Recipes › South Asia

South Asian recipes

289 South Asian recipes, so far only from India. Each one says which country it belongs to and where the recipe came from.

• Ada, sourced from India. A rice-flour parcel steamed inside a banana leaf, which is the mould. vegan.
• Ada pradhaman, sourced from India. Rice flakes in a sauce of coconut milk cooked with jaggery. vegetarian.
• Adhirasam, sourced from India. The dough ferments for three to five days in the sun before anything is fried. vegetarian.
• Akhuni, sourced from India. Soybeans boiled soft but left whole, then fermented until they smell. vegan.
• Akki rotti, sourced from India. A rice-flour flatbread from Karnataka, finished over an open flame so its edges char. vegetarian.
• Akuri, sourced from India. Eggs taken off almost runny, with fried onion as the flavouring rather than spice. Egg, vegetarian.
• Aloo Chap, sourced from India. No peas in it, a batter round the outside, and puffed rice alongside. vegan.
• Aloo chokha, sourced from India. Mashed boiled potato taking its mustard oil raw, the side that goes with litti. vegan.
• Aloo Gobhi, sourced from India. Cauliflower is the other half, and turmeric is what makes it yellow. vegetarian.
• Aloo Mutter, sourced from India. The gravy is tomato made creamy, and the spicing is mild on purpose. vegetarian.
• Aloo paratha, sourced from India. A wheat flatbread whose spiced potato filling goes inside a ball of dough before it is rolled. vegetarian.
• Aloo Tikki, sourced from India. The peas go inside the potato and it is shaped into a cutlet. vegetarian.
• Anarsa, sourced from India. It is rolled in white poppy seeds and fried poppy-side down first. vegetarian.
• Anishi, sourced from India. Taro leaves fermented in a sack for days, then pressed into cakes and smoked. vegan.
• Appam, sourced from India. Coconut milk goes into the batter and it is cooked in a bowl-shaped pan, so it is thick in the middle and lacy at the rim. vegan.
• Ashoka Halwa, sourced from India. A Thanjavur halwa in which moong dal stands in for the wheat that was scarce. vegetarian.
• Avial, sourced from India. The vegetables are boiled rather than fried, and only crisp ones go in. vegetarian.
• Baingan Bharta, sourced from India. The aubergine is charred whole over a flame until the skin blackens, and that smoke is the dish. vegan.
• Bakarkhani, sourced from India. A hard-crusted Mughlai bread whose sheet is stretched and folded back over ghee again and again. vegetarian.
• Bal mithai, sourced from India. Roasted khoya cut into fudge and rolled in sugar-coated poppy seeds. vegetarian.
• Barfi, sourced from India. Khoa and sugar cooked to a fudge and cut cold, with nothing set in syrup. vegetarian.
• Basundi, sourced from India. It is stirred constantly so that no skin forms at all, which is the opposite of what rabri wants. vegetarian.
• Bati, sourced from India. The bread that uses the least water, which is why it keeps in a desert. vegetarian.
• Bebinca, sourced from India. Between seven and sixteen layers, each one baked before the next is poured on. Egg, vegetarian.
• Beguni, sourced from India. Aubergine cut the long way, in a gram flour batter, fried in mustard oil. vegan.
• Benne Dose, sourced from India. Butter goes into the batter itself, not only onto the finished dosa. vegetarian.
• Bhakri, sourced from India. Millet flour and hot water, flattened by hand rather than rolled. vegan.
• Bhatura, sourced from India. The dough is soured and fermented overnight with yogurt, so it is a sourdough rather than a quick bread. vegetarian.
• Bhel puri, sourced from India. Built one ingredient at a time, with no dahi anywhere in it. vegan.
• Bikaneri bhujia, sourced from India. Moth bean flour with the gram flour, which is why it is crunchier than sev. vegan.
• Biryani, sourced from India. Two layers of rice with the meat between them, which is what a pilau is not. Lamb.
• Bisi Bele Bhath, sourced from India. Rice, dal and vegetables cook in one pot, and the masala has its own name. vegetarian.
• Bombay mix, sourced from India. A dozen separately fried things tossed together, each kept crunchy. vegan.
• Bonda, sourced from India. A ball of filling dipped whole in gram flour batter, so the batter is only a coat. vegan.
• Boondi, sourced from India. Batter dropped through a slotted spoon, so it fries as separate pearls. vegan.
• Bread pakora, sourced from India. Triangles of white bread in gram flour batter, often with potato between two slices. vegan.
