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Vegan Indian recipes

Indian dishes with no dairy, ghee, eggs or meat. (681 recipes)

Pattani sundalSpiced white pea salad

Walk along Marina Beach in Chennai at sunset and boys with brass pots sell pattani sundal in paper cones, warm, tangy with raw mango and bright with grated carrot. At home it is also made for Navaratri, when a different sundal is offered and shared each evening. The mistake is overcooking the peas to mush: they should be tender but keep their shape, so pressure-cook for only two to three whistles. Chef's tip: add the coconut, mango and carrot off the heat, so they stay fresh and crunchy against the warm peas.

40 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PonkRoasted green sorghum with sev

From December to February the roadsides outside Surat fill with ponk stalls, where young green jowar heads are roasted in pits of hot coals, beaten in a cloth and sold warm by the paper plate. The soft, milky grains taste sweet and grassy, and Surtis eat them with three things: peppery lemon sev, sugar-coated sev and a fiery garlic chutney. At home you can buy fresh ponk grains in Gujarati shops in winter and give them a quick toss in a hot pan, which brings back some of that smoky edge. The common mistake is roasting them too long; the grains should stay soft and juicy, not turn hard like popcorn kernels. Chef's tip: ponk goes stale within a day, so buy it the morning you plan to eat it and keep it wrapped in a damp cloth until then.

18 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mangai pachadiRaw mango and jaggery relish

Every Tamil New Year plate in April has a small heap of mangai pachadi, sweet, sour, hot and bitter at once, so that the first meal of the year tastes of everything life will bring. Chunks of raw mango are cooked soft, simmered in jaggery and finished with a mustard tempering and a pinch of fried neem flowers. It is glossy and thick, eaten in small spoonfuls with rice, sambar and payasam. The common mistake is cooking it down too far: it thickens a lot as it cools, so stop when the syrup coats the spoon but still drips off slowly. Cook the mango first until a piece mashes easily; jaggery added to hard mango stops it softening. Chef's tip: choose firm, very sour mangoes; sweet, half-ripe ones go mushy and lose the sharp contrast.

30 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kurkuri bhindiCrispy fried okra strips

Kurkuri bhindi is the dhaba and wedding-buffet side that disappears first: thin, slivered okra tossed in a dry coat of besan, chilli and amchur and fried until it shatters. In Punjabi and Delhi homes it is served as a tea-time snack, scattered over dal-chawal or eaten by the handful while the rest of dinner cooks. The mistake almost everyone makes once is washing the okra and slicing it while still damp: the coating turns into gluey lumps and the strips go limp. Wash it an hour ahead and dry it completely. Chef's tip: toss the slivers with the spices first and add the flours only just before frying, so the okra cannot release liquid into the coating.

27 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SukhiyanGreen gram jaggery fritters

Sukhiyan is one of the old nalumani palaharam, the 'four o'clock' snacks of central Kerala, sold in glass cases in Kottayam and Ernakulam tea shops next to unniyappam and banana fritters. Whole green gram is cooked soft and mashed with melted jaggery, coconut and cardamom, then rolled into balls, dipped in a light batter and fried. The outside is thin and slightly crisp, the inside soft and earthy-sweet, lovely with strong black tea. A common mistake is a wet filling; if the jaggery mix is not cooked until it leaves the pan, the balls crack and leak in the oil. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt and a little turmeric in the batter give the classic golden colour and balance the sweetness.

60 minIndianSnacks & StartersVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Shakkariya nu shaakSweet potato with peanuts

Gujarati families keeping the Mahashivratri upvas often fill the thali with shakkariya nu shaak, a quick dry curry of sweet potato cubes tempered with cumin and green chilli, finished with crushed roasted peanuts, a little sugar and a squeeze of lemon. It is sweet, tangy and gently hot, and is eaten with rajgira puri, sabudana khichdi or a bowl of farali kadhi. Only rock salt and green chilli are used here; many households avoid turmeric and red chilli powder on fasting days, and some do not eat cumin either, so adjust to your own family's custom. Common mistake: stirring too hard once the cubes soften, which turns the shaak into mash; turn gently, and stop cooking when a cube gives way when pressed but still holds its shape. Chef's tip: soak the cubes in water while you prepare the rest; it rinses off surface starch so they brown instead of sticking.

28 minIndianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kolkata vegetable chopCrumbed vegetable croquettes

Walk between Kolkata's Durga Puja pandals in the evening and the smell that follows you is of telebhaja stalls frying vegetable chop. These are oval croquettes of mashed potato with grated beetroot, carrot and roasted peanuts, spiced with ginger, chilli and bhaja moshla, coated in a flour-water batter and breadcrumbs and fried until shatteringly crisp; inside they are soft, sweet and a vivid pink. They are eaten hot with kasundi, ketchup or sliced cucumber and onion. Common mistake: leaving the filling wet, which makes the chops split in the oil; cook the beetroot mix until it is dry enough to roll without sticking. Chef's tip: coat the chops twice (batter, crumbs, batter, crumbs) and chill them for 20 minutes before frying; the double coat is what gives the pandal crunch.

55 minIndianSnacks & StartersVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

NeypathiriFried rice and coconut rounds

Neypathiri belongs to the Mappila kitchens of Malabar, from Kozhikode to Kannur, where trays of these puffed rice rounds come out for Ramadan evenings, weddings and Sunday breakfast with a chicken or egg curry or a mild potato stew. Roasted rice flour is scalded with water and bound with ground coconut, shallots and fennel, then rolled small and fried so each one balloons. They are crisp outside, soft and fragrant inside. The mistake to avoid is cold water: the dough must be made with boiling water or it cracks and won't puff. Chef's tip: roll them no thinner than 3 mm and keep the rolled discs under a damp cloth, or the edges dry and they stay flat.

45 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cashew pakodaCashew fritters

Cashew pakoda is the luxurious version of onion pakoda sold at Tamil sweet stalls and Chennai's old sweet shops, especially at Deepavali, when it's packed in boxes alongside mixture and ribbon pakoda. The cashews sit in a lacy, crunchy coat of besan with onion, curry leaves and fennel. The mistake is making a wet batter: this isn't a dipping batter but a crumbly mix squeezed onto the cashews, so add water only by the spoonful. Chef's tip: fry on medium heat so the cashews toast inside the coat; too hot and the coat browns while the nuts stay pale and soft.

