Chilli beans with pasta
A hearty, family-friendly bake of shell pasta and baked beans in a spicy tomato, ginger and garlic sauce, topped with cheddar and capsicum rings. Serve hot with garlic bread.

Steamed corn and rice bread
Along the lagoon towns of Keta and Anloga, women carry trays of abolo to the lorry parks: pale, spongy little cakes of fermented corn and rice dough, sweetened a little and steamed until springy. They taste gently sour and sweet, a bit like a steamed bun, and are traditionally eaten with fried fish and shito or a raw pepper sauce; with fresh pepper sauce and avocado they make a meat-free meal. The batter needs about an hour to rise, which is counted in the timings below. Chef's tip: cook a small part of the corn dough into a thick porridge first and mix it back in; this is what gives abolo its soft, bouncy crumb, and skipping it, the common mistake, gives dense, heavy cakes.
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A hearty, family-friendly bake of shell pasta and baked beans in a spicy tomato, ginger and garlic sauce, topped with cheddar and capsicum rings. Serve hot with garlic bread.
Soft, spongy steamed squares of semolina and gram flour, made tangy with sour yogurt and raised with fruit salt, then finished with a mustard, sesame and asafoetida tempering, coconut and coriander. A quick farsan for tea or a light breakfast. Serve with green chutney.
Lilva-style kachori: small crisp pastry balls filled with crushed green peas, potato and coconut, sweet, sour and spicy with sugar, lemon, ginger and chilli. They're a Gujarati winter favourite. Serve hot with red and green chutneys. The filling also makes a stuffing for stuffed buns.
Pasta and crisp green vegetables in a light coconut milk sauce flavoured with coriander-chilli paste, lemon and fresh basil. Fresh, gently spicy and dairy free.
Light, fluffy fritters of grated cheddar, onion, green chilli and coriander in a yogurt and flour batter, fried until golden. Resting the batter makes them puff up beautifully. Serve hot with red or green chutney.
Batata vada are spiced, sweet-sour potato balls with onion, coriander and cinnamon-clove, dipped in gram flour batter and fried until golden. They're a favourite snack for rainy days and parties. Serve hot with green coriander chutney and tamarind chutney.
Soft, fluffy semolina (rava) idlis made in half an hour, with no grinding or fermenting: the batter is raised with fruit salt. They're topped with a tempering of mustard, cumin, curry leaves, green chilli, fresh coconut and coriander. Serve with green and coconut chutneys.
Soft, golden bread buns with a surprise inside: choose a cheesy three-pepper and spring onion filling, a spicy peas kachori filling, or buttery mushrooms, or make some of each. They're perfect with soup or for a party table.
Small mushroom caps are filled with a garlicky, spicy breadcrumb and onion paste, dipped in a three-flour batter and fried until golden. They are crisp outside and juicy inside. Serve them hot with chilli sauce.
Little broccoli patties bound with gram flour and breadcrumbs, seasoned with garlic, green chilli and cumin, rolled in sesame seeds and pan-fried until golden. They make a light starter or snack. Serve hot with mint and yogurt chutney.
A family-style vegetarian take on enchiladas: crisp fried maize tortillas dipped in a home-made tomato and red chilli sauce, stacked with a paneer, onion and capsicum filling, topped with cheese and baked until bubbling. Serve hot with chilli sauce. You can use 2 cups ready-made grated paneer instead of home-made.
Mumbai's favourite street food made at home: a rich, buttery bhaji of mashed cauliflower, peas, potato, aubergine, carrot and capsicum, cooked with onions, tomatoes and pav bhaji masala, served with butter-toasted buns. This version adds a spicy garlic and tomato sauce on top. Serve with chopped onions and tomatoes on the side.
Dahi vada are soft, spongy dumplings of ground urad, moong and black-eyed bean lentils, fried, soaked and then covered in a cool spiced yogurt with cumin, chilli and tamarind chutney. They are a cooling, tangy party dish. Instead of soaking the fried vadas in hot water, you can soak them in thin buttermilk for an hour for an even softer, tangier vada.
Gujarati-style samosas: thin, crisp pastry pockets folded into triangles and filled with peas, potato and carrot, sweet, sour and spicy with lemon, sugar, chilli and cinnamon-clove powder. Make the samosa chapaties (pastry) from the recipe in the Basics section. Serve with lemon wedges and green, red and tamarind chutneys.
Cannelloni tubes filled with a gently spiced stuffing of ground peas, grated potato and carrot, baked slowly in a herby tomato sauce under a layer of cheddar. The long, gentle bake cooks the dry tubes in the sauce.
A fresh, fragrant pesto made with mint leaves and toasted pistachios. It is lovely tossed through hot pasta or spooned over roasted vegetables, and a spoonful lifts a plain vegetable soup.
