The dishes at all our restaurants are very different from those served in the bulk of Indian restaurants, because their dishes are from the homes of regional gourmet families, Maharajas' palaces, and humble wayside stalls. The original recipes have often been prised from friends and the traditional cooks.

We feature on this page a different recipe changing periodically, which represents the authentic tastes of real good Indian food.

Some of these recipes are taken from the book by Camellia Panjabi (click The Creators) entitled "50 Great Curries of India" which is regarded by many as one of the best and most important books yet written about Indian food. It has now sold over 1 million copies, the highest sales of any indian cookbook in the world. It provides illuminating explanations of the philosophy behind the food to descriptions of exotic spices and the intricacies of cooking a curry. this is invaluable both for cooks unfamiliar with indian food and for connoisseurs.

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VEGETABLE BIRYANI WITH FENUGREEK & DILL

Korma:

• 350 + 125 ml Oil
• 2 Cardamom
• 2 Cloves
• 2” Cinnamon
• 1 tbs chopped fine Ginger
• 1 tbs chopped fine Garlic
• ½ tsp level Turmeric
• 1 tsp Red Chilli
• 1 ¼ large, very finely sliced Onions
• 1 tbs Fresh Coriander
• 1 tbs Mint
• 2 chopped fine Green Chilli (long thin variety)
• 1 cup (pick off leaves only) Fenugreek leaves (no stalk)
• ½ cup (roughly chopped) Dill
• 1 cup Yoghurt, Greek
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tbs Lemon
• 1 ½ tsp Salt
• 1 kg (carrots, new potatoes, cauliflower, beans, whole small mushrooms)
  Vegetables assorted

Rice:

• 750g Basmati
• 2 Cardamom
• 2 Cloves
• 2” Cinnamon
• 2 tsp Salt

Layering:

• 1 tbs Oil
• 125 ml Milk
• 125 ml Cream
• 125 ml Rice water
• 75g Ghee/Butter
• ¼ tsp Saffron
• 1 tbs Fried onion
• 1 tbs Fresh Coriander
• 1 tbs Mint
  

Korma:
Deep -fry the onions in 1 ½ cups of oil on a medium heat until they are golden. Turn the heat low and continue frying until they turn a rich golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon. Keep one tablespoon aside for the layering process.

Cut vegetables into batons, florets, pieces so that each is roughly the same size.

Heat oil in an 8-10 “ pot on a medium heat and try the fry the whole spices for a minute. Then add the ginger and garlic for 2 minutes, followed by the tumeric, red chilli, fried onions, coriander, mint and green chilli and fry for another 2 minutes.

Now add the fenugreek leaves and dill and allow to cook for 2 minutes mixing it a few times. You will get a wonderful fragrance of the herbs at this point.

Add the yoghurt and cook for 3-4 minutes stirring now and then not to allow the whole masala to stick to the bottom.
Now add all the balance ingredients- garam masala, salt, lemon and vegetables. Remove from heat without cooking vegetables.

Rice
Soak for 45 minutes – 1 hour.

Heat a lot of water on high flame. When it boils, put in the spices and rice. Once it boils again, lower flame and simmer for 5 minutes only. Drain and retain water 1 cup. Rice will be only 15% cooked.

Layering:
Infuse saffron in 2 tablespoons of hot water for ½ hour.

Take a shallow pan 9-10” in diameter, smear sides and bottom with oil and put half the rice in the bottom of the pan, then all the vegetable korma and then the balance of the rice on top.

Melt the butter / ghee gently and add the milk, residual cup of rice water, saffron strands and water and pour this mixture over the whole surface of the rice.

Sprinkle the fried onions on top. Seal the top with aluminium foil, bring the foil out a little beyond the edge on all sides and put the lid on pressing down well over the rim to seal the foil.

Put into oven pre-heated at 180 °C for 15 minutes. Then heat down to 150°C for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to rest for 30 minutes before opening. Mix and serve.

For reservations at Amaya, Chutney Mary, and Veeraswamy, click here
Chutney Mary, 535 Kings Road, Chelsea, London SW10 OSZ tel: +44 (0) 20 7351 3113 fax: +44 (0) 20 7351 7694 email: chutneymary@realindianfood.com Veeraswamy, Mezzanine Floor, Victory House 99 Regent Street, London W1B 4RS (entrance on Swallow Street) tel: +44 (0) 20 7734 1401 fax: +44 (0) 20 7439 8434 email: veeraswamy@realindianfood.com Amaya, Halkin Arcade, off Motcomb Street, London SW1 tel: +44 (0) 7823 1166 fax +44(0) 7259 6464 email: amaya@realindianfood.com	CLICK TO VISIT BRITAIN'S LEADING RESTAURANTS FOR INDIAN FOOD		top