30 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Arisi upmaBroken rice and dal upma

Arisi upma is the old Tamil country breakfast and evening dinner, especially in Tirunelveli and Madurai homes, made from rice and toor dal coarsely broken at home and cooked in a heavy pot. The best part is the 'kaanthal', the crisp golden crust that forms on the bottom, which families fight over. The mistake is too much water, which gives a sticky porridge; use about two and a half times the volume of the broken rice. Chef's tip: once cooked, leave it on the lowest heat with a lid for ten minutes, undisturbed, to build that crust.

40 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kara sevPeppery gram flour sev

Kara sev is sold by the kilo in Sattur and Tirunelveli sweet shops, where it is bagged next to halwa for travellers to take home. The sticks are thicker and knobblier than north Indian sev, with crushed black pepper and garlic giving a slow burn. The most common mistake is a dough that is too stiff: it won't press through the mould and the sev cracks into crumbs, so it should be soft enough to squeeze easily. Chef's tip: press the dough with the flat ridged blade straight over the oil and let it break off in short pieces, then crush any long ones once cooled.

45 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ulundu kozhukattaiUrad dal-filled rice dumplings

On Vinayaka Chaturthi, Tamil kitchens make two kinds of kozhukattai side by side: sweet ones with coconut and jaggery, and these savoury ulundu kozhukattai, filled with a crumbly, peppery urad dal 'usili'. The thin rice-flour shell turns translucent when steamed, and the filling is soft, savoury and fragrant with curry leaves. The mistake is a wet filling: if the ground dal isn't steamed and then crumbled dry in the pan, it leaks and the shells split. Chef's tip: make the shells as thin as you can while still holding the filling; thick shells taste stodgy.

75 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Set dosaThick spongy dosas

Set dosa is a Bengaluru darshini breakfast, ordered as a 'set' of three small, thick, pancake-soft dosas served with vegetable sagu and coconut chutney, often before the office rush or at a lazy Sunday table. Poha and a high share of rice make the batter rise into a holey, spongy dosa that's cooked on one side only. A common mistake is spreading it thin like a crisp dosa; pour it and just nudge it into a thick round so it stays soft. Chef's tip: cover the dosa for a minute while it cooks so the steam sets the top and the holes stay open.

45 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mamidikaya pappuToor dal with raw mango

Ugadi falls just as the first green mangoes reach Andhra markets, so the festive lunch nearly always has a pot of mamidikaya pappu beside the pulihora and pachadi. Toor dal is cooked soft, then sharpened with chunks of sour raw mango and slit green chillies, and finished with a sizzling tempering of garlic, dried red chilli and curry leaves. Mixed into hot rice with a spoon of ghee, it is tangy, mellow and comforting. The common mistake is cooking the mango with raw dal: its acid stops the lentils from softening, so always cook the dal to a smooth mush first. The mango is ready when a piece crushes easily but still holds its shape. Chef's tip: mangoes vary hugely in sourness, so add half, taste after five minutes and add the rest only if the dal needs more bite.

40 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

NuchinundeSteamed dal and dill dumplings

Nuchinunde are steamed lentil dumplings from old Mysuru and Bengaluru homes, made for breakfast or an evening tiffin and often offered for Ganesha Chaturthi. Toor and chana dal are ground coarse with green chilli and ginger, mixed with fresh dill (sabsige soppu), coconut and curry leaves, shaped into ovals and steamed, so they come out soft but crumbly, herby and protein-rich with no oil. A common mistake is grinding the dal to a paste; it should stay grainy like coarse semolina or the dumplings turn rubbery. Chef's tip: drain the soaked dal for a full 15 minutes; extra water makes the mix too loose to hold its shape.

40 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sing ni chikkiPeanut jaggery brittle

Peanut chikki is the sweet every Gujarati child grows up with, and in the week of Uttarayan, when the sky over Ahmedabad is crowded with kites, households make it by the tray to hand round on the terrace. Halved roasted peanuts are bound in dark jaggery and cut into neat slabs that snap cleanly and taste of caramel and toasted nuts. Common mistake: undercooking the jaggery; it is ready only when a drop in cold water hardens into a ball that cracks when pressed, and when the syrup is foaming and has darkened by a shade. Undercooked syrup gives chikki that bends and pulls out fillings. Chef's tip: rub the skins off the roasted peanuts and split them in half; halves pack together far better than whole nuts and the slabs don't crumble.

30 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KadambuttuSteamed rice and coconut balls

Kadambuttu are the steamed rice balls of Kodagu (Coorg), made in every Kodava home for breakfast and in great heaps for Puttari, the rice harvest festival in late November or early December. Broken rice is cooked to a thick porridge with coconut, rolled into balls and steamed, so they're dense, slightly sticky and mild, the perfect sponge for a fiery curry; at home they go with pandi curry, but a spicy kadala or mushroom curry works beautifully too. A common mistake is using whole rice flour or fine semolina; you need coarse broken rice, or the balls turn gluey. Chef's tip: wet your palms between each ball so the dough stays smooth and doesn't crack.

55 minIndianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Puli avalTamarind flattened rice

Puli aval is the quick cousin of tamarind rice from Tamil Nadu, cooked in Kumbakonam and Tirunelveli homes as an evening tiffin or a light supper when there's no rice left in the pot. Thick flattened rice is soaked in tamarind water, then tossed into a crackling tempering of mustard seeds, dals, red chilli and peanuts. It tastes tangy, a little sweet and nutty, with soft flakes and crunchy bits. The common mistake is drowning the aval in tamarind water so it turns to porridge; it only needs to be moistened, not soaked. Chef's tip: let the tempered aval sit, covered and off the heat, for 2 minutes before serving so the flakes soften evenly and drink in the tamarind.

13 minIndianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mah-karaiRoasted rice and sesame mix

On Goru Bihu, the first day of Bohag Bihu in mid-April, Assamese families bathe the cattle in the river and then sit down to a handful of mah-karai, a crunchy mix of separately roasted grains and seeds that is said to keep the body strong for the year ahead. It is nutty, dry and gently salty, with the odd sharp slice of fresh ginger, and is passed round in a small bowl alongside jolpan and pitha. Common mistake: roasting everything in one pan; each item browns at its own pace, so roast them one by one until they smell toasted and crackle when shaken. Chef's tip: roast the black gram first and longest, until it splits and turns deep brown, because undercooked gram stays hard as gravel.

