Laal Maas

Laal Maas is a traditional dish from my hometown, Jodhpur. It traces its roots back to the royal kitchens of the Rajput families, where it was considered a specialty. The dish was often prepared with the meat from animals hunted by the royals themselves—a bold, fiery curry that reflected both their adventurous spirit and love for rich flavors.

Laal Maas is still incredibly popular today. From the royal kitchens, it has made its way into restaurants across Jodhpur, where chefs continue to prepare it in their own styles—adding subtle twists while keeping the recipe close to its original roots.

This is my version, inspired by the many places where I’ve tasted Laal Maas and the flavors that stayed with me.

Many people from outside Rajasthan assume that Laal Maas is a common local dish, cooked regularly in every non-vegetarian household, especially among the Muslim community. But that’s not the case. In reality, Laal Maas belongs to the royal cuisine of Jodhpur, a legacy of the Rajput kitchens rather than a part of everyday home cooking.

I usually boil the mutton pieces before starting the curry. It not only cuts down the overall cooking time but also helps the meat absorb the spices better. The result is tender, juicy mutton that’s rich in flavor and perfectly spiced in every bite.

This curry is made with ghee—oodles of it! In Rajasthan, we take great pride in cooking our rich, traditional dishes with generous amounts of ghee. It adds a deep, distinct flavor that defines our cuisine.

That said, I like to mix a little oil with the ghee. These days, it’s not always easy to cook—or digest—food made entirely with pure ghee. But if you’re brave enough (and not counting calories), go ahead and cook it the authentic way, using only ghee. And if you’re more health-conscious, like Mr. Parveez, you can use just oil and add a teaspoon of ghee at the end for that signature aroma.

This recipe is relatively easy to make and can be prepared by beginners, with truly delicious flavors.

Paav Bhaaji

I still remember when the trend of Pav Bhaji first came to my town. I was in elementary school, and I absolutely loved the flavors—and so did everyone in my family. It was funny how suddenly Pav Bhaji became everyone’s favorite dish overnight.

I never got the chance to try it at a roadside stall, though I always wanted to. Back then, in the small town I grew up in, it wasn’t considered proper for women to stand and eat at street-side eateries. Writing this now makes it sound like it was ages ago, but really, it’s just been a few decades. What amazes me most is how much my town has changed—it’s exciting, and a little scary too.

Small cities have their own kind of magic. People are friendlier, they have more time, and somehow, everyone knows everyone. Back then, I could walk a mile and meet fifty familiar faces. Today, I might still meet the same number—but that warmth, that sense of closeness, feels a little lost.

Anyway, coming back to Pav Bhaji—my father would always bring it home as a takeaway, and we would all love it to the core. Eventually, my mother started buying Pav Bhaji masala and making it at home, and that’s when homemade Pav Bhaji became a family favorite. The Pav Bhaji masala I use even today is my mother’s recipe—simple, flavorful, and full of memories.

I’ve tried my hands at Pav Bhaji multiple times and have loved every bite of it each time. While my mother always added a mix of vegetables like cauliflower and carrots to her Pav Bhaji, I prefer keeping it simple with just potatoes and bell peppers. It makes the flavors more reminiscent of the original, street-style Pav Bhaji that I first fell in love with.

The Paav are also homemade. They are pretty easy as well. If you follow the recipe properly, you will be able to make these pillow soft amazing buns at home. You can serve the buns with anything, but as Paav with Bhaaji, they just seem to taste super amazing. To make them taste more delicious, split the buns, spread some butter and sprinkle some Paav Bhaaji masala on them and toast them on the Tava/ Pan.

Click and make your own Paav at home

Homemade Buns / Paav – Haala’s Dastarkhaan

Bangalore Muslim Kheema

Kheema curry can be made in so many different styles. Growing up in Rajasthan, I had either tried the Kheema made at home by my Mom, which was a must for picnics and Road trips. My mom would made Kheema with Aaloo and Kheema with matar. There were never Kheema made with multiple vegetables together. I heard my mother also mention that my grandmother enjoyed adding cauliflower to Kheema, which I don’t remember trying it and honestly could’t get myself to making it since Mr. Parveez isn’t a cauliflower fan.

