Recipes

Cook with the ghaani

Everyday Indian recipes, made with Truly Cold Pressed oils and bilona ghee.

Shikanji, a tall glass of shikanji on a dark weathered wooden counter
Drink

Shikanji

The glass fogs the moment he pours. First sour, then salty, then cold enough to hurt, and only at the very end...

Prep 10 min Cook 3 min Serves 2

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Kashmiri Kahwa, a small handleless porcelain cup of Kashmiri kahwa on a carved walnut wood surface
Drink

Kashmiri Kahwa

Pale gold tea with a thread of orange where the saffron bleeds, cinnamon on the steam, and slivers of almond turning slowly...

Prep 5 min Cook 10 min Serves 4

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Gulab Sharbat, a tall glass of rose sharbat on a pale marble surface
Drink

Gulab Sharbat

A syrup so dark it looks almost brown in the bottle, until a spoon of it opens into a clear pink glass...

Prep 20 min Cook 25 min Serves 12

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Dhaniya Panjiri, a shallow brass thali heaped with dhaniya panjiri on a dark weathered wooden table
Festive Sweet

Dhaniya Panjiri

Dry, crumbly and eaten by the spoon straight off the thali. Roasted coriander, ghee, crushed makhana and small hard grains of mishri...

Prep 10 min Cook 25 min Serves 8

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Bel ka Sharbat, a heavy glass tumbler of bel sharbat on a dark weathered wooden table
Drink

Bel ka Sharbat

The colour of milky tea, thick enough to cling to the glass, tasting of dates and old wood with a pinch of...

Prep 25 min Cook 0 min Serves 3

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Aam Panna, a tall glass tumbler of aam panna on a sun-bleached stone parapet
Drink

Aam Panna

Hazy green, thick, and sour enough to make your jaw tighten for a second before the mishri catches up. Black salt on...

Prep 10 min Cook 20 min Serves 6

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Jalebi, bright saffron-orange coiled spirals with a glassy syrup coating
Festive Sweet

Jalebi

Bite the coil and it cracks, then floods your mouth with warm syrup. Sunday morning, straight off the kadhai, before the crunch...

Prep 15 min Cook 30 min Serves 4

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Sooji ka Halwa, glossy deep golden semolina halwa holding soft ridges from the spoon, ghee glistening at the edges
Festive Sweet

Sooji ka Halwa

Glossy, golden and heavy with ghee, spooned hot into a steel katori with a raisin swelling on top. Twenty-five minutes from start...

Prep 5 min Cook 25 min Serves 4

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Gulab Jamun, four deep reddish-brown glossy spheres half submerged in clear amber cardamom syrup in a shallow white
Festive Sweet

Gulab Jamun

Dark, glossy and warm, soaked through to the middle. Press one with a spoon and syrup rises around it.

Prep 30 min Cook 40 min Serves 6

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Punjabi Samosa, three large triangular samosas with smooth pale-golden matte shells
Snack

Punjabi Samosa

The crust cracks under your thumb and drops flakes down your shirt. Inside, coarse potato with crushed coriander seed and a sour...

Prep 45 min Cook 40 min Serves 6

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Dal Makhani, near-black glossy lentil curry, thick enough to hold ladle marks
Dinner

Dal Makhani

Black urad dal simmered until it turns dark, thick and faintly smoky, with butter sliding across the top and a slow swirl...

Prep 20 min Cook 150 min Serves 4

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Dal Baati Churma, four round cracked wheat baati, deep golden with split tops
Lunch

Dal Baati Churma

A cracked baati split open and drowned in ghee, spicy panchmel dal poured over, and coarse sweet churma waiting on the side...

Prep 40 min Cook 60 min Serves 4

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Palak Paneer, vivid deep green spinach gravy with soft white paneer cubes half sunk in it
Dinner

Palak Paneer

Spinach so green it looks lit from inside, soft white paneer cubes sitting in it, and ginger and garlic still sizzling in...

Prep 15 min Cook 25 min Serves 4

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Chole Bhature, one huge golden bhatura still ballooned and blistered, torn open at the edge with steam escaping
Lunch

Chole Bhature

A bhatura the size of a plate, still ballooned, tearing open with a rush of steam over a bowl of near-black chole.

Prep 30 min Cook 60 min Serves 4

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Motichoor Ladoo, eight saffron-orange ladoos made of countless tiny soft boondi pearls
Festive Sweet

Motichoor Ladoo

Break one open and it falls into hundreds of tiny sugar-soaked pearls, still soft, smelling of ghee and cardamom.

Prep 30 min Cook 45 min Serves 8

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Moong Dal Halwa, deep golden-brown grainy halwa with visible ghee pooling in glossy amber patches
Festive Sweet

Moong Dal Halwa

An hour of stirring turns pale dal paste into grainy gold, with ghee pooling at the sides and a smell that reaches...

Prep 20 min Cook 75 min Serves 6

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Aloo Gobhi, turmeric-yellow cauliflower florets with dark caramelised edges and thick potato wedges crisped at the
Lunch

Aloo Gobhi

Cauliflower with dark gold edges, potatoes gone crisp at the corners, turmeric clinging to everything and mustard oil sharp in the background.

Prep 15 min Cook 30 min Serves 4

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Aam ka Achaar, chunks of bright golden-yellow raw mango coated in coarse red and brown spices
Pickle

Aam ka Achaar

Sunlight through a glass barni, mango pieces glowing yellow under dark oil, and that first sharp mustard smell when you open the...

Prep 40 min Cook 10 min Serves 40

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Deep red carrot halwa topped with pistachios and almonds, piled in a brass bowl
Festive Sweet

Gajar ka Halwa

Red winter carrots cooked down in milk for forty-five minutes, then ghee and jaggery, until it turns glossy and pulls away from...

Prep 20 min Cook 60 min Serves 6

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Chilled spiced thandai in brass tumblers topped with pistachios and saffron strands
Drink

Thandai

Cold thick milk ground with almonds, fennel, poppy seeds and black pepper, strained twice through muslin until it is completely smooth. Holi...

Prep 25 min Cook 10 min Serves 4

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Smoky mashed brinjal glistening with mustard oil, topped with coriander in a black clay bowl
Dinner

Baingan Bharta

Brinjal blackened whole on the flame until it collapses, peeled and mashed rough, cooked down with onion and tomato in sharp mustard...

Prep 15 min Cook 35 min Serves 4

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Round grainy wheat and ghee laddoos studded with almonds and pistachios on a bronze plate
Festive Sweet

Atta Pinni

Wheat flour roasted in ghee for twenty-five minutes, puffed gond, plenty of nuts and dark jaggery, pressed into balls while still warm....

Prep 20 min Cook 45 min Serves 18

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Dark glossy chickpea curry topped with ginger juliennes and green chillies, served with bhature
Lunch

Amritsari Chole

Chickpeas boiled dark with tea and amla, then simmered into a thick, glossy, near-black masala sharp with anardana and amchur. Kulcha, raw...

Prep 20 min Cook 70 min Serves 4

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Golden malpua with crisp lacy edges soaked in dark jaggery syrup, served warm
Festive Sweet

Malpua

Lacy frilled edges, a soft middle, and the deep caramel of jaggery worked into the batter instead of a syrup. Fried in...

Prep 15 min Cook 30 min Serves 4

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