Nendran is the long, golden plantain of Kerala, sold in hands at every market from Palakkad to Thiruvananthapuram, and a steamed ripe Nendran is one of the first fruits a Malayali baby tastes. Raw, it is too firm and starchy for a six-month-old, so it is steamed in its skin until the flesh turns soft and orange-gold, the dark string of seeds in the centre is pulled out, and the rest is mashed smooth. It is naturally sweet, so nothing is added: no sugar, jaggery, honey or salt. It is free of the major allergens. Chef's tip: wait until the skin is fully yellow with black freckles; a green Nendran stays chalky however long you steam it.
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A silky, deep orange soup of carrots and onion with plenty of fresh ginger, sweetened with a little honey and finished with butter. It's light, warming and good for a cold day. Serve it topped with fine shreds of fresh ginger and some bread sticks.
A clear, gingery broth with mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and fine rice noodles, seasoned with soy sauce and a little cider vinegar. It's light and quick, and good when you want something warming but not heavy. Serve it in warmed bowls.
A smooth, everyday soup of carrots and tomatoes, blended with potato for body and finished with a cumin tempering and mixed herbs. For a plain tomato soup, use more tomatoes and fewer carrots; for cream of tomato soup, stir in 4 tbsp fresh cream. Serve hot with garlic bread.
A hearty Italian vegetable soup with cannellini beans, cabbage and a little spaghetti, finished with a bright basil and tomato pesto stirred in at the end. Don't let it boil hard once the vegetables are in: over-boiled soups lose their colour and body. Serve hot with crisp garlic toast.
Crisp slices of ciabatta or French bread topped with fresh tomato, spring onion and herbs, then grilled under cheddar until it bubbles. They're quick to make and ideal as a starter or a party snack. Serve hot.
Little cocktail samosas filled with chopped cashews, sautéed onion, coriander, chilli and a touch of lemon. The filling is rich and nutty with a gentle heat. Fry them slowly so the pastry turns golden and crisp all the way through, and serve hot with lemon wedges.
Thinly rolled bread slices wrapped around a spiced filling of mashed potato, cheese and onion, sealed and fried until golden and crunchy. A party favourite that you can roll ahead and fry just before serving. Serve hot with red chutney.
A quick party bread made from ready pizza bases, spread with a garlic, green chilli and herb butter, sprinkled with chilli flakes and baked until crisp. Make the spread ahead and bake the bread just before serving, cut into triangles.
Bite-sized samosas filled with a tangy, sweet and spicy mix of crushed sev, fried lentils, nuts, crisps and sweet mango pickle. 'Chatpatta' means tangy and spicy. They keep for up to a month in an air-tight container, so they're perfect for parties and Diwali. Instead of making each savoury, you can use leftover farsan like chevdo, bhusu or gathiya.
Thin squares of paneer sandwiched with a fresh coriander, mint and chilli filling, dipped in a spiced gram-flour batter and fried until golden. Soft inside and crisp outside. Serve hot with chilli sauce, ketchup or chutney.
Small cubes of potato tossed in chilli, lemon and salt, dusted with maize, wheat and gram flour and deep fried until crunchy. Fry them in small portions so each bhajiya stays separate. Serve hot with chandu bhajiya chutney.
Golden fried cashews tossed in a hot wok with spring onions and red and green chillies. Ready in five minutes and gone just as fast. Serve hot.
A Kenyan coast favourite: freshly fried chips tossed in a hot, tangy 'pussin' sauce of melted margarine, paprika, chilli and lemon juice. Toss them while the chips are still hot so they soak up the sauce, and serve straight away.
Crunchy little fritters packed with grated paneer, sweetcorn, cabbage, onion and cashews in a spiced gram-flour and semolina batter. Topped with grated cheese and dots of chilli sauce, they make a filling party starter. Serve hot.
The famous East African potato bhajiya: wafer-thin potato slices coated in a garlicky, chilli gram-flour batter and fried until crisp. Make them in small batches so the batter doesn't go watery. Serve hot with maru bhajiya chutney.
Small samosas with a South Indian twist: the filling is sautéed onion with fresh coconut, coriander and green chilli, tempered with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Serve hot with red, green and tamarind chutneys.
A light, sweet-and-sour soup made from ash gourd (kadu) stock, thickened with cornflour and seasoned with tomato and chilli sauces, vinegar and black pepper. Lightly fried carrot, cauliflower and spring onion go on top for crunch. Serve it with hot buns. Bottle gourd works just as well as ash gourd.
