South Asian

Tandoori Chicken is a classic northern Indian dish. The word “tandoori” comes from the Hindi word “tandoor,” a tall, cylindrical clay oven originally used in northern India to cook meat dishes and bread. Here, we use a tandoori spice mixture as a marinade for salmon. Traditionalists might balk, but when I’m in a hurry, I use a store-bought tandoori spice mixture. In the convection oven, the salmon cooks quickly and is moist and mildly fragrant. A minty cucumber-yogurt sauce adds an authentic flavor.

Roasting brings out all the aromatics in this seasoning mix.

We've rarely gone out for Indian food without including aloo gobi among our selections. It's a vegetarian/vegan standard. This rendition comes together quickly, and the tofu mimics paneer, the bland, soft cheese found in some Indian dairy dishes.

This simplified version of an Indian favorite is a delightful way to showcase tasty chickpeas.

Unlock the cure for the common roast turkey with New York City chef Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez's ingenious techniques: First, toast and grind whole spices to coax out their essential oils. Next, marinate the turkey with the spices and yogurt in an oven roasting bag overnight. Then roast the turkey in the bag to lock in flavors and keep the meat ultra juicy. You'll have plenty of richly spiced gravy to pass around the table.

Rasam is an immensely popular South Indian soup. The word rasam, in the Tamil language, means "essence," or "juice," and has come to mean a particular type of soup that includes the tartness of tamarind or tomatoes. The ingredients used in rasam vary, but it is basically a light, spicy soup. The spiciness can be adjusted to your taste. At times I add vegetables to make this soup a complete meal.

Ajwain wali Poori Pooris are Indian fried flatbreads regularly served at festivals and celebrations. They are usually made with whole-wheat flour. This recipe calls for carom seeds for added flavor and offers tips to achieve a puffed bread.

Bengali Dahi Maach Tender pieces of tilapia are marinated with caraway seeds, turmeric, and cayenne pepper and then pan-fried until crisp and golden brown. The dish is finished with a yogurt curry enhanced by the spicy flavor of mustard seeds. The result is a great mixture of flavors and textures, and a simple way to prepare versatile tilapia.

Gulkand ke biskut The all-American classic cookie has taken a detour to India in this recipe. The candied rose petals and dark, semi-sweet chocolate are divine together. Candied rose petals, known as Gulkand or rose spread, and are available in Indian grocery stores.

This dish is truly indestructible because the cutlets marinate in lots of yogurt, olive oil, and salt. That way they stay juicy, briny, and flavorful. Because they're pounded thin, they cook quickly and evenly, so there's not a lot of time spent poking and prodding and stressing about whether they're done.

Jalebis are small, bright yellow, web-shaped cakes similar to funnel cakes. They are popular celebration and street cakes in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and India. Soaking them in saffron syrup and then drying them gives the cakes a crispy outer shell. They are made with maida flour (a finely milled wheat flour) and Bengal gram flour (a flour milled from chickpeas), both of which can be found at Indian groceries. If you can't find them, use cake or pastry flour. If you can find fresh yeast, use it instead of the dry yeast; that is the traditional method and it adds to the flavor.

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.