Recipe Index

This Tamil dish is hot, very hot. Quite brilliant just the same. In addition to a snack, it makes a great starter to a dinner party when it would be served on a bed of green leaves, red onion rings, tomatoes and sliced cooked beetroot, (very important as it has cooling properties.) It is quite possibly one of the hottest dishes I have come across, but it is very wonderful. The heat of the chillies is accentuated by the lemon juice to give a sharp, dry heat. If you cannot stand the heat, use a mild variety of chilli like Kashmiri with just a few hot ones

This is a South Indian chutney and is best made a few hours before needed.

One of the simplest of dishes, the sweet cumin taste perfectly accompanies the new potatoes. This dish does not need another curry dish, it is perfectly at home with the Sunday roast or some grilled lamb chops. It is not a hot dish, so you can add a little chilli powder if you wish but not too much as it will spoil.

I found this recipe from a book I bought at the Cafe Spice restaurant in London. The restaurant is one of my favourites and the book, 'Cafe Spice Namaste' by Cyrus Todiwala, the restaurant's founding chef is worth looking out for interesting Nouvelle Indian dishes. This one is certainly different and very refreshing with a rich meat dish such as Champ Masala, Spicy Lamb Chops.

This is a basic curry powder that can be used by itself and as the basis for other masalas. It is not very hot (as in chilli hot) as you can always add more if needed. Quantities are given in weight ratio. After the recipe, a total weight is given. This will give an indication of how much the recipe will make. All you have to do is work in ounces, grammes or whatever to make the mix.

This is a basic sauce that is used in a great many recipes. It is derived from the style of basic sauce often found in restaurants. These sauces usually have secret recipes known only to the head chef, but they do dictate, along with the stock, the fundamental taste of the restaurant. I present here only a starting point. You should adjust it according to your own tastes. Beware of making it too hot however, either with chillies or pepper. The principle is that it can be used to make a range of dishes. If those dishes require extra heat, then it can be added, but once in, cannot be taken away. I first saw this type of sauce described in one of Pat Chapman’s books and I’ve adapted it since to my own taste and style of cooking. When you’ve finished cooking, allow it to cool, pack into 1/2 pint containers (yoghurt pots are handy for this,) and freeze. Defrost as needed.

You will need a food blender, liquidiser , or a lot of elbow grease for this recipe. You will also require a large pan as this recipe will make up to 3 pints of sauce.

Classic road-side snack that deserves space on the table; this is a recipe given to me by my good friend Shilpa Kotecha, a marvelous vegetarian cook. I had been to South India and came across these Wadas (or Bonda) in several places from roadside shacks to posh Tamil restaurants. So I described them to her and asked what they were. With a sly grin on her face she went home and produced this recipe the next day. In a slight variation of my own, I use a fork to mash the potatoes rather than a masher to produce a courser, lumpy texture to them. You can eat them hot or cold. Serve with a Alle Chutney, Ginger Chutney, Phudina Relish, Fresh Mint Relish, Fresh Coriander Relish, Dhania Patha Relish, or simple Heinz tomato ketchup!

Try them with a Patia Sauce or if eating them hot as a main course in a vegetarian meal.

These are an absolute favourite with my two younger boys to the extent that I can put almost anything else in front of them as long as there is Wada. It's how I got them eating vegetarian food to ring the changes.

Often confused with Pakoras, the Bhajji is a popular snack item across the continent and there are many varieties. The basic principle is a spiced Besan flour batter into which any variety of vegetable pieces are dropped and mixed to form a thick lumpy batter. Spoonfuls of the mix are then deep fried until dark golden. The resultant Bhajjis are then drained and served, properly with chutneys, but often in restaurants with a salad. An alternate method is to take thin slices of the vegetable and individually dip them in the batter and fry them. This works well with potatoes and large aubergine where you would use thin uncooked slices. Technically, Pakoras are made slightly differently but the result is similar.

No, not the often unrecognisable concoction that is usually served up in your local high street curry house, but a lovely, dry potato dish, full of flavour and perfect to accompany a curry with a bit of sauce. This is also pretty good as a sandwich filler if allowed to go cold, or dip balls of potato in batter and deep fry for an alternative Bonda. If you like potatoes you can even try this with western food. Goes nicely with a meat stew or a bit of steak and kidney pudding. The recipe is good for 4 to 6 people depending on appetites.

