a different flavour profile from the tamarind and toasted spices in Goan fish curry. In Maharashtra, peanuts, sesame and coconut add body to bharli vangi, while Gujarati handvo combines rice and lentils into a savoury, fermented baked cake. The curries, too, each have their own approach: Punjabi rajma is built around kidney beans and a reduced tomato masala; Bengali shorshe maach, by contrast, centres on a boldly flavoured mustard sauce. Use these regional names as a guide to ingredients and technique, not as a reason to lump all the dishes together.
Briefly toasting a spice, letting it release its aroma in oil or grinding it into a paste each produces a different result. For Chettinad chicken curry, whole spices are dry-roasted and then ground, forming a robust aromatic base for the sauce. For aloo gobi, cumin seeds and ground spices are briefly fried in hot oil before the vegetables go in. Take your time with both steps, but keep the heat under control: the spices should become fragrant, not burn. Sour ingredients bring a different kind of balance. Tamarind gives Goan vindaloo and fish curry a bright tang; amchur lends North Indian chana masala a drier, fruity note. If you don’t have amchur, you can use a little lemon juice in chana masala as a practical substitute, but add it gradually and taste as you go.
For a more elaborate meal, try the longer-cooking dishes: rajma needs soaked beans that are cooked until tender, while Hyderabadi haleem is slowly simmered until the wheat, lentils and lamb come together in a thick, fibrous texture. If you’re after something for a shorter cooking session, masala omelette and poha are good options; for a snack with clear contrasts, pyaaz pakora and aloo tikki chaat offer crispy coatings, chutneys and fresh toppings. The chutneys and side dishes do more than add colour: yoghurt tempers the heat and rounds out spicy dishes, while lemon or lime makes a sauce taste lighter. Fresh methi can be hard to find; for thepla, you can use finely chopped spinach, bearing in mind that the bread will then have less of its characteristic bitter, aromatic flavour. Serve curries with the rice listed alongside them, or choose roti where suggested.