A proper home-made ketchup: fresh tomato puree boiled down with sugar and a muslin bag of whole spices, then sharpened with vinegar. It's thick, glossy and gently spiced. It keeps for a long time in the fridge and is great in pasta dishes.
A rich, egg-free mayonnaise whisked from fresh cream, mustard and oil and sharpened with vinegar. It's thick enough to dress coleslaw, potato salad and sandwiches. Keep it covered in the fridge and use within 3 days.
This is home-made yogurt hung in muslin until all the whey drips away, leaving a thick, spreadable cheese a little like labneh. Use it for dips, sandwich spreads, shrikhand and cheesecakes. Pressing it through a sieve before you use it makes it silky-smooth.
Sugar syrup (chashni) is the base of many Indian sweets, and recipes ask for it at different stages. A light syrup is for soaking sweets and sweetening drinks. One-thread and two-thread syrups are boiled longer so the sweet sets. You can make it with milk instead of water for some sweets.
The classic white sauce behind pasta bakes, lasagne, baked vegetables and creamy soups. Butter and flour are cooked together first so the sauce tastes of nothing raw, then milk is whisked in until it turns thick, glossy and smooth. Use it straight away, or keep it covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
A bright red, tangy Gujarati masala, like a dry pickle masala made with split mustard and fenugreek seeds and sharpened with lemon. It's sprinkled over steaming khichu (khichi), and it's just as good with theplas or a drizzle of oil as a quick dip.
Five ingredients and fifteen minutes. The secret is to cook the garlic slowly so it turns sweet and pale gold, then toss everything with a splash of starchy pasta water so the oil turns into a glossy sauce that clings to every strand.
The basic method for any dried pasta, from penne to spaghetti. A large pan of salted boiling water keeps the pasta from sticking, and you cook it only until just done, with a little bite left. Use it in salads, bakes or with any sauce.
A hearty stock that's simmered for 2 hours, then blended and strained, so the potato gives it body. Its deeper flavour suits thick soups, gravies and stews. Freeze it in portions so it's ready when you need it.
A light, clear vegetable stock with leek, celery, parsnip and fresh herbs, ready in under an hour. Use it as the base for soups, risottos and sauces. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
Classic short crust pastry, rubbed together by hand so it bakes crisp and crumbly. The secret is keeping everything cold and handling the dough as little as you can. This amount lines a 23 cm tart tin or tops a pie. Each recipe gives its own baking time and temperature.
Samosa chapaties (patti) are paper-thin wrappers for crisp samosas. Two rounds are rolled out together with oil and flour between them, lightly roasted, then peeled apart into two very thin sheets. Cut them into strips for samosas, or squares for spring rolls.
Fresh fillo (filo) pastry is stretched and rolled until you can almost see through it. It's soft, pliable and easier to work with than frozen. Use it for baklava, spring rolls, samosas, strudel and savoury pies. Keep the sheets under a damp cloth all the time, because they dry out quickly.
Chaat masala is the tangy, salty, slightly sulphurous sprinkle that makes chaat taste like chaat. Dried mango (amchur) gives the sourness and black salt the distinctive savoury edge. Sprinkle it over fruit, salads, raita, chips and street-food snacks.
The spice blend that turns a cup of tea into masala chai. It's built on cardamom, with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and nutmeg. Add a pinch (about ¼ tsp per cup) to tea while it boils.
The South Indian spice powder that gives sambhar its body and flavour. Roasted lentils add a nutty thickness, with coriander, red chillies, curry leaves and sesame seeds. Use it in the sambhar served with idli and dosa.
A Gujarati dal masala with whole spices roasted in a little oil, plus star anise, black cardamom and dagad phool (stone flower) for depth. A teaspoon gives dals, kadhi and khichdi a warm, rounded flavour. The recipe makes a big batch, so it's worth making once a season.
An everyday curry powder that's built on coriander seeds, so it's fragrant rather than fiery. Fennel, star anise and bay give it a sweet warmth, with just two red chillies for heat. Season curries with it when you want flavour without much heat.
A heady North Indian garam masala heavy with cardamom, cumin and pepper, rounded out with mace, nutmeg and fennel. The spices are ground raw rather than roasted, so the blend stays bright and perfumed. Use it in rich Punjabi curries such as chole, rajma and paneer makhani.
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