This is a lightweight version of a very popular Indian desert, which can be very rich otherwise (and too rich for most western palates). The unusual use of carrots may appear strange at first, but their natural sweetness is the reason why they appear in western deserts, the most obvious example that comes to mind being carrot cake! This recipe is sufficient for 8 people and is often served with an icecream.

A stunning Lamb Chop dish that was good enough to win the author a prize from the BBC!

This is a favourite of mine because I love eating without a knife and fork getting in the way, so anything on the bone is great. It is an adaptation of a karahi dish I have had on my travels. Use the best quality lamb chops you can get on the bone. Remove the outer layer of fat and you will end up with lovely juicy chops in a stunning sauce. You can serve this as a simple meal with just hot breads (Naan, Roti etc) or make it a part of a larger meal with rice and other curries. Quantities are for 4 to 6 normal people if part of a larger meal or 2 fat boys for a snackette!

A hot and sour spice mix from northern India. Masalas should be stored in dark airtight jars and as a rule improve with a bit of age.

Quantities are given in weight ratio. After the recipe, a total weight is given. This will give an indication of how much the recipe will make. All you have to do is work in ounces, grammes or whatever to make the mix.

Chat Masala. A distinctive hot and sour spice mix from northern India and synonymous with snack dishes such as Chicken Chat, Aloo Chat etc. Masalas should be stored in dark airtight jars and as a rule improve with a bit of age.

An Indian bar room snack found all over southern India, this is possibly my all time favourite chicken dish. It is most often served to accompany a good strong Lager. The story goes that an English traveller visiting Kerala in 1965 asked a chef to make this dish. The traveller expressed his contentment at the result and left, whereupon the bar staff tried the remainders, having never seen anything like it before. The result certainly was good and Chicken 65 was born, there being no other name for it.

Yet another version of the story goes: As legend has it, in all the kallu (country liquor) bars, the favourite food fight is: who can eat the maximum number of chillies? It is a symbol of machismo to be able to eat the most chillies. An enterprising hotelier capitalised on this and cooked up the dish Chicken 65, denoting that 65 chillies were used for every kilogram of chicken. Some chefs believe it is called so because of the 65 ingredients used in making it.

This version originates from the Sher-e-Punjab bar and restaurant, Panaji, Goa from Mr Mandeep Singh, where I traded it for some other recipes (principally Fish done in beer batter as he just loved Fish 'n' Chips.) The interesting thing about the recipe is its use of egg, which suggests a chinese influence. The use of the citric acid is pure invention by Mandeep, you could use lemon juice but the effect would be different. Mandeep, being a good Punjabi chef also makes his 65 quite rich using boneless chicken. In India, most variations of this dish use chicken on the bone. I suspect that the chicken we get here in the west is just too plump, so would recommend that you use chicken on the bone as well. Try chicken thigh or chopped drumstick and breast on the bone. You could chop up a whole chicken if serving for a number of people. The recipe is geared towards restaurant cooking as it can be made ahead in stages.

This is a straightforward meat and potato stew from Kerala, and I found it in what to me is one of the best Indian food books, 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. For me this is an excellent standby meal because it is so easy to cook, requiring only that you have a tin of coconut milk in reserve in the cupboard and a chicken in the freezer. If you halve the amount of black pepper and reduce the chillies by deseeding you may find that children will eat this as well.

These are great for chilli heads. Best made when you are also making Bhajjis or Batata Wada as the same batter can be used. These are pure invention but are really fun. My friend Shilpa Kotecha makes a very similar dish but uses cream cheese for the filling. My version uses spiced potato. Its up to you, try both. To be completely bizarre, serve them as an accompaniment to Tequila Slammers.

This traditional Punjabi recipe is a real treat to accompany a hot meat dish or can be eaten on its own with some nan or parathas. This will serve 4 as a side dish or two for a main course. If you can get them, pomegranite seeds, gently roasted and ground will just add a piquant edge to this dish. Do not worry if cannot get them, it's still good.

This surprisingly simple recipe comes from one of Pat Chapman's books. He in turn got it from a Goan chef called Alice. Whilst the original recipe was invented as a way of using up stale cooked papads (pappadums), I have found that I never have any of those in my house so experimented with fresh uncooked ones. Close to where I live, the excellent Shakti brand of papads are made, and we can get these really fresh so they are still limp. Try to get as fresh as you can but do not worry too much.