• Chadachadi, sourced from India. It comes off the heat when the charring sizzles, and the crust is stirred back in. vegan.
• Chakuli Pitha, sourced from India. Rice flour and black gram, not soaked and ground rice, and hours of fermenting rather than a night. vegetarian.
• Champaran meat, sourced from India. The pot is sealed with dough and then shaken, not stirred. Lamb.
• Chamthong, sourced from India. Nothing is fried at any point: the vegetables are boiled with herbs and the fermented fish. Fish.
• Chana Masala, sourced from India. The chickpeas are soaked overnight and amchoor is what sharpens the sauce. vegetarian.
• Chandrakanti, sourced from India. The flour is split green gram as well as rice, and the shape is a choice the source does not make. vegetarian.
• Chapati, sourced from India. It is finished off the griddle, straight on the flame, where it balloons. vegetarian.
• Chhena, sourced from India. The milk is boiled, cooled to 75 to 80 degrees before the acid goes in, and there is no rennet in it at all. vegetarian.
• Chhena Gaja, sourced from India. The water is squeezed out and the dough dried before it is cut into rectangles and boiled in a thick syrup. vegetarian.
• Chhena Jalebi, sourced from India. The curds are rolled into pretzel shapes and deep-fried, not piped as a batter. vegetarian.
• Chhena Jhili, sourced from India. Wheat flour is worked into the curds before they are fried, which is what makes it hold its shape. vegetarian.
• Chhena Kheeri, sourced from India. The fried cubes go into the milk and the milk is then boiled down around them to a rabri. vegetarian.
• Chhena Poda, sourced from India. It is baked for hours and its flavour comes from the sugar caramelising, with no syrup anywhere in it. vegetarian.
• Chhenabara, sourced from India. It is fried to a burnt brown crust over a centre that stays soft. vegetarian.
• Chicken 65, sourced from India. It is boneless and deep-fried, and the heat is red chilli rather than a masala. Chicken, Egg.
• Chicken Chettinad, sourced from India. Kalpasi, the black stone flower, is in the paste, and nothing else here uses it. Chicken.
• Chicken Karahi, sourced from India. There are no onions in it at all, which its article says is what distinguishes it. Chicken.
• Chicken Tikka, sourced from India. The pieces are boneless and brushed with ghee at intervals while they cook. Chicken.
• Chikki, sourced from India. A jaggery syrup made with as little water as possible, rolled to six or eight millimetres. vegetarian.
• Chinese bhel, sourced from India. Fried noodles and raw cabbage, tossed the way a bhel is tossed. vegan.
• Chingudi Jhola, sourced from India. The prawns are fried in mustard oil first, and the tomato and garlic are what make it red. Shellfish.
• Chitranna, sourced from India. It is lemon rather than tamarind, and the seasoning has its own name. vegan.
• Chole bhature, sourced from India. The chole takes its dark colour from amla or tea rather than from spice. vegetarian.
• Churma, sourced from India. Baked bread crushed back into ghee and sugar. vegetarian.
• Curd Rice, sourced from India. The rice is cooled to room temperature before the curd goes in, or it ferments. vegetarian.
• Daab Chingri, sourced from India. It is sealed inside a green coconut with dough and slow-cooked in the shell it is served in. Shellfish.
• Dabeli, sourced from India. The name means pressed, and the potato goes into the bun under pomegranate and peanuts. vegetarian.
• Dahi, sourced from India. Milk soured by its own bacteria, and the starter can be a dried chilli stem. vegetarian.
• Dahi baigana, sourced from India. Built so it can be made without onion or garlic, for the festivals that forbid them. vegetarian.
• Dahi Machha, sourced from India. The sauce is yoghurt and the turmeric is what makes it yellow. Fish.
• Dahi vada, sourced from India. Fried lentil balls dropped into water first, and only then into thick yoghurt. vegetarian.
• Dahibara Aloodum, sourced from India. The fried baras soak in water first and then in thin yoghurt for hours, and two separate curries go on top. vegetarian.
• Dal badam chakki, sourced from India. Dal flour and ground almond set as a fudge and cut in slices, which is what chakki means. vegetarian.
• Dal bati, sourced from India. A bread dough kneaded with yoghurt and rolled to tennis-ball size, with a rai-jeera dal. vegetarian.
• Dal Makhani, sourced from India. Some of the lentils are mashed as it simmers, and kasuri methi and butter go in at the end. vegetarian.
