Tadka before everything
If cumin and mustard do not crackle and smell nutty, the oil is not ready. I wait for that smell before onions go in.
🇮🇳 Indian cooking from my kitchen
Indian recipes I cook on repeat
Indian food in my house is not one cuisine — it is tadka crackling in ghee, dough resting under a cloth, and a pot I refuse to open too early. I grew up around that rhythm: onions darker than the recipe says, salt checked three times, someone always asking if the chai is ready.
How I cook this
Notes from the stove, not a brochure
When I write these recipes down, I am not trying to cover every state. I am writing what survives a normal weeknight or a festival evening in my kitchen — rice that stays fluffy after dum, dal that tastes deep without a restaurant burner, breads that puff on a tired tawa.
If you are looking for mornings specifically — chapati weekdays, paratha weekends, chai timing — I put that in a short Indian breakfast guide.
The technique that changed my cooking most is a proper tadka: whole spices in hot fat until they smell alive, then the rest of the dish built on that. Rush the tempering and everything downstream tastes flat, no matter how many spices you add later.
Dum is the other lesson. Seal the pot, keep the heat low, and let steam finish the work. That is how biryani stopped being “spiced rice with chicken” for me and started tasting like the festival pot I still chase.
Stop the rice early
For biryani I pull basmati around 70% done. Dum finishes the grain; boiling it fully first makes mush.
Cream is a finish
Dal makhani and butter chicken need long simmer time first. Cream at the end polishes — it does not invent flavour.
Technique notes reflect common North Indian home practice (tadka, dum sealing, overnight dals) as cooked and retested in my kitchen — not scraped restaurant copy.
24 tested dishes
Indian recipes on CookMe
Same card layout as the homepage — open a recipe for the full method, tips, and estimated nutrition.
RiceAuthentic Chicken Biryani (Dum Style)
I marinate the chicken for hours, fry the onions dark, and seal the pot so the saffron steam does the real work.
RiceAromatic Vegetable Pulao
Weeknight rice: bloom whole spices in ghee, add veg, lock the lid, and do not peek until it rests.
RiceComforting Moong Dal Khichdi
What I cook when someone is tired — soft rice, soft dal, bold salt, and a last spoon of ghee.
RiceSouth Indian Lemon Rice
Best with yesterday’s rice. Mustard tempering, curry leaves that spit, lemon off the heat.
CurryRestaurant-Style Dal Makhani
Overnight soak, long simmer, cream only at the end — this one rewards patience more than fancy ingredients.
CurryVibrant Palak Paneer
Blanch, ice bath, blend. That is how the spinach stays green instead of turning khaki.
CurryCreamy Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
Charred yoghurt-marinated chicken in a strained tomato-cashew gravy. Kasuri methi crushed in my palms at the end.
CurryPunjabi Chole (Chana Masala)
Dark onion base, tangy chickpeas, and enough simmer time for the gravy to cling to every bite.
BreadSoft Butter Naan on the Stovetop
No tandoor at home — I cook these on a hot tawa and brush garlic butter the second they puff.
BreadSoft Everyday Chapati (Roti)
Soft atta dough, a proper rest, and the cloth-press trick so they puff without drama.
BreadPuffy Homemade Puri
Hot oil, rolled thinner than you think, and a quick flip for the balloon — messy and worth it.
BreadPunjabi Aloo Paratha
Spiced potato stuffing sealed tight so it does not leak; cook on medium so the outside browns without burning.
StreetCrispy Masala Dosa
Fermented batter spread thin, potato masala in the middle, edges left to crisp until they talk.
StreetStreet-Style Pani Puri
I chill the mint pani hard and assemble one shell at a time so nothing goes soggy.
StreetCrunchy Bhel Puri
Assemble at the table: puffed rice, chutneys, sev, onion. Mix fast or it softens.
StreetMumbai Vada Pav
Crispy batata vada, green chutney, dry garlic chutney, soft pav — street lunch at home.
SweetSoft Gulab Jamun in Rose Syrup
Milk-powder dough, low frying heat, and patience while they soak in warm rose-cardamom syrup.
SweetWinter Gajar Halwa
Grated carrots cooked down in milk until sticky-sweet; ghee and cardamom at the finish.
SweetCreamy Saffron Kheer
Slow rice in milk, saffron bloomed first, nuts at the end — stir so nothing catches.
SweetRoasted Besan Ladoo
Roast the besan until it smells nutty, not raw. That smell is the whole recipe.
DrinkProper Masala Chai
Crush the spices, simmer with milk, do not rush the brew — weak chai is just brown water.
DrinkCreamy Mango Lassi
Ripe mango, thick yoghurt, a pinch of cardamom. Blend cold and taste before you sweeten.
DrinkCooling Rose Sharbat
Rose syrup, chilled water, lemon, ice. I keep the syrup bottle in the fridge all summer.
DrinkFestive Thandai
Almonds, fennel, pepper, rose — soaked, ground, stirred into cold milk for Holi evenings.