This recipe calls for plain papads, but you can (and should) experiment with different flavoured ones and also with the fillings, replacing the crab with cooked meat or chicken, vegetables (raw or cooked). Note also that my recipe variation uses tinned crab meat. You can of course use fresh! This will serve 4 people as a starter

I bet you thought crisps were invented in the west. Wrong, they were invented in India, where they have for a long time sliced up potatoes (and other vegetables,) fried them and sprinkled with spices. These are served as snacks. Chips are arguably from India too, but I'm not a hundred percent on that one. However, they are popular in everyday cooking and it is quite common to have curry and chips at home. So next time you're down at your favourite take-away curry house, you can at least feel reasonably safe when you order Beef Curry and Chips. Potatoes for chips and crisps must be the right type. New potatoes are no good to you. Look for the bags of tatties in the supermarket that proclaim themselves suitable for chipping.

After having nearly burnt downa flat with a chip pan, I cannot emphasise how careful you should be. For preference, buy a deep fat fryer. They take away most of the risk

This Hyderabadi recipe for minced lamb is a typical Indian Muslim delicacy. It can be served with rice, bread and side vegetables. I like it on pasta as a change from bolognese sauce. Use lean lamb mince and if you have a mincer at home, pass it through that to make a very fine mince (ground) meat. This will serve 4 to 6 people.

A delicate lamb chop dish that is simplicity itself to make ans is excellent for lunch, being light in flavour and easy to prepare. Serve with some spiced potatoes. The recipe is for 4 people

Not a Thai green sauce, but an Indian one. This is a great way to do fish but use a firm fleshed varieties like Monkfish. I have nicked this recipe from a book by Shehzad Husain and Rafi Fernandez called 'Best Ever Cooks Collection - Indian', published by Parragon. Rafi is a favourite author of mine and the book is excellent with interesting and imaginative recipes that really are Nouvelle Indian Cuisine. This recipe is typical and different. The quantities will serve 4 people.

Variations of this Anglo-Indian fish stew are ubiquitous all along the west coast of India, from Bombay down to Trivandrum. It is a mild, delicate dish best served with plain rice although you might like to flavour the rice with a piece of aniseed, fennel or dill. I like to use cod, but any firm fleshed white fish can be used. The sauce can be made ahead and the fish simply finished by reheating the sauce and continuing from step 5. This recipe serves 4 as a main course.

Fish with Mustard Sauce

Fish doesn't often make it onto the menu in Indian restaurants so you have to cook it at home. This Bengali recipe is one of my favourites, well anything in mustard is fine by me. Use a firm white fish such as Cod and serve simply with plain boiled rice and a Kachoomba. The sauce would also suit chicken or rabbit for a variation. This will serve 4 people.

I really like this one with vegetarian meals. The strong sharp flavour of coriander (cilantro) complements well. You can make this in batches and freeze it.

The ubiquitous finishing spice mix. Most often used as a finishing spicing for a dish to give freshness and immediacy. This is only one variation. Others leave out the coriander, increase the cardamom or add Black cardamom. Masalas should be stored in dark airtight jars and as a rule improve with a bit of age.

Quantities are given in weight ratio. After the recipe, a total weight is given. This will give an indication of how much the recipe will make. All you have to do is work in ounces, grammes or whatever to make the mix.

Another popular snack. Variations of this are found in many bars and small cafes across the sub continent. It uses boiled chicken. This comes about for two reasons. First, it means that cheaper, tougher birds can used and secondly it is easier to keep cooked chicken in a fast food place. In a variation of this recipe for garlic lovers, use 5 cloves of garlic and 1/2 inch of ginger to give a Garlic Chicken. Quantities are for 4 for a small snack.

This is another of my own recipes using the Recheade Masala. Serve with a green salad and perhaps some crusty bread. The measures are a per person basis.

This is another of those stock curry pastes from Pat Chapman (who in turn got it from Ivan Watson) that will keep indefinitely in the fridge (it has a permanent place in mine,) if prepared correctly. This is very distinctive mixing fresh coriander and mint to give a sharp herby flavour that can be used on its own with vegetables as in Green Vegetable Fry, mixed with yoghurt to form a marinade for chicken or added to any other curry to enhance flavours. The recipe will make enough for a 0.25 litre kilner jar.