• Dhansak, sourced from India. Meat cooked into a sweet and sour lentil sauce, with caramelised rice beside it. Lamb.
• Dhebra, sourced from India. A Gujarati pearl-millet bread fried until small brown spots appear, which keeps for days. vegan.
• Dhokla, sourced from India. The batter is rice and chana dal, fermented at least four hours before it is steamed. vegan.
• Dhoper chop, sourced from India. An egg-shaped potato cutlet in a jacket of white bread, whose name means a lie. vegetarian.
• Doodhpak, sourced from India. The milk is slow-boiled down before serving and it is eaten with puris rather than on its own. vegetarian.
• Dopiaza, sourced from India. The onions go in twice, boiled into the gravy and fried over the top. Lamb.
• Dosa, sourced from India. The batter is rice and black gram at three or four to one, ground fine and fermented overnight. vegan.
• Double Ka Meetha, sourced from India. It is leavened double roti, and it soaks in sugar syrup rather than milk. vegetarian.
• Dum Aloo, sourced from India. Small potatoes are deep-fried whole first, then cooked slowly sitting in the sauce rather than above water. vegetarian.
• Enduri Pitha, sourced from India. It is wrapped in a turmeric leaf and steamed, and the leaf is the flavour. vegetarian.
• Erissery, sourced from India. Grated coconut is toasted to deep brown in the final tempering, and its article calls that the signature. vegan.
• Eromba, sourced from India. Everything is boiled and then smashed by hand, not cooked down into a curry. Fish.
• Falooda, sourced from India. Nothing in it is cooked at the point of serving: it is layered cold in a glass. vegetarian.
• Gajar Ka Halwa, sourced from India. The carrots are grated and cooked down in milk, and the nuts are fried in ghee before they go on. vegetarian.
• Galho, sourced from India. A rice and pork porridge carried by Chinese knotweed. Pork.
• Garam masala, sourced from India. Whole spices roasted and then ground, and no composition is more correct than another. vegan.
• Gavvalu, sourced from India. Dough rolled on a ridged tool so each piece curls into a cowrie shell. vegetarian.
• Ghari, sourced from India. A puri dough closed round a mawa filling and coated in ghee. vegetarian.
• Ghee, sourced from India. Butter simmered until the solids settle, and only the clear fat is kept. vegetarian.
• Ghevar, sourced from India. The batter is poured into hot ghee and sets as a honeycomb disc. vegetarian.
• Ghugni, sourced from India. Coconut and tamarind go in the gravy, and it is eaten with puffed rice. vegan.
• Gulab Jamun, sourced from India. The dough is milk solids, and it fries at a low temperature. vegetarian.
• Handvo, sourced from India. There is a vegetable in the batter, which is what makes it a cake rather than a sponge. vegetarian.
• Hentak, sourced from India. The fish is dried and crushed to a powder before it ferments, and the aroid stems are sunned for a day first. Fish.
• Hyderabadi biryani, sourced from India. Raw marinated meat under part-cooked rice in a pot sealed with dough. Goat.
• Hyderabadi haleem, sourced from India. Mashed as it cooks until the meat is no longer in pieces. Lamb.
• Hyderabadi marag, sourced from India. A thin mutton soup thickened with cashews and cream rather than flour. Lamb.
• Idiyappam, sourced from India. The dough is pressed through a press into noodles and then steamed. vegan.
• Idli, sourced from India. The lentils are ground fine and the rice coarse, separately, and then it is steamed rather than fried. vegan.
• Imarti, sourced from India. The batter is black gram with saffron in it, piped as a flower with a ring in the middle. vegetarian.
• Injipuli, sourced from India. The ginger is fried brown before anything else, which is what takes its rawness out. vegan.
• Jalebi, sourced from India. A plain-flour batter piped in a spiral, and it is eaten with curd or rabri. vegetarian.
• Jalfrezi, sourced from India. A stir fry made to use up cold meat, with the technique brought by Chinese labourers in Assam. Chicken, Lamb.
• Jeera Aloo, sourced from India. It is dry, cumin-led, and its article says it is not hot unless you make it so. vegan.
• Jhunka, sourced from India. The gram flour paste is sauteed until it stiffens, which is what separates it from the wet, mild pithla. vegan.
• Jolbhora sandesh, sourced from India. A chhena sweet with a liquid centre of date palm jaggery, which is what the name means. vegetarian.
• Kaalan, sourced from India. Pepper leads it, and the curd is stirred one way over a low heat because boiling curdles it. vegetarian.