25 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Congress kadlekaiSpiced roasted peanuts

Congress kadlekai is a fixture of Bengaluru's Iyengar bakeries and the Basavanagudi Kadlekai Parishe, the peanut fair held each November. Roasted peanuts are split in half, which is said to be where the name comes from, and tossed in a little hot oil with curry leaves, hing and chilli so the spices cling to the flat sides. It's salty, crunchy and very hard to stop eating with evening coffee. A common mistake is frying the peanuts in the tempering: they're already roasted and burn quickly, so add them off the heat. Chef's tip: rub the warm roasted peanuts in a cloth and blow away the skins; skinless halves take the masala much better.

20 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pappada vadaFried pappadam fritters

Pappada vada is a Kerala tea-shop snack from the stretch between Thrissur and Palakkad, where a jar of them sits on the counter beside the banana fritters for the four o'clock chai break. Plain urad pappadams are dunked in a thin, chilli-red rice-flour batter with sesame and hing, then fried until the coating turns into a glassy, bubbly crust around the crisp pappadam inside. They are salty, peppery and loud to eat, and they keep in a tin for a week. The usual mistake is a thick batter: it fries into a hard, oily shell, so it should coat the back of a spoon thinly, like single cream. Chef's tip: use the small Kerala pappadams, not the big spiced Punjabi ones, and fry two at a time so the oil stays hot.

25 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Suran nu shaakYam with cumin and peanuts

Suran, the knobbly elephant-foot yam, is a favourite of the Gujarati farali table on Mahashivratri and Ekadashi: boiled until tender, then stir-fried with cumin, green chilli and crushed peanuts and sharpened with lemon. It is filling and earthy, a little like a dense potato, and goes well with rajgira thepla or farali kadhi. Because suran is a root vegetable it is not eaten by Jains, so this is a Hindu fasting dish only; some families also skip cumin on a fast. Raw suran contains crystals that make the hands and throat itch, so wear gloves when peeling and always boil it with something sour. Common mistake: under-boiling to keep the cubes firm; undercooked suran scratches the throat. Boil until a cube is soft right through when pierced. Chef's tip: a few pieces of kokum in the boiling water work as well as lemon and give a pleasant blush to the yam.

45 minIndianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Keerai vadaiGreens and chana dal fritters

Keerai vadai is the green-flecked cousin of the masala vadai sold from steel trays in Tamil tea stalls, and in Madurai and Coimbatore homes it turns up on rainy evenings with filter coffee or alongside rasam and rice. Coarsely ground chana dal gives a craggy, crunchy shell, while a big handful of chopped spinach or amaranth keeps the middle soft and a little sweet. The common mistake is grinding the dal to a smooth paste with water: the vadai then soak up oil and spread, so pulse it dry and leave some half-broken grains. Squeeze the washed greens hard in a cloth too, or their water loosens the dough. Chef's tip: add the salt only just before shaping, because salt pulls water out of the greens and makes the mix sloppy if it sits.

50 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bataka sevFasting potato sev

Bataka sev is the sev that Gujarati households can eat on upvas days, from Ekadashi and Shivratri to the Navratri fasts: there is no gram flour, only boiled potato bound with arrowroot, seasoned with rock salt, green chilli and crushed pepper. It fries into pale gold, delicate threads that melt quickly in the mouth, and is eaten on its own, over farari chevdo or on fasting bhel. The common mistake is using warm or watery potatoes, which make a sticky dough that will not pass through the press; boil, peel and cool the potatoes completely, and grate them rather than mashing. Chef's tip: fry in small spirals in moderately hot oil and lift them out while still pale, as they keep colouring for a minute after draining.

45 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kholasapori pithaRice pancakes with coconut and jaggery

Kholasapori means 'pressed in the khola', the shallow clay pan that every Assamese kitchen brings out for Magh Bihu, when guests are offered a plate of pitha before anything else. These are thicker and softer than the crisp til pitha: a loose batter of sticky rice flour is spread on the hot pan, filled with coconut and jaggery and folded over, so the outside is lightly speckled and the inside chewy and sweet. A heavy cast-iron pan stands in well for the khola. Common mistake: a pan that is too hot; the batter should set slowly with no browning in the first minute, and it is ready to fold when the edges lift and the top no longer looks wet. Chef's tip: wipe the pan with a cloth dipped in oil between each pitha rather than pouring oil in, so they stay pale and even.

50 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Aval vilayichathuFlattened rice with jaggery and coconut

Aval vilayichathu is the quickest sweet in a Kerala kitchen, made in Palakkad and Thrissur homes for evening tea, for children back from school, or as an offering for Krishna on Janmashtami. Thick beaten rice is stirred into hot jaggery syrup with coconut, then finished with toasted sesame, roasted chana and coconut slivers so it turns chewy, dry and fragrant. A common mistake is adding the aval while the syrup is too thin; the flakes go mushy instead of glazing, so cook the jaggery and coconut until thick first. Chef's tip: use thick red aval if you can find it; it keeps a bite and has a gentle nutty taste.

25 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ugadi pachadiSix-taste new year relish

On Ugadi morning in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, the first thing anyone eats after the oil bath and prayers is a spoonful of this pachadi, handed round in a small steel cup. Each ingredient stands for a feeling the coming year will bring: jaggery for joy, bitter neem flowers for sorrow, sour tamarind for disgust, raw mango for surprise, pepper for anger and salt for fear, so tasting them together is a quiet promise to accept whatever comes. In Maharashtra, Gudi Padwa begins with a close cousin, tender neem leaves ground with jaggery, cumin and tamarind. The finished pachadi is thin, sweet first, then sharp and faintly bitter. The common mistake is a heavy hand with neem: half a spoon too much and bitterness drowns every other taste. Stir until the jaggery has dissolved completely and no grains crunch against the spoon. Chef's tip: make it on the morning itself, as the cut mango softens and the neem turns muddy if it sits overnight.