This is another great BBQ dish that came to my attention at a mate's party. It's green when raw because of the coriander leaf. This turns to a golden brown when cooked but I had to call it something! Use the best quality lamb chops you can get for this and do not be too surprised if you end up thinking you haven't made enough. Last time I made this, three adults got through 1/2 kilo of chops a piece in addition to some tandoori sardine and garlic potatoes and usual trimmings. But then that's why this is the Big Boys Curry Book!!

This is one of my own and reflects a taste for sharp flavours that seem to go well set against rich or creamy curries. And there are those gooseberries again! It's green because of the vegetables and the use of the Green Curry Masala. This is for two people as a side dish. Scale up or down as required.

This is a recipe I have been carrying around since college days. Student friends and I have been known to live off this stuff towards the end of term when we had no money. This is a fast, simple and delicious snack that will intrigue your friends.

This is a fairly common salad that I have seen in restaurants in India.

Light, fresh mince pork and cumin kebabs.

This is an invention of my own. It uses minced pork and cumin to provide a simple, light kebab that can be enjoyed by most. You can buy minced pork in the supermarkets or simply do your own in a food processor using reasonably good quality meat with the fat removed. The quantities are barbecue sized. You can always cut them down if you want to make this as an individual dish.

You will need skewers for this.

Chickpeas form one of the most popular snack ingredients in India's vast snack army. Served by the roadside as cold snacks and in bars as warm snacks for beer, they are ubiquitous. They are also delicious, being firm and flavourful. This recipe is derivative of many and involves tomatoes, garlic and fennel. The final consistency should be dryish; you don't need masses of liquid.

If you get any left over, pop them in the fridge. They'll keep a few days. Try them mashed in a sandwich or simply re-heat them and have them with a shepherds pie!

This is the classic Muslim accompaniment that is typically served (usually in a bastardized form,) with papadoms in Indian restaurants across Britain. If you want to be a little different for a starter simply spoon some of this onto a nice fresh papadom with a little salad: instant Papad Masala. Make this fresh each time you need it as it does not keep.

This Goan dish is quite distinctive, mixing the bitterness of the karela with the sweetness of prawns to provide a unique dish you are never likely to get in the restaurant. As the prawns are treated quite roughly in this recipe, you do not need to buy expensive ones. Frozen common prawns will do. The recipe is geared as a main meal for 4. Simply reduce by half to use as a side dish, (where it works well alongside a lamb curry.)

Kofta are meatballs. Typically they are made from ground meat and spices, grilled andthen braised in a rich creamy sauce.

This is a sharp tangy sauce that I developed for barbecues where you want strong flavours. For a richer version try Kofta Sauce #2

Kofta are meatballs. Typically they are made from ground meat and spices, grilled and then braised in a rich creamy sauce. Here are two variations on a theme.

This is a richer and less sharp version than Kofta Sauce #1

This recipe is my recollection of a dish that I was treated to by an Indian friend, who owns the Hawaii bar on Benaulim beach, on a trip to Goa some years ago. "Do you like mussels?" said Michael, "I do" says I. "Let's go then!" says he. Off on the back of his Enfield 350, we rode the 20km from Benaulim over the high coast road to Cortalim where the road crosses the Zuvari River. Michael stopped the bike at the side of the road on the bridge approach and led me down to a roadside cafe where we ordered beers and food. The mussels arrived, large juicy fresh ones collected that morning from the river, quickly dusted in a crunchy coating and fried briskly. Just the job for elevenses! We ordered extra to take back for my family. Thanks Michael.

This is my version of the dish and the measurements are approximate. British mussels are smaller than their Indian counterpart and can be left whole. If you have access to the large Green Lipped variety from New Zealand and elsewhere or similar then you can 'butterfly' them by making a slit down the length of the flesh and opening them out. I give amounts per person.

Turnips are not commonly eaten these days in the UK, which is a shame, as they make a pleasant change in the diet. Choose the smaller varieties for a better flavour. This is a Kashmiri recipe and therefore the use of the Kashmiri chilli is highly desirable. This chilli when used dry has a lovely flavour, is quite mild but most importantly has a lot of red colouring. Throughout India, the Kashmiri variety is used and attracts a premium price of up to 40% over other varieties. It can be be difficult to get in the UK so if you do find some, buy a lot, or like me buy a kilo or two on your next trip to India to keep you going. If you cannot get the Kashmiri, then use another dark red skinned dry chilli but remove the seeds before grinding. You can always add a hot chilli powder to bring the heat back if necessary.

