Duck Curry has caused more arguments in my extended family than almost any other dish. My mother’s side insists the vinegar is non-negotiable, because without it the coconut milk turns …

Vegetable Balls in Hot Garlic Sauce was the first Indo-Chinese recipe I badly overcooked. The balls turned out dense and heavy, and the sauce broke because I added the cornflour …

Crabs with Noodles is the kind of dish I come back to whenever I want to make something that feels like an occasion but still fits inside a regular Saturday …

Brinjals baked in Vegetable Sauce came into regular rotation at home because my husband kept asking for something he could eat with just toasted bread and call it a full …

Grilled Tofu Curry landed in my regular rotation because my sister-in-law asked me to cook something for her that had no meat but still felt like a proper meal, not …

  King Prawn Pulao is the dish my brother-in-law requests every single time he visits. Not biryani, not a curry — this. He made the request so many times that …

Skate and Spinach Salad came into my regular rotation on a weeknight when I had skate wings sitting in the fridge and completely no plan. I had been buying skate …

Sweet Corn Paneer Kofta earns its place in my kitchen for one straightforward reason: it uses things I almost always have sitting around. A couple of boiled potatoes, a small …

Paneer Egg Peas Kurma was not something I got right the first time. My original version had the coconut going in too early, and by the time the peas were …

Caramel Custard takes me straight back to the school tuck shop where I first had it — served cold in a small steel bowl, wobbling slightly as it was set …

Vegetable Paneer Kabab earns a regular spot in my kitchen because it solves a specific problem: what to do with the half cup of boiled carrots, beans, and peas that …

Murgh Badam Pasanda came into regular rotation in my kitchen because of my sister-in-law. She had eaten it at a wedding years ago and kept describing it as “that almond …

There is a particular kind of silence that falls over an Indian home the morning after a wedding or a Diwali party. It is the silence of someone standing in …

The smell hits you before you even walk into the kitchen. Ghee sizzling with cumin, a faint nuttiness from roasting kuttu ka atta, the particular sweetness of sabudana pearls turning …

Ratatouille Tart was not something I got right the first time. My earliest attempt was a cautionary tale: I skipped the pre-roasting step because I thought the oven would handle …

Fish in Methi and Garlic is one of those recipes I make when I want something that feels like a proper cooked meal without spending the whole evening in the …

Jackfruit Elayappam came into my life during a Kerala home stay I stumbled into years ago, somewhere outside Thrissur, when the family I was staying with decided a rainy afternoon …

Spicy Leg of Lamb is one of those recipes my husband and I have argued about more than once. He insists his mother’s version needs no tomato at all, just …

Bhopali Gosht Korma came into my regular rotation because my husband kept requesting it before every dinner gathering we hosted. He had eaten a version of it at a relative’s …

Coriander Paneer came into my life during a particularly chaotic college farewell dinner that a friend decided to cook entirely by instinct. She ground the coriander paste without measuring anything, …

Picture a typical morning in a South Indian kitchen. The stove hisses, milk simmers in a heavy-bottomed vessel, and somewhere close by, someone is pouring coffee decoction back and forth …