And then came Kheema curry that we would eat in Puraani Dilli, Jama Masjid area for breakfast when we went to Delhi and one of my other favorite was Mumbai Kheema Paav. I will be posting that recipe soon along with the recipe of the Paav. Both of those were my absolute favorite and I would look forward to them. Hot Tandoori Roti in Delhi as an early morning breakfast with Kheema, Nahari or Paaye makes anyoone’s morning special. Mumbai Kheema Paav on the other hand has Tomato base and mostly made of Chicken.

But this recipe is completely different from all of them. This recipe comes from Mr. Parveez’s family and its a recipe that most Bangalore Muslims make for Kheema. The recipe comes from Mr. Parveez’s Mom to us and we proudly call it “Ammi wala Kheema”. So, basically its chopped onions cooked with some whole spices in oil/ghee, with Ginger garlic paste, Goat Kheema, spices and tomato. Along with all these, there are a ton of veggies that make their way to this Kheema, potatoes, Beans, Fenugreek leaves and Dill leaves. This Kheema recipe is great for Breakfast, but tastes great even for Lunch and Dinner.

Khatte Baingan

Biryani is a dish loved by everyone. With countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where Biryanis are so popular and makes it to the menu of all special occasions. Biryani has a huge variety of accompaniments, like Baghare Baingan, Dalcha, Raita, Chutney, Mirch ka Salan and Khatte Baingan.

Deciding on an accompaniment with Biryani also requires a few skills. As much as people think that all Biryanis are more or less the same and a basic raita fulfills the purpose of serving on the side with Biryani, its not really true. If your Biryani is not too spicy, you should make Mirch ka Salan or Baghare Baingan. If its super spicy, making Khatte Baingan or Dalcha mellows it down a little. Raita goes along with any Biryani that’s spicy or simple.

The recipe is simple and made with very little oil. A lot of people fry their eggplants to cook them, but I choose to boil them. Boiling them ensures that they are completely cooked and eggplants have a tendency to absorb too much oil so, this way it doesn’t get too oily. Once eggplants are boiled, add oil to a pan, add Black seeds and curry leaves. Further add a little ginger garlic paste with Turmeric Powder and red chili powder. Add tomato puree, ketchup and green chilies. The ketchup adds color along with a sweet and sour taste making the eggplants taste great.

These Khatte baingan are very easy to make and are loved by everyone, even people who usually aren’t a big fan of eggplants. This goes well with Biryanis that aren’t super spicy. Simple Biryanis like Mughlai Biryani or Thalassery biryani go really well with Khatte Baingan.

Tellichery Biryani

This recipe also happens to be from Kerala and is the second Biryani from this state that I tried out. Kerala is a state of distinct flavor. I know every state has their own flavors that are distinct and are easily distinguishable from the use of their local grown spices with methods of cooking different cuisines and also availability of local vegetation. Not forgetting their natural climate. Isn’t it amazing how every place has different things popular during different seasons and few things that are good to eat during all seasons. Hats off to generations before us who tried, tested and made so many different varieties of food that we just need to follow. And though, it all seems walk in the park, we still do not follow those age old recipes because we find them too time consuming in our busy lives today.

Thalassery town of Northern Kerala has a unique blend Arabian, Persian, Indian and European styles of cooking as a result as its long history as Maritime Trading Post. Tellichery is an anglicized name for Thalassery. The original name of Thalassery has been restored post Independence. Although both refer to the same place, the Tellichery Biryani is different from the Thalassery Biryani. This one is a little simpler version.

This Biryani does not use the Jeerakshala/Kaima Rice like the Thalassery Biryani and should be cooked with Long grain Basmati Rice. This recipe also displays the influence of Mughals in its flavors but seems to be slightly revised. Going through the ingredients, I do not find any ingredient that would distinguish this dish as a dish from Kerela. The recipe makes me feel that its made by some settlers who still did not adapt to the flavors of Kerela cuisine and were still new to incorporating the spice or certain ingredients to the dish. In all, this dish is great for all Biryani lovers, specially for Beginners. Therefore, if you happen to be someone new at making Biryani, this is for you. An easy, delicious and simple way of making a delicious Biryani.

Pindi Chhole

This hearty, healthy and delicious dish is from Punjab, India. I initially thought that the name comes from the word Pind used for village in Punjabi. But, actually the name of the dish is from the place it was originated from. It is named Pindi Chana after the town Rawalpindi, which used to be a part of Punjab before India-Pakistan partition and later became a part of Pakistan. Pindi chhole is a recipe from Rawalpindi and now is proudly cooked everywhere and popularly known as Pindi Chhole.