This recipe is for 4 fat lads or 6 mere mortals.

This is a typical Keralan curry suitable for any large variety of white fish such as cod. Try this with a Green Vegetable Fry,some crusty bread and a nice bottle of Beaujolais Villages. The recipe is for 4 people.

A hot, sweet and sour barbecue flavour lamb dish owing much of its flavour to the use of soy sauce. This is traditionally thought of as a Chinese ingredient, and so it is, but the huge trade between the Indian subcontinent and China over the years has led to a cross fertilisation of ideas and food ingredients. Soy is quite popular in daily home cooking as a result. Again quantities are barbecue sized.

You will need skewers for this recipe

Another of my own recipes that draws on the typical Keralan style to create a colourful mix of the Mediterranean and India. This is quite simple and can be used as an accompanying vegetable for a larger feast. How long you cook the peppers is entirely up to you. I like mine just on the hard side, some prefer them soft. The longer you cook sweet peppers (capsicum) however, the sweeter they will be. This will serve 3 or 4 people as a side dish or 2 as a main dish.

Butter chicken is a restaurant classic, originating in Delhi. It is based on using up the remains of the tandoori marinade. This recipe is a domesticated version and is stunning. Serve simply with nan breads. For 4 people. I have made this for 80 people at a time, and in which case you need to reduce the amount of chillies and liquid to retain the shape of the dish.

This is based on a Parsee dish often as not made with white fish. In this variation, though I have used chicken and the result is a dryish fragrant, mild dish that suits a simple rice and salad as accompaniments. The recipe is for one person, so scale up as required.

This recipe originally came to me from an old (and now sadly deceased,) friend, Nick Mortimer, and I have sort of adapted it over time to make it even simpler. This really is very easy. Nick used to have an annual garden party and this dish was a firm favourite for years.

A Light teatime snack. Often called Bhajjis in UK Indian restaurants, Pakoras are very similar to them but the batter is made differently and uses ordinary wheat flour instead of Besan. Again, any filling can be used although as the batter is lighter, Pakoras are better with more subtle flavours such as grated cheese, prawns, chives and other herbs. As the resultant snack is smaller than a Bhajji, the filling ingredients should be chopped smaller.

A Bengali mix. Most often used in whole form, but can be ground. Masalas should be stored in dark airtight jars and as a rule improve with a bit of age.

This is a great dish to serve with a meat curry. Make your Paneer as instructed in the glossary but leave it under the weight for 2 hours to make it extra firm. This should serve 4 fat lads as an accompaniment.

This is the Indian version of the Chinese sweet and sour sauce, but as you will see is not as sickly as the Chinese version. The balance of sweet, sour and heat is maintained to give a well rounded sauce. Although the recipe appears to use a lot of chilli, you’ll find that it is well balanced by the tamarind and sugar.

Traditionally served with Prawns,you could also try it with chicken that has been cooked first, or paneer. The quantities below will give you 4 portions that are good for 2-3 people with 250gr of prawns. The prawns are not meant to be swimming in sauce, merely generously coated. If your prawns are uncooked, they can be cooked in the sauce by adding a little extra water and simmering until reduced and prawns cooked. If using frozen prawns, defrost them and simply warm them and the sauce together before serving. Sprinkle the dish with chopped coriander when putting on the table.

I know, why do we need this recipe? But it is amazing how many times I get asked how to cook rice. It's a bit like boiling an egg. Everyone knows the principle but still manages to get it wrong anyway. So here is the foolproof way to get fluffy plain boiled rice.

This is a classic cooling yoghurt accompaniment when you've got something hot and spicy. Use fresh mint where possible. Actually just a bowl of yoghurt seasoned with salt and sugar can be perfect foil to a hot curry like Pork Vindalho.

A fresh mint leaf relish that will stand freezing in batches.

There are many recipes for Pilau (or Pilaf) but the basic method is that you cook rice and other ingredients together. This simple recipe is just a starter for a basic Pilau but you could expand it by adding sultanas, almonds, cashew nuts, cooked chicken or lamb, peas, mushrooms or in other words just about anything. The colour in this recipe comes from turmeric but could come from saffron.