15 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

UmbadiyuClay-pot roasted vegetables

In the Valsad and Bulsar countryside of south Gujarat, the Uttarayan season brings roadside stalls roasting umbadiyu: a clay pot (matlu) is packed with surti papdi beans, baby potatoes, small sweet potatoes and purple yam, all slathered in green masala and layered with bitter kalar leaves, then turned upside down into a pit of smouldering straw and dung cakes for an hour or more. Unlike undhiyu, there is no gravy, no fried muthiya and no frying at all; the vegetables steam and roast in their own moisture and come out smoky, tender and coated in herbs and green garlic. At home a heavy pot on a low flame, set on a tava, does the job. Common mistake: adding water; you only need the oil and the vegetables' own juices, and it is done when a knife slides easily through the largest potato. Chef's tip: if you can't get kalar leaves, line the pot with banana leaf and a handful of ajwain leaves for the same leafy aroma.

115 minIndianVegetarianVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ThenkuzhalRice and urad flour spirals

Thenkuzhal is the plain, pale murukku of Tamil Nadu, especially in Chettinad and Thanjavur kitchens, pressed through a single-hole plate into neat spirals for Deepavali and Krishna Jayanthi. Unlike butter murukku, it relies on roasted urad flour and a spoon of hot oil for its crunch, with cumin and a little sesame for flavour, and it should be cream-coloured, smooth and light. It is eaten with coffee and kept in tins for weeks. The common mistake is a dough that is too stiff, which breaks while pressing and gives a rough, cracked surface; it should be soft enough to pipe smoothly. Chef's tip: press the spirals onto the back of an oiled slotted spoon or a square of parchment and slide them into the oil, so they keep their shape.

60 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ManoharamRice flour sticks in jaggery syrup

Manoharam is a Chettinad sweet made for weddings and the sweet trays of Deepavali, often shaped into a tall cone for the bridal seer. Short, crisp sticks of rice and moong flour are pressed and fried, then tossed in a jaggery syrup cooked to the hard-ball stage, so the syrup sets around them into a crunchy, molasses-sweet cluster. It is eaten in small pieces with coffee and keeps for weeks. The usual mistake is undercooked syrup, which never sets and leaves the sticks soggy; test it in cold water until it snaps. Chef's tip: have the fried sticks warm and ready in a wide greased bowl before the syrup reaches the right stage, as it starts setting within a minute.

75 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Biscuit rottiStuffed semolina half-moons

Biscuit rotti is a Mangalorean snack-shop favourite, eaten with evening coffee and made in large batches for weddings and Udupi temple-town feasts. The flaky, biscuit-crisp shell wraps a savoury-sweet filling of roasted semolina and fresh coconut with green chilli, ginger and curry leaves, held together with a little water so it stays moist. They are best eaten the same day, warm or at room temperature. The usual mistake is frying in oil that is too hot: the shell blisters and browns before it turns crisp, then goes soft as it cools. Fry on medium so they take a full 5-6 minutes. Chef's tip: let the cooked filling cool completely before you stuff the rounds; warm filling makes the dough sticky and the edges won't seal.

65 minIndianSnacks & StartersVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bharela marchaStuffed green chillies

In Kathiawad, bharela marcha are made with the long, fat and fairly mild bhavnagri chillies that come in every winter, and they sit beside a thali of rotla, kadhi and khichdi as a sweet-sour-hot side. The filling is besan roasted in oil until nutty, mixed with sugar, lemon, turmeric and dhana-jiru, and the chillies are cooked covered on low heat until soft and blistered in patches. A common mistake is using small, very hot chillies; choose large mild ones, or the dish is too fierce to eat. Chef's tip: slit the chillies only on one side and scrape out the seeds and ribs; the heat drops right down and the filling stays inside.

30 minIndianSidesVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kalkandu vadaiSweet urad dal rock sugar vadai

Kalkandu vadai is the sweet cousin of medu vadai, made in Chettinad homes for festivals and for the trays that go to a bride's house. Soaked urad dal and a little rice are ground fluffy and mixed with crushed kalkandu (rock sugar) and coconut, then fried into small golden rounds that are crisp outside, soft inside, with pockets of melted crystal sugar. They are eaten warm with coffee. A common mistake is grinding the rock sugar in with the batter, which turns the batter runny; crush it coarsely and fold it in just before frying. Chef's tip: fry these on slightly lower heat than savoury vadai, because sugar browns fast and burns before the centre cooks.

50 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MoodeSteamed idli in leaf cylinders

Moode is the festive idli of Mangaluru and Udupi, made for Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi and big family breakfasts. The batter goes into tall cylinders woven from kedige (screwpine) leaves, which perfume the soft, spongy rice cake with a floral scent you can't get any other way; markets on the coast sell the woven moulds ready to fill. Slice it into thick rounds and serve with coconut chutney, sambar or a spicy chana gassi. The common mistake is filling the leaf moulds to the brim: the batter rises as it steams and spills out, leaving a dense cake. Fill them only two-thirds full. Chef's tip: if you can't find screwpine leaves, roll banana leaves into tight cones and tie them with string; the shape and steaming are the same, only the scent is milder.

60 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ratalu puriFried purple yam slices

Ratalu puri belongs to Surat's evening snack trail, where farsan sellers on Chowk Bazaar fry purple yam slices to order and shake a tangy masala over them while they are still sizzling. Inside the crisp, golden coat the yam turns creamy and faintly sweet, and the masala of dry mango, black salt and chilli wakes everything up. They are eaten hot with green chutney, usually on cool winter evenings when ratalu is in season. A common mistake is cutting the yam too thick: slices thicker than 3 mm stay raw in the middle by the time the batter browns. Chef's tip: oil your hands before peeling ratalu, as the raw sap can make skin itch.

30 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChalimidiRice flour and jaggery sweet

Chalimidi is a no-cook-flour sweet from Andhra and Telangana, offered to the goddess at Navaratri and Nagula Chavithi and handed out at naming ceremonies and baby showers. Soaked rice is dried, pounded into fresh flour and stirred into a thick jaggery syrup with coconut, so it sets into a soft, damp, slightly crumbly dough that is shaped into small balls. It tastes of molasses and cardamom and is eaten as it is, at room temperature. The most common mistake is undercooking the syrup: a thin syrup leaves the chalimidi sticky and pasty, so cook it to a firm soft-ball stage. Chef's tip: use freshly ground soaked rice, not shop rice flour; the slightly damp flour is what gives chalimidi its tender bite.

