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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Saunf Mishri Mukhwas, an open shallow brass bowl of saunf mishri mukhwas on a dark weathered wooden table
Snack

Saunf Mishri Mukhwas

The saunf cracks first, green and sharp. The mishri holds on a second longer and turns the whole mouthful sweet just as...

Prep 10 min Cook 12 min Serves 20

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Rose Falooda, a tall clear footed glass of rose falooda on dark weathered wood
Drink

Rose Falooda

Black sabja at the bottom, a band of magenta, white sev suspended in cold milk, and ice cream sitting on top with...

Prep 25 min Cook 5 min Serves 2

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Panchamrit, a small round brass bowl of panchamrit on a dark weathered wooden puja chowki
Festive Sweet

Panchamrit

Cool, pale and slightly thick, sweet with a soft sour edge from the curd, and the tulsi leaf that sticks to the...

Prep 10 min Cook 0 min Serves 6

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Meetha Sattu ka Sharbat, a tall steel-rimmed glass of meetha sattu sharbat on a dark weathered wooden table
Drink

Meetha Sattu ka Sharbat

The colour of weak coffee, faintly grainy on the tongue, smelling strongly of roasted chana. Three minutes to make and it drinks...

Prep 10 min Cook 0 min Serves 2

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Kokum Sharbat, a tall glass of kokum sharbat on a dark weathered wooden table
Drink

Kokum Sharbat

A magenta so deep it stains the water in minutes. Soft round sourness rather than a sharp one, with roasted jeera arriving...

Prep 15 min Cook 20 min Serves 12

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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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Badam ka Sharbat, a tall glass of badam sharbat on dark weathered wood
Drink

Badam ka Sharbat

Pale ivory, thick enough to cling to the glass for a second, ice cold, with cardamom in the first breath and almond...

Prep 20 min Cook 25 min Serves 8

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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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Vada Pav, two soft ladi pav pressed shut around a craggy deep-golden besan-coated potato vada
Snack

Vada Pav

Crunch first, then soft hot potato, then the dry garlic chutney catching the back of your throat. Eight rupees of Mumbai, in...

Prep 40 min Cook 35 min Serves 8

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Kerala Banana Chips, a heap of wafer-thin pale straw-yellow Kerala banana chips
Snack

Kerala Banana Chips (Upperi)

Wafer-thin pale yellow rounds fried in coconut oil, salted the Kerala way with a spoon of salt water, and so crisp they...

Prep 20 min Cook 30 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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Thalipeeth, one thick hand-patted multigrain flatbread, deep brown with dark speckled blisters and a crisp uneven rim
Breakfast

Thalipeeth

Patted thin by hand, cooked till the edges go dark and crisp, and eaten the minute a knob of white butter starts...

Prep 20 min Cook 30 min Serves 4

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Idli with Milagai Podi, three soft white idlis on a round steel plate, one split open with steam rising from the crack
Breakfast

Idli with Milagai Podi (Gunpowder)

A white idli split open, still steaming, a small hill of brick-red podi beside it, and sesame oil running down into the...

Prep 30 min Cook 40 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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Shankarpali, a heap of small pale golden diamond-shaped fried sweets with flaky broken edges
Snack

Shankarpali

Small sweet diamonds that snap between your fingers and shatter on the first bite, with the smell of warm ghee still on...

Prep 25 min Cook 40 min Serves 8

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Hyderabadi Vegetable Biryani, a heavy copper handi of Hyderabadi vegetable dum biryani with the lid lifted away
Dinner

Hyderabadi Vegetable Biryani

Long saffron-streaked grains, crisp fried onions and torn mint underneath, and a cloud of steam when the seal is broken at the...

Prep 40 min Cook 60 min Serves 6

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Sattu Paratha, a sattu paratha torn open on a steel plate
Breakfast

Sattu Paratha

The paratha puffs on the tawa and steam pushes out at the edge, carrying the smell of mustard oil, ajwain and pickle...

Prep 25 min Cook 25 min Serves 4

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Handvo, a thick round Gujarati savoury lentil and rice cake cut into wedges
Breakfast

Handvo

The crust cracks like a biscuit under the knife, then gives way to a soft savoury middle flecked with dudhi and green...

Prep 20 min Cook 45 min Serves 6

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Sakkarai Pongal, dark honey-coloured sakkarai pongal heaped on a banana leaf, soft and glossy
Festive Sweet

Sakkarai Pongal

Dark, soft, jaggery-sweet rice with fried cashews on top and ghee that pools in the little craters where the spoon has been.

Prep 10 min Cook 40 min Serves 6

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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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