Cooking rice is often a problem for people who do not cook a lot of it.There are two main methods, absorption where the rice is cooked gently and absorbs the water and retains all of its starch. We use this method for Pilau. The other method where you use a lot of water and drain it off and wash the rice with hot then cold water is best used for preparing rice for frying as it loses most of the starch (and much of the goodness). I read a DeliaSmith article recently and she recommends using as a wide a pan as you can for cooking rice. I tried it and it worked well. She also says you do not need to wash and soak rice for plain boiled rice which I do not agree with, which just proves that cooking is an individual thing.

Pilau requires Basmati or better rice, so do not stint on this. For portions I use my hand, two handfuls of dry rice per person. This gives about half a cup or about 3oz (85g) per person. It is not an exact science. The amount of water you use is based on the dry weight of the rice. Use 1 litre per 450g, 1.75 pints (or 4 cups) per 1lb. Scale up or down as required. The recipe below is for 1lb (450g) rice which will serve 4 to 6 people.

There has been a serious amount of rubbish written about the Vindalho, so let us set some records straight.
1. The Vindaloo that you get in most high street curry houses has got as much to do with Indian cooking as fish and chips has.
2. Vindalho comes from Goa, India; not the Punjab Balti Hut, anywhere.
3. The stuff you get in restaurants is not Vindalho, (usually.)

Vindalho (or Vindaloo, whichever,) is a word derived from language of Portuguese Goa, Vin for Vinegar, Alho for Garlic. The idea was to create a dish that could keep and so vinegar was used as a preserver. Vinegar also acts to intensify chilli heat,(anyone who has tried chillies pickled in vinegar will know what I mean.) The dish actually is better if cooked a day or 2 (max) before eating and kept in the fridge. This allows the meat to tenderise and for the flavour to become more rounded and full.

I have tried a variety of vindalho recipes, some have used wine, some use a lot of vinegar, some require you to marinade the meat for days before hand, some throw in the chilli powder pot. Having tried this recipe, I hope you will agree that you need no other. The overall effect is hot, sour but also slightly sweet. I like this with plain rice and a fresh plain yoghurt.

Warning. This dish is chilli hot and is intended to be so.

The recipe is for 4 persons

This is hot, hot, hot! Serve for 4 people or eat them yourself.

This is a classic Goan recipe that uses the very versatile Recheade Masala (Goan Spice Paste). This is a chutney that can be served as an accompaniment to other dishes or as a starter if warmed slightly and served with some good crusty bread. Try it also as a stuffing for a samosa. My mate Nick devised a great starter with it which simply involves wrapping a spoonful into 1/2 a sheet of filo pastry, brushing lightly with oil and baking in the oven. Serve with thick yoghurt or creme fresh sprinkled with a touch of paprika.

You will need a kilner or other form of tight lidded storage jar for this. Make sure it is clean. Balchao can be kept in the fridge for quite a while depending on the size of prawns. Small prawns will keep longer as they have less moisture in them. Large prawns will be allright for 1 or 2 weeks. Use smaller prawns for preference.

This is a South Indian recipe that I first came across in a book by Rafi Fernandez. She is one of the main reasons, along with the now defunct Ganpath Restaurant in the Kings Cross area of London, that I cook a lot of South Indian food. Before I tasted this, I was a firm believer that rice should be eaten hot. Not any more. Its a great picnic and barbecue dish because it can be made in advance. In my experience, there won't be any left, however much you make. This recipe is for 4-6 people. Scale up or down as required.

When I was researching for the Reality Bites TV show that I was invited to take part in, I was desperate to find an ice cream recipe that didn't require cooking as due to the time restrictions of the show, I didn't think I would have enough time to make a classic custard based recipe and allow it to cool down before making the ice cream. This one fits the bill. You will need an ice cream maker however. It should serve 6-8 people.

This recipe recalls the days when pepper was the main heating agent in Indian food. It traditionally accompanies a South Indian vegetarian Thali. This recipe derives from Patricia Brown's excellent book Anglo-Indian Food and Customs, which has great recipes along with anecdotes of life as an Anglo-Indian

Not really a sauce, but a preserve paste that is used as the basis for a lot of Goan dishes. This is a classic spice paste and can be used with seafood, white meat and pork. Store in a kilner jar (do not use a metal lidded jar) in the fridge indefinitely, ensuring that the paste always has a cover of oil to stop it drying out. If it does start to dry out add a litle more vinegaran oil. Wipe the sides of the jar after taking out any masala.