35 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Semiya upmaSavoury vermicelli

Semiya upma is a fixture of Tamil home cooking, from Coimbatore to Chennai, made for breakfast, for school tiffin boxes and very often for a light dinner when nobody wants a heavy meal. Ready-roasted wheat vermicelli is cooked in a tempering of mustard seeds, dal, curry leaves, onion and green chilli with a handful of peas until each strand is soft and separate. It is mild and savoury with a squeeze of lemon, and children love it. The common mistake is adding too much water, which turns the vermicelli into a sticky lump. Chef's tip: once the water is absorbed, take the pan off the heat and leave it covered for 2 minutes; the strands finish cooking in the steam and stay separate.

15 minIndianPasta & NoodlesVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sharkara varattiJaggery-glazed banana chips

Sharkara varatti sits at the top left of every Onam sadya leaf in Kerala, next to the salty banana chips, and boxes of it travel to relatives abroad every August. Raw nendran bananas are cut into thick half-moons, fried until crisp, then tossed in jaggery syrup cooked to the thread stage with dry ginger, cardamom and cumin, so each piece wears a thin, crackly brown coat. A common mistake is pulling the syrup too early: if it isn't at a firm one-thread stage the coating stays sticky and the chips go soft in a day. Chef's tip: once you add the chips keep stirring off the heat until the syrup turns dry and sandy; that's when it sets crisp.

60 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Vishu kanjiRice and green gram porridge

In Kerala, Vishu starts before sunrise with the kani, when each member of the family is led with closed eyes to see a tray of rice, gold-yellow konna flowers, fruit, a mirror and a lamp, so the year begins with something lucky. Breakfast afterwards, in many central Kerala homes, is this kanji: rice and lightly roasted whole green gram cooked soft and finished with coconut milk, eaten with a dry chakka or pumpkin side and pappadam. It is mild, creamy and nourishing, nothing like a plain rice gruel. The common mistake is boiling the thick coconut milk, which splits it and turns the kanji grainy; it goes in at the end, off the boil. It is ready when the gram has burst and the rice falls apart when stirred. Chef's tip: a few crushed cumin seeds and a shallot fried in coconut oil spooned over each bowl make it taste festive.

45 minIndianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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ChuruttuRice wafer cones with coconut filling

Churuttu, 'the roll', is a wedding sweet of the Syrian Christian families of central Kerala, around Kottayam, Pala and Changanassery, where aunts sit together for a day before the wedding shaping hundreds of these cones for the guests to take home. Paper-thin rice wafers are rolled into cones, filled with a sweet crumble of roasted rice flour, coconut and cardamom, sealed and dried until crisp. They shatter at the first bite and melt to a sweet, toasty dust. The mistake is a wet filling; damp coconut softens the cones within a day, so the filling must be roasted dry. Chef's tip: work with one wafer at a time and keep the rest under a damp cloth; they crack if they dry before rolling.

110 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Bonda soupUrad dal fritters in moong soup

Bonda soup is a Bengaluru original, served in the old vegetarian hotels of Basavanagudi and Malleshwaram as a mid-morning or rainy-evening snack. Fluffy urad dal bondas are fried and dropped into a bowl of thin, tempered moong dal soup with pepper and lemon, so they soak up some of it and stay crisp in places. It's comforting, peppery and filling. A common mistake is a runny batter; it should hold a peak, or the bondas soak oil and fall apart in the soup. Chef's tip: pour the soup only when serving, not before, so the bondas still crunch at the first spoonful.

60 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Mochar chopBanana flower croquettes

Mochar chop is the more patient cousin of the vegetable chop: croquettes of finely chopped banana flower cooked with potato, coconut and Bengali spices, crumbed and fried. Bengali families make them at home for Durga Puja evenings and Bijoya visits, when a plate of chops goes round with tea, and the best telebhaja shops in north Kolkata sell them through the festival. The filling is earthy, slightly sweet and nutty, under a very crisp crust. Common mistake: not removing the hard stamen and the papery hood from each floret, which stay tough and bitter however long you cook them. Chef's tip: oil your hands and drop the chopped flower straight into water with turmeric and a little salt; it stops the florets turning black and keeps your hands from staining.

75 minIndianSnacks & StartersVegan
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Tekeli pithaSteamed coconut jaggery rice cake

In Assamese homes the nights before Magh Bihu are spent making pitha, and tekeli pitha is the one named after the pot it is cooked on: a cloth is tied over the mouth of a tekeli (a small clay water pot), and damp rice flour, coconut and jaggery are piled on top and steamed by the water boiling underneath. It comes off as a soft, crumbly cake, sweet in the middle and plain at the edges, eaten warm with tea on Bihu morning or packed into the bhogali spread. Any narrow-necked pot or saucepan works at home. Common mistake: using dry shop rice flour straight from the packet; it needs to be just damp enough to clump when pressed, or the cake falls apart, and it is done when the top looks matt and a skewer comes out clean, about 10–12 minutes. Chef's tip: soak and grind your own rice flour if you can; flour from soaked rice, dried for an hour, gives the softest pitha.

45 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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NippattuPeanut rice crackers

Nippattu is the Karnataka tea-time cracker, sold in Iyengar bakeries from Bengaluru to Mysuru and fried at home for Gowri-Ganesha and Deepavali. Unlike the thin, delicate Tamil thattai, nippattu is thicker and chunkier, packed with crushed peanuts and roasted gram (hurigadale) so every bite crunches with nuts. It's spiced with chilli, hing and curry leaves and keeps for weeks. A common mistake is skipping the hot oil rubbed into the flour; without it the crackers turn hard instead of short and crisp. Chef's tip: prick each disc a few times with a fork so it fries flat and crisp right through instead of puffing.

60 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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MahuraMixed vegetables with dal

Mahura is the vegetable curry of the Jagannath temple tradition in Odisha and a fixture on Rath Yatra lunches at home: pumpkin, raw banana, yam, aubergine and sweet potato cooked soft with a little dal and a paste of roasted cumin, ginger, coconut and a touch of jaggery. Like all temple food it uses no onion, garlic, tomato, chilli powder or New World vegetables, so it tastes gentle, earthy and faintly sweet. It is thicker and more vegetable-heavy than dalma, with the dal only binding the vegetables. Common mistake: stirring too much once the pumpkin softens, which melts it into the gravy; the mahura is done when the yam is tender, the vegetables hold their shape and the gravy coats them. Serve with kanika or plain rice. Chef's tip: finish with a pinch of roasted cumin and dry red chilli powder ground together (bhaja masala), which Odia cooks add right at the end.

