simple

Straightforward recipes with minimum preparation time and that do not require unusual ingredients.

palak paneer

This palak paneer is the classic Punjabi dish of spinach studded with cubes of fried paneer cheese. It is hotter than the usually bland restaurant versions.

Crispy outer leaves, and softer, but still crunchy centres, spiced with turmeric, cumin and mustard seeds, this is a great way to prepare Brussel sprouts. Known as choti bund gobhi sabzi, these are not sprouts as you know them.

paneer jalfrezi

Kadai paneer is a combination of paneer, capsicum, tomato, onion and spices cooked in ghee.

paneer with peas

Matar paneer is a popular Punjabi dish. It highlights the paneer, with a spicy tomato sauce and bursts of flavour from the just-cooked peas.

Parsi scrambled eggs

Scrambled eggs the Parsi way. Akoori can be served at breakfast, as a snack, for lunch, or for a light evening meal. It is mildly spiced, yet with a kick from the green chillies.

pepper chicken

Chettinad pepper chicken, or milagu kozhi varuval, gets its heat from black pepper and has a quite different flavour to dishes that use chilli for heat. A simple south Indian chicken dish.

pink gin

Pink gin is sharp and heavy, with its alluring colour hinting at its rich, dry taste. The traditional pre-dinner drink for the Raj.

potato and cauliflower

This recipe for aloo gobi is typically Bengali. It is a dry and delicate vegan dish, it features slightly crisp potatoes and just-cooked caulioflower.

potato and pea

This sukha aloo matar is a dry vegetable curry, featuring potatoes and fresh peas This is a simple and popular family dish.

potato, pea and tomato

Alu matar tamatar is probably the most popular vegetable curry in India. This dish of potatoes, peas and tomato goes with just about everything. It is ideal to serve with any non-vegetarian dishes.

roasted cauliflower

This recipe for phulkopir roast is a Bengali family recipe and on high rotation in my grandmother's cuisine. It is of those simple vegetarian dishes that features the main ingredient.

slow roasted duck

Slow roasted duck, with moist meat, crisp skin and a chilli hit. This is a recipe for duck recheado, or pato recheado. The recipe comes from Goa, and owes its heritage to the Portuguese.