Author: Reena

Introduction: Puran Poli and the Smell of Festivals

In Maharashtra, there is a particular smell that means a festival is coming. It arrives a day early, the afternoon before Holi or Ganesh Chaturthi or any of the auspicious days my grandmother consulted her panchang to identify. It is the smell of chana dal cooking with jaggery — sweet and slightly caramelised and unmistakably festive.

Puran poli is not everyday food. It is celebration food. And the making of it is itself ceremonial. The whole family gathers. Someone sits with the dal. Someone rolls. Someone stands at the tawa. The kitchen becomes the living room. Everything important happens there.

My aunt made the best puran poli I have ever had. Her secret was patience — more time on the dal than any recipe suggests, more ghee than is arguably sensible, and a dough that rested for a full hour. Here is that recipe.

Ingredients (Makes 10–12 polis)

For the puran (sweet filling): — 1 cup chana dal (split Bengal gram) — 1 cup + 2 tbsp jaggery, grated (adjust to taste — some prefer it sweeter) — 1/2 tsp cardamom powder — 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder — Pinch of saffron dissolved in 1 tbsp warm milk (optional but traditional)

For the dough (cover): — 2 cups whole wheat flour (atta) — 1/4 cup maida (all-purpose flour) — this makes the dough more pliable — 1/2 tsp turmeric (gives the poli its traditional yellow tinge) — 2 tbsp oil — Salt — just a pinch — Warm water to knead — roughly 3/4 cup

For cooking: — Ghee — generous, do not measure nervously — at least 4 to 5 tbsp for cooking 10 polis

Method

Step 1 — Cook the chana dal: Wash and soak chana dal for 1 hour. Drain. Cook in a pressure cooker with 2 cups water until soft — 4 to 5 whistles on high, then 5 minutes on low. The dal should be cooked completely through but should not have become a paste. Individual lentils should be visible but completely soft. If they hold any bite, cook longer. Drain any excess water. This excess water (varan) is saved and made into a soup — do not throw it.

Step 2 — Make the puran: Add the drained, hot dal to a heavy pan. Add grated jaggery. Cook on low-medium heat, stirring constantly. The jaggery will melt and combine with dal. Keep stirring. This mixture must be cooked until it is completely dry — when you drag a spoon through it, it should leave a clean line and not fill back in immediately. This takes 15 to 20 minutes of patience. A puran that is even slightly wet will make rolling impossible. Add cardamom, nutmeg, and saffron milk. Mix well.

Step 3 — Pass the puran through the masher: While still warm, push the puran through a puran patra (traditional hand masher) or a potato ricer. This creates the smooth, uniform texture. If you do not have either, mash vigorously with a fork until lump-free. Let cool completely. Divide into 10 to 12 equal balls.

Step 4 — Make the dough: Combine both flours, turmeric, pinch of salt, and oil. Mix. Add warm water slowly, kneading as you go. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes — the dough should be very soft, slightly sticky, and extremely pliable. If it is stiff, add more water. The softness of the dough is what allows you to stretch it over the filling without tearing.

Rest the dough covered for 1 full hour. This is not optional. The gluten needs to relax or the dough will fight you when you roll.

Step 5 — Stuff and roll: Divide dough into 10 to 12 balls — slightly smaller than the puran balls. Take one dough ball. Flatten in your palm. Place one puran ball in the centre. Bring the edges of the dough up and around the filling, pinching firmly to seal. The seal must be tight or filling escapes during rolling. Gently roll the stuffed ball into a circle — about 6 to 7 inches diameter. Roll slowly and evenly. If it tears, patch with a small piece of dough and press gently.

Step 6 — Cook: Heat a tawa on medium flame. Place the poli on it. Cook until brown spots appear underneath — about 1.5 to 2 minutes. Flip. Apply ghee on the cooked side — generously. Flip again. Apply ghee on this side too. Press gently with a soft cloth (or folded kitchen paper) so the poli puffs and cooks evenly. Total cooking time is about 3 to 4 minutes per poli. The colour should be golden with visible brown spots.

Serve warm with a drizzle of extra ghee. And more ghee when no one is looking.

What Can Go Wrong

Filling bursts through during rolling: Either the dough was too thin in places, the seal was not tight, or the puran was too wet. Wet puran is the most common culprit.

Poli is hard and chewy: The dough was too stiff (not enough water or not rested long enough), or it was cooked on too high a flame which dried it before it cooked through.