The recipe calls for a lot of chillis. The very best chillies you can use for this are the Kashmiri (mild and colourful) or Goan (hotter) variety. Please do try and track some down. This recipe will make about 0.3 litre depending on how much additional vinegar and oil you add to grind it

Used for making the Southern Indian Sambar. Masalas should be stored in dark airtight jars and as a rule improve with a bit of age.

Sambhar is cooked in practically every home in southern India and can be found in almost every restaurant. It is often served for breakfast accompanied by Idlis (steamed rice cakes) and for lunch with Dosais (lentil pancakes) or rice. You can by ready made mixes (Gita brand) for idlis and dosais which although not as good as the real thing,are an awful lot easier. This is a vegetable curry and you can use almost any variety. Use a mixture of vegetables such as mooli, aubergines, onions, beans, potatoes, courgettes, carrots, turnips, cauliflower, okra and peppers.

Spiced nuts are a favourite snack, often given away free when you first sit down at a bar room table in India, especially in the dark Tamil bars. The variation here is only one, you can spice them as you wish.

The humble chick-pea is a favourite vegetable whether as an accompaniment to a meal or as a snack food. This recipe is my own variation on a theme and is served as a snack food with beer. For another chick-pea favourite see Kabuli Channa.

A quick and simple vegetable dish that makes use of the versatile Goan Spice Paste. You can use almost any vegetables as long as they are crunchy ones, but also add some cooked potatoes as they soak up the sauce beautifully. This recipe is fairly loose in terms of quantities so just add more if you need to. It is based on a portion for one person. I like this with roast beef.

This is an invention of my own that draws on experience of Goan style cuisine. The basis for the spice mix is the Recheade Masala (Goan Spice Paste) but using lime instead of vinegar and made fresh. I hope you will like them. Serve 2 per person for a starter or as part of a larger meal. The recipe is for 4 people and despite the appearance of having many steps in the method can be accomplished quite quickly.

My ex-wife's favourite vegetable dish, this is an excellent accompaniment to just about any Indian meat curry or serve it with rice for a simple vegetarian meal. Although originally done without the gooseberries, we struck on this combination one day when I couldn't get enough tindora but had some gooseberries! Bizarre yes, but effective. This serves four as a side dish.

The classic Punjabi dish. The closest we can get to it in the home is when we fire up the barbecue, so it is ideal for our purposes. Although chicken is normally used, you can tandoor lamb and potatoes very successfully. In the case of potatoes, you would roast them in the oven. If you really must have a tandoor oven, search the web, domestic versions are available. I have one which is fired by charcoal and is great for summer parties

Tandori Marinade. This is the marinade for 450gr meat.

Tandoori Masala. Used for marinading chicken (and other meats) in yoghurt to give that popular flavouring. You can buy commercial Tandoori mixes that contain the red colouring or make your own as here. It is possible to buy the colouring powders. Be careful with them all, they are all very strong, and are best left until you mix the powder with the yoghurt so you can judge the colour more easily. If you cannot get hold of the food colouring, do not worry, it adds absolutely nothing to the flavour. Masalas should be stored in dark airtight jars and as a rule improve with a bit of age.

Quantities are given in weight ratio. All you have to do is work in ounces, grammes or whatever to make the mix.

Nothing like a succulent prawn, lightly spiced and tangy. For this recipe use the biggest and best fresh prawns you can get. Yes I know they are expensive but there are some things in life you just have to buy. Get them with their shells still on or at least with their tails on. If fully clothed then remove all but the tail piece to give you something to hang on to (the prawn, not you.) The recipe is for 12 large prawns. Somewhere I read that it was supposed to serve 4 people. They must be having a laugh, 12 large prawns is enough for one and do not let anyone tell you otherwise! When I was in Southern Goa some years ago I was offered 6 large prawns for my evening meal in the beach bar we were staying at. Fresh in that day, they were superb. Thing is though, in that part of India, 6 prawns weigh in at 1 kilo. Had some the next night too!