50 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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KamarkattuCoconut jaggery candy balls

Kamarkattu is the toffee of Tamil village shops, dark, chewy, caramel-scented balls of coconut and jaggery that cost a few paise in the days when children bought sweets one at a time. It's quick to make at home and keeps for a couple of weeks. The mistake is taking the jaggery too far: if the syrup hardens past the soft-ball stage, kamarkattu turns rock hard and pulls fillings. Chef's tip: test a drop in cold water; when it forms a soft ball you can squash, switch off and shape immediately.

30 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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Surti alu puriPuris with white pea ragda

Surat's alu puri is built on the white-pea ragda, not on potatoes, and the stalls of Chowk Bazaar and Athwa Lines pile crisp, flat puris on a plate and drown them in hot, spiced white-pea ragda, then add raw onion, green and sweet chutneys, a shake of masala and a snowfall of sev. It is a winter evening snack, eaten standing, hot, spicy and crunchy all at once. The common mistake is making the ragda too thick: it should be loose enough to soak into the puris a little, so thin it with hot water just before serving. Chef's tip: prick the puris well before frying so they stay flat and crisp instead of puffing up.

95 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganSpicy
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Lasaniya sevGarlic gram flour sev

Every Kathiawadi and Ahmedabadi farsan shop keeps a tin of lasaniya sev, the red, garlic-packed cousin of plain sev, and many homes press a batch before Diwali or a long train journey. Pounded garlic and red chilli go into the gram flour dough, so each fine noodle is crunchy, hot and strongly garlicky. It is eaten by the handful with tea, sprinkled on poha or mixed into chevdo. The common mistake is leaving garlic in pieces: they block the sev press and burn in the oil, so grind the garlic to a smooth paste and sieve it in with a spoon of water. Chef's tip: break the sev into the oil in one round spiral and fry only until the bubbling stops; overfried sev turns bitter and dark.

40 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
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SaruchakliThin rice and urad dal crêpes

In Bengal, Poush Sankranti in mid-January is pithe-puli day, when the new rice and the first nolen gur (date-palm jaggery) of winter turn into a table of pithas, and saruchakli is the plain, savoury-leaning one that starts the meal. A thin batter of soaked rice and urad dal is spread on a hot pan to make delicate, lacy crêpes with crisp edges and a soft centre, eaten rolled with nolen gur or with a light potato curry. Common mistake: a batter that is too thick; it should pour like single cream so it spreads thin, and the crêpe is ready when the edges lift and turn golden and the top looks dry. Chef's tip: brush the pan with a cut half potato dipped in oil between each saruchakli; it greases evenly and stops sticking.

40 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Tal ni chikkiSesame jaggery brittle

On 14 January every Gujarati rooftop fills with kite-flyers, and somewhere between the manja reels there is always a tin of tal ni chikki, broken into shards. The thinnest kind, tal sankli, is rolled out so fine you can almost see through it; it shatters with a snap and tastes of toasted sesame and dark caramel. It is a two-ingredient sweet where everything depends on the jaggery. Common mistake: pulling the jaggery off the heat too soon; it must reach the hard-crack stage, when a drop in cold water sets instantly and snaps cleanly, or the chikki stays chewy and sticks to the teeth. Chef's tip: work fast and roll on the greased back of a steel thali; if it hardens before you finish, warm it in the pan for a few seconds.

30 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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Ezhu kari kootuSeven vegetable and dal curry

The partner to kali on Arudra Darshan morning is a kootu of seven (ezhu) vegetables, an old Tamil Brahmin custom that uses whatever native winter produce is at the market: pumpkin, ash gourd, raw plantain, sweet potato, broad beans, colocasia and chow-chow are a typical set, and no onion, garlic, tomato or 'English' vegetables go in. They simmer in tamarind water with soft toor dal and a paste of roasted coriander, chana dal, red chillies and coconut, giving a thick, tangy, gently hot stew that cuts the sweetness of the kali. Common mistake: adding tamarind before the vegetables are cooked, which keeps them hard; cook them first in plain water until a knife goes in easily, then add the tamarind and boil until its raw smell has gone. Chef's tip: roast the paste spices until the chana dal turns golden-red, which gives the kootu its depth.

60 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Kappa varuthathuTapioca chips

Kappa varuthathu, crisp tapioca chips, are sold by weight in Kerala bakeries from Thiruvananthapuram to Kozhikode and fried at home whenever fresh tapioca is cheap after the monsoon. Peeled roots are shaved very thin, fried in coconut oil with a splash of salt water, and dusted with chilli powder while still hot. They are lighter and crunchier than banana chips, with a faint sweetness under the heat. A common mistake is crowding the pan: the slices stick together and steam instead of crisping, so fry a single handful at a time. Chef's tip: soak the slices in cold water for 10 minutes and dry them thoroughly; it washes off surface starch so the chips stay pale and separate.

50 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Thavala vadaiMixed dal and rice fritters

Thavala vadai belongs to the old Brahmin kitchens of Thanjavur and Kumbakonam, where it is fried for the afternoon 'tiffin' or for guests on festival days. Four dals and a little rice are ground coarse with pepper, then studded with tiny coconut cubes, so each vadai is rough and pebbly outside and soft and nutty within. The usual mistake is grinding it as smooth as medu vada batter; thavala vadai wants a gritty, semolina-like texture, so keep the grinder on pulse. Chef's tip: shape them small and thick with a dent in the middle using your thumb, so the centre cooks through before the outside darkens.

50 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Jamnagari ghughraPotato and pea fried pastries

In the evening the lanes near Jamnagar's Darbargadh fill with ghughra carts, where crimped half-moon pastries are fried by the hundred, split open on the plate and drenched in green chutney, sweet date chutney and red garlic chutney, then finished with masala and fine sev. The filling is a coarse mash of potato and green peas with ginger, chilli and a touch of sugar and lemon; the pastry is thin and blistered. It is street food eaten standing up, messy and hot. The common mistake is frying on high heat, which gives a pale, soft crust with raw spots around the crimped edge. Chef's tip: seal the edges with a little water and twist the pleats tightly, or the filling escapes and spits.