• Kabiraji, sourced from India. The cutlet is wrapped in a coat of deep-fried egg floss, which is the whole dish. Chicken, Egg.
• Kachori, sourced from India. A round pastry with gram flour and ghee in it, stuffed with dry dal before frying. vegetarian.
• Kadboli, sourced from India. Four flours in one dough, where kodubale uses only two. vegan.
• Kadhi, sourced from India. Yoghurt and gram flour are simmered together until the gravy thickens, and it must not be allowed to split. vegetarian.
• Kahwah, sourced from India. The spices are boiled with the green tea, and the almonds go in the cup. vegetarian.
• Kaju katli, sourced from India. A single-thread syrup poured onto ground cashews and cut into rhombuses. vegetarian.
• Kakara Pitha, sourced from India. Wheat flour rather than rice, and a pinch of edible camphor in the filling. vegetarian.
• Kakinada Kaja, sourced from India. One form is a hollow cylinder holding the syrup inside it, the other a layered diamond holding it between the sheets. vegetarian.
• Kalakand, sourced from India. Two dairy preparations in one sweet: chhena kneaded soft and stirred into milk already reduced by half. vegetarian.
• Kanda kachori, sourced from India. A cooked onion filling bound with besan before it is stuffed. vegetarian.
• Kanika, sourced from India. Turmeric colours the rice and the grains stay separate, so it is not a pudding. vegetarian.
• Kansar, sourced from India. Coarse wheat flour and tepid water, with no milk and no fruit, and the sugar goes on at the table. vegetarian.
• Kati roll, sourced from India. A skewer-roasted kebab rolled in a paratha, and the name is the skewer. Chicken, Egg.
• Kerala Beef Fry, sourced from India. The meat is pressure-cooked soft first and then roasted dry in the spices. Beef.
• Kesari Bat, sourced from India. Saffron is in the name and it is what colours it. vegetarian.
• Khaja, sourced from India. The dough is layered like pastry before it is fried, and the syrup is called paga. vegetarian.
• Khakhra, sourced from India. It is pressed against the griddle as it roasts, until it is completely dry and brittle. vegan.
• Khaman, sourced from India. No rice and no fermenting: the lift comes from lemon juice and curd. vegetarian.
• Khandvi, sourced from India. The batter is cooked to a paste, spread thin and rolled tight while it is warm. vegetarian.
• Khatkhate, sourced from India. At least five vegetables, and tirphala -- Sichuan pepper -- is what makes it. vegan.
• Kheer, sourced from India. The rice goes in whole and the grains stay visible in the finished pudding. vegetarian.
• Khichdi, sourced from India. Rice and lentils boiled soft together until they lose their shape. vegetarian.
• Khichra, sourced from India. The same pot as haleem with the meat left in chunks. Lamb.
• Khichu, sourced from India. An alkaline salt goes in, and that is what makes the dough stretch. vegan.
• Khira Sagara, sourced from India. The chhena marbles are not fried at all: they go into the thickened milk raw. vegetarian.
• Khoa, sourced from India. Milk reduced to a fifth of its volume in a shallow pan, which is what most Indian sweets are made of. vegetarian.
• Khoya Paneer, sourced from India. Thickened milk goes into the gravy as well as the cheese, and it is meant to be hot. vegetarian.
• Kombdi vade, sourced from India. A bone-in chicken curry with fried rice-flour dumplings and solkadhi beside it. Chicken.
• Koottu, sourced from India. The lentils and the vegetables are cooked separately and then combined, thicker than sambar and looser than a stir-fry. vegan.
• Kori rotti, sourced from India. Crisp dry rice wafers under a coconut milk and red chilli chicken curry. Chicken.
• Korma, sourced from India. It is braised in yoghurt and it is deliberately the mildest of these, aromatic rather than hot. Lamb.
• Kozhukkatta, sourced from India. A steamed rice-flour shell round coconut cooked in jaggery syrup. vegetarian.
• Kulcha, sourced from India. The dough is fermented in earthen pots before it goes anywhere near the tandoor. vegetarian.
• Kulfi, sourced from India. It is never churned, and the slow cooking browns the milk before it is frozen. vegetarian.
• Kuzhambu, sourced from India. A tamarind broth with fenugreek and toor dal, thin as a broth or thick as a gravy. vegan.
• Laal maas, sourced from India. Mathania chillies in a yoghurt sauce, hot enough to have covered the smell of game. Lamb.
• Laapsi, sourced from India. Broken wheat rather than flour, cooked in milk with dried fruit in it. vegetarian.