Filling is grainy or lumpy: The puran was not passed through the masher or mashed well enough, or the jaggery was not melted properly.

Poli has no flavour: The cardamom and nutmeg were added in too small a quantity. Taste the puran before stuffing — it should be sweetly fragrant.

Too sweet or not sweet enough: Adjust jaggery before cooking is complete. Once the puran is sealed in the poli, you cannot fix it.

The Maharashtrian Table

Puran poli is traditionally served with katachi amti — the dal water (varan) that was drained from the chana dal, tempered with spices and made into a thin, tangy soup. The poli is dipped into the amti between bites. The contrast of sweet poli and tangy amti is the combination — do not skip the amti or you are missing the full picture.

In some homes, it is also served with milk — warm, slightly sweetened, with a tiny pinch of cardamom. My grandmother served it both ways depending on the festival. On Holi, milk. On Ganesh Chaturthi, amti.

The ghee is not optional in either case. It is structural.

Introduction: The Breakfast That Requires No Introduction

Ask anyone from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, or Gujarat what they eat for breakfast on a normal weekday and the answer is, with very high probability, poha. It is the breakfast that requires no occasion, no planning, and no advance preparation. Everything needed is already in the kitchen. It takes fifteen minutes if you are unhurried and ten if you are running late.

I first ate proper poha in Indore. I had eaten poha before — or what I thought was poha, the version made in Mumbai dabbas that is pale yellow, slightly dry, and served with a wedge of lemon that you squeeze and forget about. Then in Indore I sat at a small stall near Sarafa Bazaar at seven in the morning and the man behind the counter handed me a plate that was a completely different thing: turmeric-yellow, fragrant with curry leaves, topped with fine sev, a scattering of pomegranate seeds, and a squeeze of fresh lime. There was a small bowl of green chutney alongside.

I ate two plates. I asked him what he did differently. He looked at the question with the mild confusion of someone who had never considered that there was another way to make poha.

This recipe is what I have reconstructed from that morning and from subsequent trips, with measurements finally nailed down after many attempts in my own kitchen.

The Poha Question: Which Variety to Use

Poha — flattened rice — comes in three thicknesses: thin (patla), medium, and thick (mota). This matters significantly.

Thin poha: disintegrates too easily when soaked and turns mushy almost immediately. Avoid for this recipe.

Medium poha: works well and is the most commonly available. This is what most home cooks use.

Thick poha: the best choice for this recipe. It holds its shape during soaking and cooking, gives a better texture, and does not become a paste. Look for “thick poha” or “jada poha” at your grocery store. It may require an extra 30 seconds of soaking time.

If you have tried making poha and it always turns out mushy, the first thing to check is which variety you are using. Switching to thick poha solves the problem in most cases.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

For the poha:

• 2 cups thick poha (flattened rice / jada poha)
• Water for rinsing — not soaking; there is a difference (explained in method)

For the tempering and base:

• 2 tbsp oil — not ghee for this recipe; oil keeps the poha lighter
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 8 to 10 curry leaves — fresh, not dried
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium potato, cut into very small cubes — 1cm pieces
• 1/2 tsp turmeric — this is what gives poha its colour
• 1/2 tsp sugar — do not skip; it balances the flavour
• Salt to taste — approximately 1 tsp
• Juice of 1 lime — added at the end

For the Indore-style garnish (the part that changes everything):

• 3 tbsp fine sev — the thin, crispy chickpea flour noodles
• 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds — fresh
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 tbsp grated fresh coconut — optional but traditional
• Extra lime wedge for serving

Method

Step 1 — Prepare the poha correctly (the most important step):

Place the poha in a colander or strainer. Run cold water over it for 20 to 30 seconds, tossing gently with your hand. Stop. Do not soak it in a bowl of water — this is the mistake that makes poha mushy. The poha should be just moist enough that the grains separate when you run your fingers through them, but not wet or sitting in water.

Test by pressing a few grains between your fingers. They should flatten easily without crumbling, and should feel soft but hold their shape. If they are still hard and dry, run a little more water over them and wait 2 minutes. If they have become wet and sticky, you have over-soaked — spread them on a plate and let them dry for 5 minutes before using.

Add turmeric, sugar, and salt to the soaked poha. Mix gently with your hands. The turmeric coats every grain evenly. Set aside.