This recipe is easy to cook, it makes for a wholesome meal when served with poori or Kulcha or Naan and an onion salad. Pindi Chana can be made with dried chickpeas, which needs to be soaked overnight and boiled until soft. The recipe also requires the use of chana daal along with chickpeas. I usually soak a large amount of chickpeas and boil them as well. I usually then divide them into smaller packs and keep them in the freezer for future use.

I never realized till I was much older that there were so many different ways of making chhole. I felt every family had there own version of making chhole, like with my Punjabi friends, their moms made chhole that didn’t have a lot of gravy and usually were a little dark in color and didn’t have too many tomatoes either. Where as, my mom always had her own version of making chhole with yogurt. The chhole recipe I follow is from a family friend and I make my chhole using tamarind, tomatoes and fennel seeds. And, then one day I came across Pindi chhole made by a close family friend and loved the flavors. This is when I found out that in most Punjabi families, people tend to boil chhole with whole spices and tea leaves which tends to darken the color of the chhole. Punjabi food anyways uses a lot of whole spice in their dishes and there always seems to be a very strong taste of cloves and cinnamon in their cuisine.

All in all this is one awesome chhole recipe. It goes really well with poori or parantha or kulcha. I serve them for breakfast usually with sooji ka halwa on the side, but that can always be when you have friends over or if its a special occasion, but these chhole with poori can definitely make it to your weekend brunch table. Enjoy!!!

Chhilli Daal Chicken Curry

Chicken as a curry is made in so many varieties that sometimes it amazes me how people from different regions in just one state make so many different dishes, with every dish varying in flavor from the other. The basis of making these curries are basically the availability of ingredients in that region.

I am from the northern west part of India, Rajasthan. Its a desert part so every time we make a Chicken curry, its mostly Yogurt based, which I think is because back in the days there weren’t many ways of getting any fresh vegetables, like Tomatoes and since water was always scarce, growing your own was difficult as well. Since there weren’t any fresh veggies, we barely have any Chicken dishes that are cooked with vegetables.

On the other hand, Mr. Parveez is from the southern part of India and there is loads of greenery and fresh vegetables are always available, so most of the dishes are tomato based and also use a lot of other green vegetables and thus we get loads of chicken curry which aren’t just protein rich but also have loads of fiber. Honestly, I feel my in laws eat very healthy. There is always a green veggie curry for morning breakfast and the lunch and dinner also comprises of green leafy vegetables cooked as a curry or mixed in with other veggies or Daal or cooked with Chicken or Meat.

This Chhilli Daal happens to be one such curry. These green beans are also known as Surti Papdi Lilva or Valor Lilva. We get the frozen pack here and they aren’t much big in size either. Addition to that, I also have to clean and peel it when I bring them home which is a tedious job. I guess I feel it more because in India, they are bigger in size, more flavorful and on top of everything they are peeled by the vegetable vendors which makes it so convenient.

This Chicken curry is just so delicious and nutritious, one of my Mother in law’s favorite as well and honestly, mine too. This is my mother in law’s recipe, only that I made some changes to it which she loves as well, I just made it more greener and nutritious. The curry has Fried onions that are further cooked with Ginger garlic paste and spices. Once the Chicken is added, wait till its half cooked, add in the daal/beans and further add the Tomato-coconut puree and cook further for a few minutes. Usually at this point the original recipe for this curry is concluded. But the changes I made to the recipe are that I added methi leaves/ fenugreek leaves and Dill leaves. With Methi, I add fresh if I have it and if not then I use Kasoori Methi. In both cases, the flavor of the dish is not compromised. Serve it with Plain boiled Rice or Roti or Parantha. We love it all ways and I am sure you will too. This is something different and completely worth trying. Enjoy!!!