75 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganSpicy
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Pidi kozhukattaiSavoury rice flour dumplings

Pidi kozhukattai, literally 'fist dumplings', is a Tamil evening tiffin and a Vinayaka Chaturthi offering in homes that make both sweet and savoury kozhukattai. The rice flour is cooked in tempered, spiced water until it forms a dough, then squeezed in your fist so each piece carries the print of your fingers, and steamed to a soft, light bite. The mistake is adding all the flour at once to cold water; it lumps and never cooks evenly, so stir it into boiling water in a stream. Chef's tip: shape them while the dough is still warm, with oiled palms; cold dough cracks.

40 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Jamnagari kachoriDry sweet-spicy kachori

Jamnagari kachori are the little dry kachori that travel: Gujarati families buy them by the box in Jamnagar and carry them abroad, because the filling has no water in it and they keep for a month. The pastry is short and crisp, and the filling is a crumbly mix of roasted besan, dry coconut, sesame, fennel, coriander seed, sugar, raisins and a hit of chilli and dry mango, sweet, sour and hot at once. They are a tea-time snack and part of every Diwali tray. The common mistake is frying them fast; they need a long, slow fry on low heat so the pastry cooks crisp all the way through. Chef's tip: roast the besan for the filling until it smells nutty and just darkens, or the kachori taste raw and floury.

90 minIndianSnacks & StartersVegan
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Bhavnagari gathiyaCrunchy gram flour sticks

Bhavnagar is Gujarat's gathiya town, and its namkeen shops sell these thick, knobbly sticks by the kilo, warm in the morning with fried chillies and papaya sambharo, and boxed up for relatives abroad. They are thicker than any sev, with a rough, bubbly surface from being rubbed through a flat perforated gathiya jharo (or pressed through the largest disc of a sev press), and the dough is beaten with oil and soda so they stay light and crunchy rather than hard. Ajwain and coarse black pepper give them their warmth. The common mistake is a stiff dough: it will not pass through the holes and the gathiya come out dense. Chef's tip: beat the oil, water and soda together until white and frothy before adding the flour; that is what makes them airy.

40 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Bhuni chhalliRoasted corn on the cob

When the first rains cool Punjab in July, the smell of chhalli roasting over coal braziers drifts across every busy road, and the vendor fans the embers with a straw mat until the kernels pop and blacken. The cob is then rubbed with half a lemon dipped in salt and red chilli, so you get smoke, sour, salt and heat in one bite. Desi field corn is chewy and starchy rather than sweet, which is exactly why it chars so well. The common mistake is roasting on a low flame, which steams the kernels soft without colour; you want high, direct heat and constant turning. Chef's tip: keep a few husks on as a handle and dip the lemon in the masala fresh for every cob.

20 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Then mittaiSyrup-soaked rice and urad balls

Then mittai, 'honey sweets', were sold from glass jars at the petti kadai outside every Tamil village school in the 1980s and 90s, glossy red balls that crunch and then squirt sweet syrup. They're nostalgic now and great fun to make at home for children's parties. The mistake is frying too hot, which browns the outside before the centre cooks; they should fry slowly to a crisp shell. Chef's tip: let the fried balls cool for a minute before dropping them into warm, not hot, syrup so they stay crisp instead of going soggy.

60 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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Thunka puriGiant puffed puris

Every Kartik Purnima, Cuttack holds Bali Jatra on the banks of the Mahanadi, a huge open-air fair that remembers the Odia sailors who once set off for Bali and Java; families float little paper and banana-bark boats at dawn and spend the day eating at the stalls. Thunka puri is the fair's famous snack: puris rolled as big as a plate, which balloon into hollow golden domes in the oil and are torn open over a bowl of hot ghugni (yellow pea curry), onion and tamarind chutney. Common mistake: oil that is not hot enough or dough that is too soft; the puri then drinks oil and stays flat. Get the oil to about 190 °C, so a pinch of dough rises at once, and it is done when it is puffed and pale gold on both sides. Chef's tip: slide the puri in, then gently press the centre with a slotted spoon and splash hot oil over the top; it will puff fully within seconds.

45 minIndianBreads & ParathasVegan
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HolanRoasted green chickpeas

In late winter, around the time of Holi, village children in rural Punjab pull up bunches of green chickpea plants from the edge of the field and throw them onto a small fire of dry stalks. Once the pods blacken they rake them out and shell them hot, blowing on their fingers, and the bright green peas inside taste smoky, sweet and nutty. At home you can do the same in a heavy iron kadai. The mistake is leaving them on until the pods are fully burnt; by then the peas inside are dry and hard. Stop when the pods are blistered black in patches and the peas are just tender. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt and chilli with a squeeze of lemon on the shelled peas turns them into a quick chaat.

15 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Rauh di kheerRice in sugarcane juice

In Punjabi villages the cane harvest is in by Lohri, and on the night of the bonfire a pot of rice is set to cook slowly in fresh sugarcane juice (rauh) with no milk and no added sugar. The custom is to leave it to cool overnight and eat it cold the next morning, on Maghi, so you will often hear 'poh rinni, magh khaadi': cooked in Poh, eaten in Magh. It sets into a soft, brown, gently caramel pudding that tastes of cane. Common mistake: cooking on a high heat; the juice catches and turns bitter, so simmer it low and stir from the bottom, and it is done when the rice is very soft and the kheer coats the back of a spoon thickly. Chef's tip: skim off all the grey scum as the juice first comes to the boil, or the kheer tastes earthy.

120 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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Halasina happalaJackfruit papads

In Udupi and the rainy Malnad hills, families turn the glut of summer jackfruit into happala: raw bulbs cooked soft, ground with chilli and cumin, pressed into thin rounds and dried on the terrace for the monsoon months. Fried in coconut oil they puff into a crisp, earthy papad with a gentle chilli heat, eaten with rice and saaru or on their own with tea. The common mistake is pressing them too thick; they stay leathery and won't puff. Aim for about 2 mm, thin enough to see light through the edges. Chef's tip: oil your hands, the plastic sheets and the press, because raw jackfruit latex is very sticky and will glue everything together.