Soft, fluffy steamed idlis of rice and urad dal, served with a tangy, lightly sweet pigeon pea lentil sambhar full of vegetables: aubergine, drumsticks, bottle gourd and potato, tempered with mustard, fenugreek, curry leaves and kokum. Serve with coconut chutney. The batter is ground the day before and left overnight.
Rigatoni tossed in a thick tomato sauce with soft aubergine, celery and garlic, with an optional splash of brandy for depth, and topped with grated cheddar.
A vegetarian moussaka for a crowd: fried aubergine and potato slices layered with a herby tomato sauce and a garlicky cheese white sauce, topped with cheese and mixed herbs and baked until bubbling. Serve sizzling hot with bread.
A spiced vegetable filling of potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beans and peas with tomato, spring onion and warm cinnamon-clove, baked in a potato and bread crust and piped with a potato topping. Dotted with chilli sauce and ketchup, it makes a colourful centrepiece.
Crisp vegetable cutlets of potato, raw banana, peas, corn and capsicum, shallow fried in breadcrumbs, then baked in a tangy tomato sauce under cheese and green chilli. A good party dish: fry the cutlets ahead and bake just before serving.
Kanki is broken rice simmered until soft and creamy in water seasoned with a generous whole-spice tempering of cumin, cloves, cinnamon, sesame and curry leaves, with green chilli and ginger. It's a warming Gujarati snack like khichu. Serve hot with a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of red chilli powder.
The classic comfort dish: elbow macaroni in a smooth, rich cheddar sauce, topped with more cheese and grilled until golden and bubbling. Serve it with a green salad.
Soft, white steamed squares of ground rice and urad dal, spiced with black pepper and green chilli and topped with a mustard and sesame tempering. They're a classic Gujarati farsan. Serve with green and red chutneys. For yellow dhokra, use bengal gram lentils (chana dal) instead of black gram lentils, and add a pinch of turmeric and some garlic paste to the batter.
Uppma is a soft, savoury semolina dish cooked with vegetables, onion, green chilli, ginger and curry leaves. This version cooks the semolina in tangy buttermilk and finishes it with lemon, coriander and cashews. Toasting the semolina first keeps the grains separate. Serve it hot for breakfast or tea, with plain yogurt.
Everyday Gujarati dal: smooth, thin pigeon pea lentils simmered with tomato, peanuts, drumsticks, kokum and dried dates, sweet with jaggery and sharp with lemon, under a fragrant tempering of cloves, curry leaves and mustard. Vary it by changing the seasoning and tempering: for example, temper it with curry leaves, mustard and onions fried in oil, and finish it with green chillies, sambhar masala and kokum pieces. Serve hot with plain boiled rice.
A Gujarati favourite: tender valore (Indian flat beans) cooked in a sweet, sour and spicy tomato masala with ajwain, then mixed with crisp fried methi muthia, little dumplings of wheat and gram flour full of fresh fenugreek. The muthia soak up the gravy beautifully. Serve hot with chapaties.
An eggless quiche: a crisp wheat and potato pastry case filled with a herby tomato, vegetable, pasta and paneer mixture, topped with cheese and tomato slices. Serve hot with salad and baked potatoes.
The classic Punjabi winter dish: mustard greens, spinach, fenugreek and a little cabbage pressure cooked until meltingly soft, then blended and thickened with maize flour. It's finished with onion, garlic and tomato fried in ghee and a sprinkle of Punjabi masala. Serve hot with chapati or makki ki roti.
Little half-moon calzones of a soft yeast dough made with plain and maize flour, filled with pizza sauce, mushrooms, red capsicum, onion and cheese, and baked until golden. Serve hot with chilli sauce.
Big squares of capsicum and quartered button mushrooms, seared quickly so they keep their bite, then folded into a smooth gravy thickened with a little bengal gram dal, tomato and milk. Butter and split coriander seeds give the base a nutty, gently spiced flavour, finished with lemon. Serve hot with naan.
Jacket potatoes split and piled with a spicy kidney bean and capsicum chilli, topped with sour cream and served with a crunchy mixed salad. A filling supper for two.
Thin pancakes folded around a spiced paneer and vegetable filling, baked in a garlicky tomato sauce under cheese and capsicum. Serve hot with green and mint chutneys.
A handi-style mixed vegetable curry: potatoes, carrots, beans, peas and long pieces of brinjal cooked in a tangy yogurt gravy with ginger, garlic and chilli, finished with cream, fresh coriander and a touch of mild curry masala. Serve hot with naan or chapaties.
Whole eggs baked in layers of rich onion, tomato and capsicum masala, flavoured with cumin, black pepper and mild curry masala. Serve hot with bread or naan. Contains egg.
Julienned carrots, baby corn, capsicum, beans and peas, blanched so they stay tender-crisp, tossed with fried potato fingers in a quick tomato gravy with curry leaves, mustard, ginger and amchur. It's colourful, a little tangy and spicy. Serve hot with naan or parathas.
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