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Buttered saffron rice

Sweet tomato chutney

Kulfi • Fruit

Pork chops à la Jaffrey

Green beans with onion paste

Sweet rice with carrots and raisins

Cucumber and tomato with lemon juice

Gajar-ka-halva • Fruit

Green peppers stuffed with kheema

Okra with onions

Plain boiled rice

Karhi (with pakoris)

Carrots pickled in oil

Gulab jamun • Fruit

Sindhi gosht (Sindhi meat)

Fried eggplants with sour green chutney

Cabbage with onions

Pooris or Parathas

Tomato and onion with lemon juice

Malpua • Fruit

MENU FOR A PARTY

Koftas (Indian meatballs)

Pullao (rice with lamb)

Shrimp with brown sauce

Cauliflower with ginger and Chinese parsley

Whole unhulled urad and rajma dal

Yogurt with spinach

Cucumber and tomato with lemon juice

Tamarind chutney with bananas

Kheer • Fruit

VEGETARIAN

Green beans with onion paste

Fried eggplants with sour green chutney

Canned chickpeas with garlic and ginger

Rice with peas and whole spices

Cucumber and tomato with lemon juice

Kulfi • Fruit

Cabbage leaves stuffed with potatoes

Green beans with ginger

Frozen black-eyed peas (lobhia)

Rice with spinach

Yogurt with tiny dumplings (boondi-ka-dahi)

Kheer • Fruit

Okra with onions

Cauliflower with onion and tomato

Pyazwale sookhe aloo (“dry” potatoes with onions)

Lentils

Parathas

Fresh mint chutney with fruit

Cucumber and tomato with lemon juice

Fried dates • Fruit

Cauliflower with ginger and Chinese parsley

Eggplant bharta (smoked eggplant)

Mushrooms with cumin and asafetida

Sookhe aloo (“dry” potatoes)

Moong dal

Pooris

Cucumber raita

Gulab jamun • Fruit

Potatoes in thick sauce

Green beans with onion paste

Mushrooms with cumin and asafetida

Basmati rice with spices and saffron

Masoor dal with vegetables

Yogurt with roasted eggplant (baigan-ka-bharta)

Tamarind chutney with bananas

Fruit

Canned chickpeas with garlic and ginger

Cauliflower with onion and tomato

Bhaturas

Yogurt with potatoes

Carrot “water” pickle or Onions pickled in vinegar

Yogurt with spinach

Malpua

Karhi (with pakoris)

Cauliflower with ginger and Chinese parsley

Stuffed whole okra

Plain boiled rice or Plain basmati rice

Tomato and onion with lemon juice

Tamarind chutney with bananas

Gajar-ka-halva • Fruit

MENU FOR A PARTY

Cauliflower with ginger and Chinese parsley

Whole pea pods with cumin

Cabbage with onions

Mushrooms with cumin and asafetida

New potatoes cooked in their jackets

Fried eggplants with sour green chutney

Rice with spinach

Whole unhulled urad and rajma dal,

with Fried onion rings for garnishing

Yogurt with tiny dumplings (boondi-ka-dahi)

Sweet tomato chutney

Cucumber raita

Kheer • Fruit

A note on flavorings

Most of the spices used for Indian cooking are available in American supermarkets. It is best to buy spices whole, as they tend to retain their flavor for longer periods. They can be ground at home in an electric blender or coffee grinder in small quantities and then stored in tightly covered containers. (A mortar and pestle can be used to crush spices, but it will not grind them finely.)

There are, however, certain spices and ingredients which are unavailable in local supermarkets. These can generally be found in specialty food stores. If you don’t have one near you, you can order special ingredients by mail. A list of stores, most of which accept mail orders, is provided in the List of Sources.

There are also some special herbs which give Indian foods their characteristic flavors—like Chinese parsley and ginger. The best places to find such ingredients are Chinese, Spanish, or Indian grocery stores.

AMCHOOR Raw mango, dried and ground. It makes food tangy and sour. In North India it is used as freely as lemon is in American cooking. It also comes in dried slices.

ASAFETIDA A smelly resin which is used in very small quantities for vegetarian foods. It is available as a lump, or broken into pebbles, or powdered. The lump variety is generally the purest. Break off tiny chips (with a hammer, if necessary) and