90 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Talela marchaFried green chillies

Every plate of gathiya, dalvada or bhajiya sold in Gujarat comes with a little heap of talela marcha, green chillies dropped into the farsan seller's kadai for a few seconds until they blister and turn olive green, then shaken with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Bitten between mouthfuls of farsan they give a fresh, smoky hit of heat. Use thick, fairly mild chillies if you can find them. The common mistake is frying wet chillies: water on the skin makes the oil spit violently. Chef's tip: slit them lengthways first so steam escapes and they don't burst in the oil.

13 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Vazhakkai bajjiRaw banana fritters

Every Chennai beach stall and every Tamil wedding tiffin has a tray of vazhakkai bajji, long thin slices of raw plantain in a soft, puffy, red-tinged coat. They are best eaten minutes out of the oil around 5 pm, with coconut chutney and a tumbler of coffee. The mistake is slicing too thick: the banana stays starchy and hard while the batter overbrowns, so cut slices 2–3 mm thin, ideally on a mandoline, lengthways. Chef's tip: a spoonful of rice flour and a pinch of hot oil whisked into the batter makes the coating crisp outside and keeps it from going soggy.

30 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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SunthavadaDry ginger, coconut and sugar mix

At exactly noon on Ram Navami, when Maharashtrian temples and homes rock a decorated cradle to mark Rama's birth, each person is handed a spoonful of sunthavada: dry ginger powder, toasted dry coconut, poppy seeds and sugar pounded together into a fragrant, warming powder. The same mix is given at Janmashtami midnight. It is sweet, nutty and gently fiery from the ginger. Common mistake: burning the coconut; it should be toasted on a low heat only until it turns pale gold and smells sweet, then cooled before grinding so it does not turn oily. Chef's tip: grind in short pulses; long grinding releases the coconut oil and the powder clumps.

15 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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Kacha kela na vadaRaw banana fritters

In Jain homes in Ahmedabad, Palanpur and Mumbai's Gujarati neighbourhoods, raw green banana takes the place of potato, so these vada are the Jain answer to batata vada, made for paryushan-season tea and for guests. The bananas are boiled, mashed and spiced with dry ginger, green chilli, lemon and a little sugar, rolled into balls, dipped in gram flour batter and fried. They taste much like batata vada but are slightly firmer, sweeter and fruity. There is no onion, garlic, potato or fresh ginger in this version. The common mistake is overboiling the bananas until they are waterlogged; the filling then goes sticky and the vada split in the oil, so cook them only until a knife slides in. Chef's tip: mash the bananas while warm with a potato masher, not a blender, so the filling stays light.

45 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Avalose podiRoasted rice flour and coconut powder

Avalose podi is a keeping snack from central Kerala, especially Syrian Christian homes around Kottayam and Thrissur, made in big batches before Christmas or long journeys. Coconut is rubbed into rice flour and roasted for close to an hour until the mix turns sandy, golden and smells like toasted biscuits. It is eaten by the spoonful with a little sugar and a ripe banana, or with black coffee, and can be bound with jaggery into avalose unda. The mistake is high heat; the coconut browns before the flour is cooked through and the podi tastes raw and bitter. Chef's tip: keep stirring over low heat until a pinch, cooled, falls apart like sand between your fingers.

65 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Kuttu ki pakodiBuckwheat and potato fritters

Across North India, homes keeping the Mahashivratri vrat give up grains for the day, so the evening snack is made with kuttu (buckwheat) flour instead of gram flour, bound with mashed potato and seasoned only with green chilli and sendha namak (rock salt). The fritters come out dark, crunchy and nutty, and are eaten hot with yoghurt or a green chutney made with rock salt once the evening puja is done. Rules differ: some families also avoid coriander leaves or black pepper while fasting, so leave out anything your household does not use. Common mistake: making the batter too thin; buckwheat has no gluten, so a runny batter breaks apart in the oil. It should be thick enough to drop from a spoon in a soft lump. Chef's tip: fry at about 175 °C; the pakodi should rise to the surface within 20 seconds and turn deep brown in 3–4 minutes, so they cook through without soaking up oil.

30 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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GirmitPuffed rice with onion masala

Girmit is north Karnataka's evening street snack, mixed to order on the carts of Hubballi and Dharwad and eaten with a fried green chilli bajji on the side. Puffed rice is tossed in a quick tadka of onion, tomato, tamarind and jaggery, then thickened with roasted gram powder so each grain is coated rather than wet, and finished with sev and coriander. It's tangy, sweet and spicy in one mouthful. The common mistake is adding the puffed rice too early or using too much tamarind water; it goes soggy within minutes, so toss it off the heat and serve at once. Chef's tip: warm the puffed rice in a dry pan for a minute first; crisp mandakki takes the masala without going limp.

20 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Sev khamniCrumbled khaman with sev

Sev khamni belongs to Surat's evening farsan counters and to Ahmedabad, where the richer, nuttier version is sold as amiri khaman. Coarsely ground chana dal is steamed into soft khaman, crumbled, and tossed in a hot tempering of mustard, sesame, garlic and green chilli with sugar and lemon, so it is sweet, sour, hot and moist all at once. It is heaped on a plate and covered with fine sev, coriander and pomegranate, and eaten with a spoon at tea time or as a party starter. The common mistake is crumbling the khaman while hot, which turns it to paste; let it cool fully first and break it with your fingertips. Chef's tip: add the sev only at the table, or it softens within minutes.

55 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Bellam gavvaluShell-shaped dough in jaggery syrup

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sankranti is a three-day harvest festival of muggulu (rangoli) in front of every door, haridasu singers in the lanes and tins of fried sweets, and gavvalu are among the first to be made. Small pieces of dough are rolled over a ridged gavvala board or the back of a fork so they curl into little shells (gavvalu means cowrie shells), fried crisp, then tossed in jaggery syrup until each one is glazed with a dry, sugary crust. Common mistake: syrup that is not cooked far enough; it must reach the hard-ball stage, when a drop in water rolls into a firm ball, or the shells turn sticky instead of crisp-coated. Chef's tip: keep tossing after adding the shells until the syrup turns opaque and dry; that is the moment to tip them out.

65 minIndianIndian SweetsVegan
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