Dindigul Biryani

The word Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means ‘fried before cooking’ and Birinj, the Persian word for rice. There are various theories related to the origin of this scrumptious dish. Biryani originated from Persia and was brought to India by the Mughals. I love reading about the Mughal Era and its food in the history. Its amazing to read about so much variety of food flavors that they added to the Indian cuisine…. Gulab Jamuns, Jalebis, Imartis, and so many other rich desserts and numerous curries and the most amazing out of all are Biryanis…so many varieties, so fragrant, so delicious and so different from one another. The best part was that they always incorporated local spices with their Biryani recipes coming up with distinguishably different flavors each time. Each region has a completely different way of making Biryani from another. The state of Tamil Nadu has some really celebrated Biryanis, most of which have evolved in the state’s smaller towns. A beautiful example is Ambur Biryani and Salem Biryani. As the folklore says, Dindigul Biryani actually developed in a particular small restaurant, which is till date super popular for its “Dindigul Biriyani” , they spell it differently. The best thing I like about these South Indian Biryani is that the ingredients are always pretty simple, nothing fancy, nothing that requires you to urgently run to a store and despite the simplicity, the outcome is always so deliciously fancy. Enjoy!!!

Salem Biryani

 The word Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means ‘fried before cooking’ and Birinj, the Persian word for rice. There are various theories related to the origin of this scrumptious dish. Biryani originated from Persia and was brought to India by the Mughals.

I love reading about the Mughal Era and its food in the history. Its amazing to read about so much variety of food flavors that they added to the Indian cuisine…. Gulab Jamuns, Jalebis, Imartis, and so many other rich desserts and numerous curries and the most amazing out of all are Biryanis…so many varieties, so fragrant, so delicious and so different from one another. The best part was that they always incorporated local spices with their Biryani recipes coming up with distinguishably different flavors each time. Each region has a completely different way of making Biryani from another.

The state of Tamil Nadu has some really celebrated Biryanis, most of which have evolved in the state’s smaller towns. A beautiful example is Ambur Biryani. As the folklore says, Salem Biryani actually developed in a particular small hotel, a military hotel to be precise. Its funny but most of the restaurants serving Non vegetarian Biryani in Tamil Nadu are referred to as “Military Hotel”.

The best thing I like about these South Indian Biryani is that the ingredients are always pretty simple, nothing fancy, nothing that requires you to urgently run to a store and despite the simplicity, the outcome is always so deliciously fancy.

Murgh Sabz Korma

This Chicken curry recipe is from Mr. Parveez’s family. I was given the recipe by my Mother in law. The dish uses a variety of veggies, which honestly at times makes it difficult to make because if you miss out on one, it changes the whole taste. From the stories I hear of Mr. Parveez’s childhood, this dish was cooked almost every Friday and he would always look forward to his mom making it. I believe even today when he eats this Korma, it makes his mind go down the memory lane and remember the awesome dishes his mom made.

Now Bangalore is the garden city of India. The city with loads of greenery and always has an availability of fresh flowers and vegetables, therefore most dishes that you look at comprises of fresh vegetables and other ingredients. those dishes necessarily do not have to be under the category of “vegetarian food”, even the non vegetarian dishes, cooked in most almost all Muslim families use a lot of vegetables with their meat/chicken as well. Initially I wasn’t too big of a fan to be very honest. Coming from Rajasthan, I wasn’t used to mixing up vegetables and meat. We, in Rajasthan prefer keeping them separate, but with time I started enjoying the flavors of the veggies more and understood that this is one of the best ways to incorporate more vegetables in your diet as well.

I got the recipe of this dish from my Sister in law after I became the member of the new family. In fact most of the recipes that I learnt from Mr. Parveez’s family were given to me by my third sister in law. This dish can be made with meat or chicken so feel free to switch the chicken with Lamb/Goat meat. You will have to cook longer though and also make sure that you add the vegetables only after the meat is properly cooked. Chicken takes less time, so adding the veggies quickly is fine.

The chicken is cooked with Potatoes, Bell Peppers, Fenugreek/ Methi leaves, Lima beans and dill leaves. You can always substitute Lima beans with peas if you want. While coming across Turkish, mainly Middle Eastern Cuisine I did learn that most meat/ chicken curries are cooked with a variety of vegetables. That makes me think that this dish is also influenced from the Mughal Era, not something they learnt from the Indian soil, but something that they taught Indian cuisine. Because, coming to think of it, if you analyze most Non vegetarian Indian/ Pakistani dishes, you will know that they exclude vegetables. I would love to cook this Korma in one of the Turkish Earthen pots some day.

Usually this Korma is served alongside Rice dish called Khushka, which is Rice cooked with Mint leaves. You can also serve this Korma with Parantha, Naan or Sheermal.