Tag: spices

Calcutta Mutton Biryani

Makes 5 servings. A mélange of Awadhi cooking techniques, Mughlai flavours, and Bengali sentiments, Calcutta biryani is a true culinary masterpiece. Low on heat and high on flavour, it is undeniably my favourite type of biryani. Back when I was 16 in Calcutta, a bawarchi (masterchef) came to our house to make mutton biryani for […]

Kosha Mangsho Pie

Makes one double-crust 9 inch pie Like many, we haven’t been able to travel home in over a year. Home. Just the word brings comfort. To us, home is languid lunches and evening snacks and heavy dinners. If home had a flavour, it would be of browned mutton—or Kosha Mangsho—an incredibly rich and tender Bengali […]

Parle-G Xmas Macarons

Makes 30 x 4 cm wide sandwiched macarons. I tasted my very first macaron in France, from the legendary Ladurée in Paris. Crisp and airy on the outside with an ever so slightly chewy interior, those delicate meringue sandwich cookies set the bar impossibly high. While I’ve more or less used Ladurée’s recipe for my […]

Indo-Thai Khow Suey

Makes 4-6 servings. Khow Suey or ohn no khao swè is a curry based noodle soup that is topped with a variety of condiments. Brought to the subcontinent during WWII by migrants from Myanmar (then Burma), no one Khow Suey is alike. Some are distinctly Indian, some reflect Pakistani influences, others stay true to their […]

Goan Chorise Chili

Makes 4-6 servings. One lazy winter evening, I was rummaging around in the fridge and saw some leftover rajma curry and day-old stir fried carrots and beans. Sigh. Then I spotted a chain of Goan sausages, and thought, huh, that stuff can zhuzh up anything. Thus was born my Goan Chorise chili. A one-pot wonder […]