• Laddu, sourced from India. Something already cooked bound into a ball with syrup, and the name means small ball. vegetarian.
• Lassi, sourced from India. Yoghurt let down with water and blended, served in a clay cup. vegetarian.
• Laung lata, sourced from India. The fold is pinned shut with a clove, which is what the name is. vegetarian.
• Litti, sourced from India. A wheat ball stuffed with sattu and roasted on hot charcoal. vegetarian.
• Luchi, sourced from India. It is maida rather than atta, and the oil is spooned over each one so it fills with air. vegetarian.
• Lukhmi, sourced from India. A flat square pastry whose dough is made with yoghurt instead of water. Lamb.
• Lyangcha, sourced from India. Fried hard, boiled in hot syrup, then left for hours in cold scented syrup until it goes soft. vegetarian.
• Maachha Bihana, sourced from India. The roe is bound with black gram paste, fried as dumplings, and only then simmered. Fish.
• Machher Jhol, sourced from India. The potatoes are there to thicken it, not to pad it out. Fish.
• Makhan Bada, sourced from India. A maida dough deep-fried in ghee and then dipped in sugar syrup. vegetarian.
• Malabar Matthi Curry, sourced from India. It is never stirred: the pot is swirled, because stirring breaks the fish. Fish.
• Malpua, sourced from India. The batter stands for hours and is spooned into the fat as a pancake with crisp edges. vegetarian.
• Manda Pitha, sourced from India. A steamed rice-flour shell around a coconut filling, and a fried semolina one in the west. vegetarian.
• Manda roti, sourced from India. A bread rolled so thin it is served folded like a handkerchief, cooked on the outside of an upturned pan. vegetarian.
• Mangalore bajji, sourced from India. A curd batter mixed stiff enough to be the ball itself, with no filling in it. vegetarian.
• Maroi Bori Thongba, sourced from India. Chives stand in for onion and garlic entirely, and the protein is sun-dried lentil nuggets. vegan.
• Masala Dosa, sourced from India. Poha goes into the batter, and the crepe is wrapped round a spiced potato filling. vegan.
• Masala omelette, sourced from India. The pan is cold when the egg goes in, and the heat comes on after. Egg, vegetarian.
• Matar Paneer, sourced from India. Peas and paneer in a tomato sauce, with the garam masala going in at the end. vegetarian.
• Mihidana, sourced from India. The batter goes through a perforated ladle so it fries as separate grains. vegetarian.
• Mirchi bada, sourced from India. A stuffed chilli fried once with the potato and then battered and fried again. vegan.
• Mirchi ka salan, sourced from India. Chillies in a ground peanut sauce that is deliberately grainy. vegan.
• Misal, sourced from India. The tarri is the heart of it, and its colour comes from the spices and nothing else. vegan.
• Mishti Doi, sourced from India. It ferments overnight in earthenware, whose porous walls both thicken it and hold the temperature. vegetarian.
• Modak, sourced from India. Two versions, one fried and one steamed, and the shell can take khoya. vegetarian.
• Mohanthal, sourced from India. A besan sweet into which a sugar syrup is poured, which is what separates it from magas. vegetarian.
• Mughlai paratha, sourced from India. A wheat flatbread folded round egg and onion and fried flat, as a gozleme is. Lamb, Egg.
• Murgh Musallam, sourced from India. The bird goes in whole, stuffed with boiled eggs. Chicken, Egg.
• Murukku, sourced from India. Rice and urad flour piped into coils, and the name means twisting. vegetarian.
• Mysore pak, sourced from India. Steam escaping through the greased flour is what makes it porous. vegetarian.
• Naan, sourced from India. It is leavened with yeast and slapped onto the wall of the oven, not laid on a griddle. vegetarian.
• Nabadwip-er Lal Doi, sourced from India. The milk is boiled over wood until it turns red, three litres down to one, before it is set at all. vegetarian.
• Nankhatai, sourced from India. A shortbread of three flours: refined, chickpea and semolina. vegetarian.
• Neer dosa, sourced from India. A rice batter thinned with water and never fermented. vegan.
• Neyyappam, sourced from India. Fried in ghee, which is exactly what its name says. vegetarian.
• Nga Thongba, sourced from India. Dried citrus peel and hooker chives are what make it, not the fish. Fish.
• Ngari, sourced from India. The pot is sealed with fish paste, leaves and mud, and left at room temperature for months. Fish.