Step 2 — Cook the potato first:

Heat oil in a wide pan or kadai on medium-high heat. Add the small-cubed potato with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Cook on medium heat, stirring every minute or so, until golden and cooked through — 8 to 10 minutes. The potato cubes should be soft inside and slightly crisp outside. Remove from pan and set aside. Do not skip pre-cooking the potato — adding raw potato directly with the poha does not give it enough time to cook through.

Step 3 — The tempering:

In the same pan, heat a little more oil if needed. Add mustard seeds. Wait for them to splutter — this happens within 10 to 15 seconds on medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds. Wait 5 seconds. Add curry leaves — they will crackle and spit oil, step back slightly. Add green chillies. Cook 20 seconds. Add the chopped onion. Cook on medium heat until the onion turns translucent and the edges begin to turn light golden — 5 to 6 minutes. The onion should not brown; it should soften and become sweet.

Step 4 — Add poha:

Add the cooked potato cubes back to the pan. Add the seasoned poha. Mix gently using a folding motion — not stirring, which breaks the grains. The goal is to coat every grain of poha with the tempering without mashing it. Fold and turn rather than stir and press.

Cook on low heat for 2 minutes, folding gently every 30 seconds. The poha should heat through completely. Taste and adjust salt. Add lime juice. Fold once more.

Step 5 — Plate immediately and garnish:

Poha must be plated and served immediately — it continues to absorb moisture and becomes stodgy if it sits in the pan for more than a few minutes.

Plate onto a flat plate rather than a bowl — poha spreads better and the garnish sits properly. Add sev over the top — do not mix it in, it will go soft. Add pomegranate seeds, fresh coriander, and coconut if using. Add a wedge of lime on the side. Serve with green chutney alongside.

Why the Indore Additions Matter

The sev, pomegranate seeds, and fresh coconut are not decoration. They are structural.

The sev adds crunch that the soft poha itself cannot provide. Every bite has a textural contrast — soft grain against crisp noodle.

The pomegranate adds bursts of tartness and sweetness that cut through the oil and spice. Without it the dish is one-dimensional.

The fresh coconut adds a mild sweetness and slight chewiness that ties everything together.

Without these garnishes you have adequate poha. With them you have Indore poha, which is a different thing entirely.

What Goes Wrong

Poha is mushy: You soaked it in water rather than rinsing it, or you used thin poha instead of thick. Rinse quickly, do not soak. Use thick poha.

Poha is dry and clumping: The poha was not soaked enough. Add 1 tsp water to the pan after adding poha and fold gently. Next time, rinse for slightly longer.

Potato is still hard inside: Cubes were too large, or not cooked long enough before adding to the poha. Cut potato to 1cm pieces maximum and cook until a fork slides through easily.

Poha has no colour — pale and uninviting: Not enough turmeric, or the turmeric was not mixed into the poha before cooking. Mix turmeric directly into the soaked poha before everything else.

Everything is cooked but the dish tastes flat: The sugar was skipped. This is almost always the reason. Half a teaspoon of sugar does not make poha sweet — it balances the salt and the sourness of the lime and gives the dish its characteristic rounded flavour. Add it.

Variations Worth Making

Kanda poha (Maharashtra style): No potato, more onion, lighter garnish — just coriander and lime. The onion is added raw just before serving in some versions for extra crunch. This is the everyday breakfast version that most Mumbaikars make on a regular Tuesday morning.

Batata poha: Heavy on potato, lighter on onion. The potato is the star. Common in Pune and in Gujarati households.

Dadpe pohe (no-cook poha): A Maharashtrian version where thick poha is soaked, mixed with finely grated coconut, raw onion, green chilli, lime, and salt — no cooking required. Eaten cold, almost like a salad. Unusual and genuinely good.

When to Make Poha

Poha is breakfast food. It is also the food you make when someone arrives unexpectedly and you need to feed them something real within fifteen minutes. It is the food you make on Sunday mornings when you want something light before a heavy lunch. It is the food you make when there is nothing else in the house because there is always poha in the house.

It does not reheat well — the texture changes and the sev goes soft. Make exactly as much as you will eat. This is not a dish for leftovers. It is a dish for right now.

Introduction: Sunday Has a Smell

In every North Indian household I have ever visited — Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jalandhar, Dehradun — Sunday morning has the same smell. It is not incense. It is not fresh bread. It is rajma, quietly cooking on the back burner since before anyone woke up, filling the flat with the deep, earthy smell of kidney beans and onion and whole spices that have been simmering together for hours.

