Indian

Anthony Ross, executive chef at the Langham Hotel in Melbourne, once took me on a tour of the kitchen. The food there is amazing and so I asked Anthony for his recipe for pork belly tandoori as it is my favorite. He said it was quite funny because in India pork isn't really seen as a popular choice for tandoori, but in Australia it is his bestseller. I have changed the pork belly to loin as it suits the grill better.

This variation on the traditional Indian beverage is like a frosty cold, bright ginger beer. Cardamom gives the drink a floral undertone, and tart lime juice and sea salt add refreshing balance.

The kicky flavors of ginger, garlic, and garam masala play off the richness of salmon in this stunning main course. It's served with raita, a cooling cucumber-yogurt sauce.

The beauty and subtlety of wild garlic makes this dish very appealing, and fresh curry leaves add a fragrance that is quite seductive. During the summer months we pod fresh coco beans and cook them directly in the curry until soft. In winter we soak dried cannellini beans overnight and precook them in water for an hour or so over gentle heat, with one or two herbs added for flavor. I like to serve this curry just as it is, but you could add chunks of white fish to it.

As anyone familiar with Indian food knows, chickpeas are one of the most common types of legumes found on Indian tables. In this popular recipe, the spices and fresh ingredients are added at the very end of the cooking time to preserve optimum flavor and freshness. Regulate the heat by the amount of cayenne you use.

This is a spicy, vinegary paste from the beautiful region of Goa. It is great with meat, chicken and fish; I have used it in a few recipes to get you started. Just remember when you cook with it, it is all raw so it does need to be well cooked before you use it.

This is the perfect dish for those who love strong flavors, as the Goan red spice paste (which takes just a few minutes to make) is spicy and vinegary. The onions and tomatoes soften the paste and the curry leaves give it a fantastic flavour. I have written this recipe to serve one person as I always find there are never enough recipes for one, and the whole point of making pastes is to have quick and easy meals for small numbers. You can easily double or triple the quantities as necessary. In addition, you can make the stuffing mixture earlier in the day or even the night before, bringing it back to room temperature before baking. Mackerel is a good fish to use in this dish as it has a strong flavor that can hold its own with the masala.

Eat this with plain rice and make the sauce as hot as you like. In Bengal, the mustard seeds are ground at home, but to make matters simpler I have used commercial ground mustard, also sold as mustard powder. You may also use halibut instead of the salmon.

This is one of our most beloved family dishes. It is very much in the Hyderabadi style, where North Indian and South Indian seasonings are combined. Over the years, I have simplified the recipe. Here, you may use the long, tender Japanese eggplants or the purple "baby" Italian eggplants or even the striated purple and white ones that are about the same size as the baby Italian ones. Once cut, what you are aiming for are 1-inch chunks with as much skin on them as possible so they do not fall apart. Serve this hot with meat or vegetable curries, rice, and dal or serve it cold, as a salad, with cold meats, Indian (see Chicken Karhai with Mint) or Western. I love it with slices of ham.

Get the irresistible flavor of samosas without all the frying. Phyllo (left over from Roasted Winter Vegetable Baklava ) makes an ingenious wrapper for our take on the popular Indian snacks, although the filling of garam–masala–spiced potatoes and peas is quite traditional. They bake up light and crisp, ready for a dip in chutney or raita. Serve these samosas with a salad for a vegetarian main course, or make smaller ones as appetizers.

With the coconut milk left over from our Sweet–Potato Coconut Purée , try this very modern spin on steamed mussels. Fennel and tomatoes are common pairings with mussels, but garam masala is the wild card here, contributing an unexpected depth of curry flavor to the coconut–milk broth and tender mussels.

Stirring homemade chutney (left over from Country Pâté with Pineapple Chutney) into softened cream cheese makes an easy and irresistibly bright spread. A topping of crunchy curried walnuts gilds the lily and also plays up the chutney's cheery color.

Half a can of chickpeas left over from the Moroccan–Style Lamb and Carrots gets new life in this raita flavored with toasted cumin and fresh mint. Serve this cool Indian condiment with naan or crisp flatbread; it also tastes great with grilled lamb or chicken.

If you don't have time to drain regular yogurt, buy thick, Greek-style yogurt, available at many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

Position racks in the top third and the bottom third of the oven so that the chicken and the carrots can roast together.

Lamb khorma is sensuous curry made by simmering lamb with yogurt and cream and thickening the sauce with a cashew paste. If you can find goat's milk yogurt or sheep's milk yogurt, it will make a discernable difference in this dish.