• Nihari, sourced from India. Shank and marrow cooked overnight, flavoured with long pepper rather than black. Beef, Lamb.
• Noon chai, sourced from India. Soda turns it burgundy, cold water holds the colour, and the milk makes it pink. vegetarian.
• Olan, sourced from India. There is no tempering at all: the coconut oil and curry leaves go in raw at the end. vegan.
• Oondees, sourced from India. Four-inch spheres of cooked semolina, steamed rather than fried. vegan.
• Osmania biscuit, sourced from India. Salty as well as sweet, which is what the Nizam asked for. Egg, vegetarian.
• Ou khatta, sourced from India. Elephant apple cooked down in jaggery, sweet and sour at once. vegan.
• Paddu, sourced from India. An idli batter cooked in the indentations of a special pan, so each one is a ball. vegan.
• Pakhala, sourced from India. Rice washed or lightly fermented in water, and the liquid is the dish as much as the rice. vegetarian.
• Pakora, sourced from India. Whatever is dipped, the batter is gram flour, sometimes cut with rice flour. vegan.
• Palak Paneer, sourced from India. The spinach is boiled and pureed before anything else, and only spinach goes in. vegetarian.
• Palathalikalu, sourced from India. The strands are cooked in milk rather than water, which is what pala means. vegetarian.
• Panchratna Dal, sourced from India. Five dals in equal quantities, and the name counts them. vegetarian.
• Paneer, sourced from India. The drained curds are soaked in chilled water for hours before they go under a weight. vegetarian.
• Paneer Tikka, sourced from India. It is threaded on a skewer with peppers and onion and grilled until the surface singes. vegetarian.
• Panipuri, sourced from India. A hollow semolina puri punctured with a finger, filled, and eaten in one bite. vegan.
• Panjiri, sourced from India. It stays dry and loose, and the spices are cumin, coriander, dry ginger and fennel rather than cardamom. vegetarian.
• Panta Bhat, sourced from India. Leftover rice soaked overnight and eaten in the morning, with mashed potato beside it. vegan.
• Pantua, sourced from India. The colour is decided by how long it fries, from pale brown to nearly black. vegetarian.
• Papadam, sourced from India. Thin discs of black gram dough dried hard before they are fried or flipped over a flame. vegan.
• Paratha, sourced from India. The dough is folded and rolled with ghee between the folds, which is where the layers come from. vegetarian.
• Paruppusilli, sourced from India. Two dals are soaked and ground rather than boiled, and the beans are cooked dry. vegan.
• Pasanda, sourced from India. Meat flattened into strips, in a sauce of almonds ground in warm milk. Lamb.
• Pashti, sourced from India. A rice-flour flatbread kneaded in hot water and cut into circles with the rim of a plate. vegetarian.
• Pathiri, sourced from India. A wheat flatbread remade in rice flour, which is what its name records. vegan.
• Patoleo, sourced from India. A rice paste and a coconut filling steamed inside a turmeric leaf, and the leaf is not eaten. vegan.
• Patrode, sourced from India. Colocasia leaves spread with a tamarind paste, rolled and steamed until the leaves are cooked through. vegan.
• Paturi, sourced from India. Fish in a mustard paste tied inside a banana leaf with twine and steamed. Fish.
• Pav bhaji, sourced from India. Cooked and mashed on a flat griddle, with the pav soaked in butter on the same iron. vegetarian.
• Peda, sourced from India. Khoa cooked on until it browns, then pressed into thick semi-soft balls. vegetarian.
• Pesaha appam, sourced from India. A rice cake made unleavened on purpose, like the matzo it is said to come from. vegan.
• Pesarattu, sourced from India. It is whole green gram with no black gram in it, and it is not fermented overnight. vegan.
• Petha, sourced from India. Ash gourd cured in lime water before it is boiled, which is what makes it crunchy. vegan.
• Pheni, sourced from India. Finer strands than seviyan, and sutar means thread. vegetarian.
• Phirni, sourced from India. The rice is ground to a powder first, so it sets smooth with no grains in it at all. vegetarian.
• Pinni, sourced from India. It is rolled into a ball and keeps for weeks without refrigeration. vegetarian.
• Podo Pitha, sourced from India. It bakes overnight and the crust is meant to come out burnt. vegetarian.
• Poee, sourced from India. A Goan leavened pocket bread fermented with toddy and baked on the floor of the oven. vegan.
• Pongal, sourced from India. The rice is cooked in boiling milk, and the name means boil over. vegetarian.