Rajma chawal is the most democratic dish in North India. It is made in tiny one-room kitchens and in large farmhouse stoves. It costs almost nothing and tastes like it cost everything. It is what you eat after a long week of eating out and remembering you actually prefer home food. It is what you want when you are homesick. It is, for a very large number of people I know, the dish that tastes most like their mother.

My mother made rajma every Sunday without exception for eighteen years. I do not remember ever being bored of it. I do remember the one Sunday she ran out of rajma and made chole instead and the entire family reacted as if something had gone wrong with the calendar.

Here is the recipe. The real one. With the parts that take time and the parts where most people go wrong.

The Non-Negotiable Rule: Overnight Soaking

Rajma must be soaked overnight. Not for two hours. Not for four hours. Overnight — a minimum of eight hours, ideally ten to twelve.

Kidney beans are dense and starchy. Insufficient soaking means the beans take far longer to cook, cook unevenly, and never develop the creamy interior that makes good rajma what it is. The outside softens but the centre stays chalky. No amount of pressure cooking fixes under-soaked rajma.

Soak in plenty of cold water — the beans will double in size and absorb a significant amount of water. In the morning, drain and rinse thoroughly. The soaking water is discarded — it contains the oligosaccharides that cause digestive discomfort.

Plan the night before. This is the only inconvenient step. Everything else is straightforward.

Which Rajma? This Matters More Than People Think

There are two main varieties available in Indian markets:

Kashmiri rajma — smaller, darker, and more intensely flavoured. These are the ones that make the best rajma chawal. They cook slightly faster and their skin is thinner, giving a creamier texture when fully cooked.

Large red kidney beans (the regular supermarket kind) — bigger, milder, and sturdier. They work well but need longer cooking and produce a slightly less complex flavour.

If you can find Kashmiri rajma — sold at Punjabi grocery stores and in most good dry goods shops — use those. If not, the regular variety works fine with slightly longer pressure cooking.

Ingredients (Serves 4–5)

For the rajma:

• 5 cups rajma (kidney beans), soaked overnight
• 4 cups water for pressure cooking
• 1 tsp salt for cooking

For the masala base:

• 3 tbsp oil or ghee — ghee gives a richer flavour
• 2 medium onions, very finely chopped
• 4 medium tomatoes, finely chopped or pureed — about 400g
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste — freshly made
• 2 green chillies, slit
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 black cardamom
• 4 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick

Spice powders:

• 5 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder — adjust to taste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala — added at the end, not during cooking
• Salt to taste

Finishing:

• 1 tbsp butter — stirred in at the very end
• Fresh coriander, chopped, for garnish
• Juice of half a lemon — added just before serving

Method

Step 1 — Pressure cook the rajma:

Drain and rinse the soaked beans. Add to pressure cooker with 4 cups fresh water and 1 tsp salt. Cook on high flame until the first whistle, then reduce to medium and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. For Kashmiri rajma, 18 to 20 minutes is usually enough. For large kidney beans, 25 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally — do not force it. Open the cooker and test a bean by pressing between your fingers. It should crush completely without any resistance. If there is any hardness, cook for 5 more minutes with a little extra water. Undercooked rajma cannot be fixed by adding it to the gravy — the simmering time in the gravy is not long enough to soften beans that are still hard inside.

Reserve all the cooking liquid. Do not discard it — this starchy water is what gives rajma gravy its body.

Step 2 — Build the masala:

Heat oil or ghee in a heavy-bottomed kadai or pot on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and wait for them to sputter. Add bay leaves, black cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. Wait 20 seconds until fragrant. Add finely chopped onions.

Cook the onions on medium heat until deep golden brown — this takes 15 to 18 minutes and cannot be rushed. This caramelisation of the onion is the foundation of rajma’s deep flavour. Pale or undercooked onions produce a raw, sharp-tasting gravy. Go until they are genuinely golden and reduced significantly in volume.

Add ginger-garlic paste. Cook 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Add green chillies. Add all powdered spices except garam masala — coriander, cumin, red chilli, turmeric. Stir and cook 1 minute on medium heat. Add chopped or pureed tomatoes. Add 1 tsp salt. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are completely broken down and the oil begins to separate on the sides of the masala — 15 to 18 minutes. The masala should look dark, concentrated, and oily at the edges. This is correct.