Just about anyone who has been into an Indian restaurant in Britain will have had Tarka Dhal at some point. For many years I have used the humble dish as my yardstick for rating a restaurant as the variation is phenomenal, from yellow water to thick porridge, some with an identifiable tarka (hot topping) through a sprinkle of coriander to some with none at all but still masquarading under the name. In my book, if they cannot make this dish, then the rest is probably up the spout too. Rant over:-)

Dhal in some form or other is the most common food in India. This variation, I found back in the early 1980's and have cooked my TD the same way ever since. The most difficult thing about this recipe is getting the Aswain seeds. Do hunt them out, scour the local Asian supermarkets where you may see them as Aswain or Ajwan. If all else fails, you can grow your own Lovage (incidentally an old English herb as well as native to India.) which can be used as an alternative. The search will be worth it for I promise you will keep coming back to this one for a long time.

The recipe is for 4 to 6 people and can be served alongside other dishes, particularly dry meat or vegetable dishes. I just like it with plain rice for lunch, which is how it (or variations thereof) is eaten in India. You can quite safely cook up multiples of the dhal and freeze batches of them. Defrost the batch and re-heat, adding extra water to get the right consistency. Make the tarka topping fresh.

This is a dry coconut chutney that will not freeze. It can be kept for up to 3 days in the fridge however.

Tikkas are boneless meat pieces cooked in a Tandoor and usually served as a snack or starter course. Whilst chicken is undoubtedly the most common variety there is absolutely nothing to stop you making Tikkas with almost any meat including beef, venison,pork, lamb, goat or liver. The trick with all of them is to make sure you are using fresh lean meat of the best quality you can afford. Trim any fat off. Do not mix meat types in a single marinade. I have presented a few marinade versions below. Try them all and choose the one you like best.

The basic method is to marinade your meat and then bake it. Cooking times depend on the type of meat and your preferences. Lamb, beef, venison and liver (needs less heat) can be cooked rare if liked whilst pork, chicken and goat need to be properly cooked. The quantities are for 1lb (450 g.) meat which should be enough for a small snack for 4-6 people.

The thoran is the Keralan version of stir-fry and all over that state you find variations on the theme. Tindori (tindli or gentleman's toes) are a popular vegetable but you will find cabbage as the other popular choice for this treatment. This particular variation comes from a Das Sreedharan book. Das operates the very excellent Rasa restaurants in London. The recipe is for 6 people.

A recipe derived from a traditional Muslim festive dish.

This recipe is a derivation of a traditional Muslim chicken dish that I have had around for years. It is an excellent way to cook a whole bird and can be served with more the traditional English accompaniments such as roast potatoes etc. It is a complex recipe requiring three stages of preparation. The result is worthwhile giving a succulent dish that can be eaten hot or cold. This recipe is for 4 people and is based on 3.5lb (1.5kg) of meat. You can use a turkey breast or a whole bird. It's just as good with chicken.

Scale the recipe up or down as required. You will need a casserole big enough to take the whole piece of meat so that may limit the size you can manage. As you will see, it's quite a physical recipe so a long cold drink to refresh you after step 10 is required.

This recipe was sent to me by Carole Stashwick from New Hampshire, USA. I had been looking for a good samosa recipe for a long time and this is it! Carole's samosas are a Gujurati recipe. Funnily enough I have had something similar in Goa but they used mustard seed just before the onions are fried. The pastry though is absolutely spot on. The traditional (or at least in India,) accompaniment with samosas is tomato ketchup but you could as well serve them with some coconut relish. You can make large batches of these and freeze them after they are cooked. Re-heat in anoven at 250+ degrees (i.e as hot as you can,) after thawing. Of course you can make samosas from just about anything so experiment. Try a filling of Prawn Balchao for something different.

This recipe will make 24 small or 12 large samosas. I tend to make the larger ones because my hands are too big for the little ones! A cup is an American measure. In the UK use 3/4 of a decent sized tea mug as an equivalent.

For a full discourse on the Vindalho, see Pork Vindalho recipe. This variations uses red wine as its marinade base. I prefer wine to vinegar for this as I find the vinegar marinated versions too tart. This recipe is an adaptation that uses beef instead of the traditional pork. It uses a lot of chilli, but you can de-seed them if you wish. Although Vindalho is normally a stew, you’ll find that beef marinated in this way and then grilled stays moist and appetising. This is hot.. You will need skewers for this.