• Poornalu, sourced from India. A fried dumpling whose filling has its own name, poornam. vegan.
• Pootharekulu, sourced from India. A sheet of rice starch thin as paper, folded round sugar and ghee. vegetarian.
• Poriyal, sourced from India. It is a stir-fry, and the coconut goes on at the end as a dressing rather than into the dish. vegan.
• Pulihora, sourced from India. The souring paste is made in advance and keeps for months, then stirred through cooked rice. vegan.
• Puran poli, sourced from India. A sweet stuffed flatbread rolled out in rice flour, or in oil with no flour at all. vegetarian.
• Puri, sourced from India. The dough is made deliberately stiff, at about 48 per cent water, which is why it puffs instead of soaking. vegan.
• Puri bhaji, sourced from India. Deep-fried rounds of flour with a spiced potato that may be dry or in gravy. vegan.
• Puttu, sourced from India. Coarse rice and grated coconut are layered and steamed in a cylinder, never mixed into a dough. vegan.
• Rabri, sourced from India. The skin of cream is lifted off as it forms and set aside, again and again, until the milk is used up. vegetarian.
• Ragi rotti, sourced from India. A finger-millet breakfast bread spread onto the hot griddle by hand and cooked crisp. vegan.
• Raita, sourced from India. The name is black mustard, and the mustard is fried before it meets the yoghurt. vegetarian.
• Rajma, sourced from India. The spices go in whole rather than ground, and the gravy is thick enough to sit on rice. vegetarian.
• Ras Malai, sourced from India. The discs are cooked in syrup and then lifted out of it into milk, which is what they are served in. vegetarian.
• Rasabali, sourced from India. The patties are flattened so they can absorb the thickened milk more readily. vegetarian.
• Rasam, sourced from India. The lentils are optional and the tart stock is not, which is why it is thinner than sambar. vegetarian.
• Rasgulla, sourced from India. The balls are simmered in a light syrup until it has permeated them, and are never fried. vegetarian.
• Rogan Josh, sourced from India. The red comes from alkanet or Kashmiri chilli, not from tomato. Lamb.
• Sabudana khichri, sourced from India. Coarsely ground peanuts mixed through the drained sago before anything is heated. vegetarian.
• Sai bhaji, sourced from India. Dal and greens cooked to one smooth mass, and the name means green vegetables. vegan.
• Sakinalu, sourced from India. Rice flour alone, trailed into concentric circles and fried. vegan.
• Sambar, sourced from India. Pigeon peas and a tamarind broth, with the vegetables cooked in it rather than beside it. vegan.
• Samosa, sourced from India. A maida pastry folded round a filling that was cooked and cooled first. vegetarian.
• Sana thongba, sourced from India. A paneer curry whose gravy is milk rather than tomato or onion. vegetarian.
• Sandesh, sourced from India. The curds are tossed with sugar over a low heat and never boiled or fried. vegetarian.
• Sanna, sourced from India. It is fermented with toddy or coconut water rather than yeast. vegan.
• Sarapatel, sourced from India. The meat is parboiled before it is diced, and offal is half of it. Pork.
• Sarbhaja, sourced from India. The skins of milk stacked and then fried, which is what the name says. vegetarian.
• Sarpuria, sourced from India. The same milk skins layered rather than fried, with chhena and cream between them. vegetarian.
• Sarson ka saag, sourced from India. Mustard greens cooked down in ghee with garlic, ginger and chilli, and little else. vegetarian.
• Sev puri, sourced from India. Flat papri topped with potato and chickpeas and buried in sev, served without sauce. vegan.
• Sevai, sourced from India. The rice paste is steamed as lumps before it is pressed into threads. vegan.
• Shab deg, sourced from India. Turnip and mutton left in the pot overnight, which is what the name says. Lamb.
• Shahi Paneer, sourced from India. Ground cashews and cream are emulsified into the sauce, and no whole spices go in. vegetarian.
• Shahi Tukra, sourced from India. White bread is fried and then milk and sugar are added to it. vegetarian.
• Shami kebab, sourced from India. Meat and chana dal boiled together until tender, ground, and bound with egg. Beef, Lamb, Egg.
• Shankarpali, sourced from India. Semolina in the dough with the maida, which is what makes it snap. vegetarian.
• Sheer Khurma, sourced from India. The vermicelli is fried in ghee before any milk goes near it. vegetarian.
• Sheermal, sourced from India. A mildly sweet saffron bread in which warm sweetened milk replaces the water of a naan dough. vegetarian.
• Shorshe Ilish, sourced from India. Mustard arrives three ways: the white seed, the brown, and the oil. Fish.
• Shrikhand, sourced from India. The yoghurt is hung in cloth for hours and nothing is cooked at any point. vegetarian.
• Shukto, sourced from India. Deliberately bitter, and a version without bitter vegetables uses fenugreek to keep it. vegetarian.
• Singju, sourced from India. It is not cooked at all: raw vegetables shredded fine and dressed. Fish.
• Singori, sourced from India. A cone of sweetened khoya wrapped in a maalu leaf, which gives it its shape and its scent. vegetarian.
• Sitabhog, sourced from India. Pressed into threads that look like rice, with small jamun through it. vegetarian.
• Soan papdi, sourced from India. A pulled sugar dough whose name means golden flaky layer. vegetarian.
• Sohan halwa, sourced from India. A halwa set with cornflour, boiled until solid, and brittle rather than fudgy. vegetarian.
• Solkadhi, sourced from India. It is a drink, and the pink comes from kokum skins. vegan.
• South Indian parotta, sourced from India. Maida where the northern paratha is atta, and the dough is coiled into a spiral. Egg, vegetarian.
• Suji Ka Halwa, sourced from India. The semolina is toasted in fat before any liquid, and the sweetener can be syrup, honey or jaggery. vegetarian.
• Sukhdi, sourced from India. The jaggery goes in equal to the flour and only once the pan is off the heat, then it sets and is cut. vegetarian.
• Surnoli, sourced from India. Cooked on one side only, under a lid, so it stays yellow and full of holes. vegetarian.
• Tan ngang, sourced from India. A puri made with curd instead of water. vegetarian.
• Tandoori Chicken, sourced from India. The chicken is skinned before it is marinated, so the yoghurt reaches the meat. Chicken.
• Thalassery biryani, sourced from India. Kaima rice instead of basmati, which its own source makes the whole difference. Chicken.
• Thalipeeth, sourced from India. The flour is roasted before it is ground, and it has legumes and spices in it already. vegan.
• Tharoi Thongba, sourced from India. It is river snails, and the shells are trimmed so the meat can be sucked out at the table. Fish, Shellfish.
• Theeyal, sourced from India. The name means burnt dish, and the colour comes from roasting the coconut before grinding it. vegan.
• Thepla, sourced from India. Fenugreek leaves and gram flour go into the dough itself, not onto the finished bread. vegetarian.
• Tilkut, sourced from India. Sesame pounded into the sugar rather than stirred into a syrup. vegan.
• Ulava charu, sourced from India. The horse gram is boiled and then taken out, so only its broth is served. vegan.
• Undhiyu, sourced from India. It finishes dry, with every chunk keeping its shape, so it is barely stirred. vegan.
• Unni appam, sourced from India. Mashed ripe banana in the batter, cooked in the moulds of an unniyappakaara. vegetarian.
• Upma, sourced from India. Dry-roasted semolina made into a thick porridge, and the name is salt plus meal. vegetarian.
• Uttapam, sourced from India. It is poured thick and the toppings are pressed into the wet batter. vegan.
• Vada pav, sourced from India. A potato fritter in a bun cut almost through, with a dry garlic and coconut chutney. vegan.
• Vindaloo, sourced from India. Pork marinated in palm vinegar and garlic, and the vinegar is the dish rather than the heat. Pork.
• Xacuti, sourced from India. White poppy seeds and nutmeg go in with the toasted coconut. Chicken.
• Yen Thongba, sourced from India. It is country fowl, and the onions go in as a paste rather than sliced. Chicken.
• Zarda, sourced from India. It is boiled sweet rice, and the yellow is colouring as much as saffron.

What counts as South Asian

A country of the Indian subcontinent, together with the island nations in the sea off its southern tip.

This rule is ours. It is not borrowed from any standard, so it is a choice rather than an authority, and you may reasonably disagree with where it lands.

Three countries a reader might expect here are deliberately outside it. Iran is east of the subcontinent's western edge and is filed under Middle East, which is the region its own cuisine pages sit in. Myanmar is mainland Indochina and belongs to Southeast Asia under that region's rule. Afghanistan is the genuine borderline -- it is counted as South Asian about as often as it is counted as Central Asian -- and it is left out until a recipe needs it decided, at which point the decision will be recorded here rather than assumed. The region is also named the way people say it rather than the way a statistical table writes it: "Southern Asia" as a search term measures 0.

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