Step 3 — Combine and simmer:

Add the cooked rajma to the masala along with all the cooking liquid. Stir well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring every few minutes. During this time the rajma absorbs the masala, the gravy thickens, and the flavours come together. Do not add extra water unless the gravy is becoming too thick — rajma gravy should coat a spoon heavily.

At the 20-minute mark, take the back of a spoon and press 4 to 5 beans against the side of the pot, mashing them into the gravy. This releases their starch and thickens the gravy naturally. Stir through.

Add garam masala and stir. Cook 2 more minutes. Turn off heat. Add butter and stir until it melts. Add lemon juice. Taste and adjust salt.

Step 4 — The rice:

Rajma chawal means the rice is as important as the rajma. Use long-grain white rice — basmati is traditional but any long-grain white rice works. Rinse until the water runs clear. Cook with a 1:1.5 ratio of rice to water. The rice should be separate-grained, slightly firm, and fragrant. Mushy rice undermines everything.

Why Rajma Tastes Better the Next Day

This is not food mythology. It is chemistry. Overnight, the beans continue to absorb the masala. The spices mellow and integrate. The gravy thickens further as starches from the beans continue to leach out. The sharpness of the ginger-garlic paste softens. Everything rounds out.

If you are making rajma for a special meal, make it the day before and refrigerate it. Reheat slowly on low flame with a splash of water. It will be noticeably better.

This is also why leftover rajma from a Sunday always tastes better on Monday morning with a paratha than it did at Sunday lunch. Do not be surprised by this. Plan for it.

What Goes Wrong

Beans are not fully soft even after long cooking: They were not soaked long enough, or your pressure cooker is old and losing pressure. Soak longer next time. With an old cooker, add 5 to 10 minutes extra cooking time.

Gravy is too thin: Simmer uncovered longer. Mash more beans against the side of the pot. Do not add flour or cornstarch — these change the flavour character completely.

Rajma tastes flat despite all the spices: The onion was not cooked long enough, or the tomatoes were not cooked down properly. Both steps require patience that most first-time cooks skip. The depth of rajma comes entirely from those two slow-cooked foundations.

Too sour: Your tomatoes were very acidic. Add a small pinch of sugar and an extra half teaspoon of butter at the end. Both round out excessive acidity.

How to Serve — The Complete Rajma Chawal Plate

Place a generous mound of rice on the plate or in a bowl. Ladle rajma over one side — enough that it runs into and under the rice. On the side: raw sliced onion, a wedge of lime, and green chutney if you have it. A small piece of butter placed on the hot rajma and left to melt is the restaurant touch that most home cooks forget.

Eat with a spoon, mixing rice and rajma together in each bite. The ratio of rajma to rice in each spoonful is a personal matter on which people have strong opinions. Find your own ratio and defend it.

Introduction: The Jar on the Kitchen Shelf

Every Indian home of a certain generation had a pickle shelf. Ours was in the kitchen, near the window that got afternoon sun. There were always at least four jars — a lime one, a mixed vegetable one, some namkeen that had been there since possibly before my birth, and the aam ka achar.

The mango pickle was the one we rationed. My mother made it only once a year, in April, when raw Rajapuri mangoes appeared in the Crawford Market. She would buy five kilos, supervise the cutting, and then take over completely for the spicing. The rest of us watched. We were not permitted to help. We did not understand why until we were adults and understood how easy it is to ruin a jar of pickle through one wet spoon.

This recipe is hers, written down properly for the first time.

The Right Mangoes — This Step Is Critical

Not every raw mango works for pickle. You want raw, completely unripe mangoes that are firm, tart, and have thick skins. Varieties that work well: Rajapuri, Totapuri, Langda (when fully raw). Avoid mangoes that have any yellow colouration — they are beginning to ripen and will turn soft in the pickle.

The mango should be so sour that it makes your mouth pucker when you taste a raw piece. That sourness is the backbone of the pickle.

Ingredients (Makes approximately 1.5 kg pickle)

• 1 kg raw green mangoes, washed and dried thoroughly
• 3 tbsp mustard oil (for the initial coating)
• 4 tbsp mustard oil (for pouring over at the end)
• 2 tbsp salt (for initial drawing out of moisture) + 2 tbsp for the spice mix
• 2 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (for colour)
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf), coarsely crushed
• 5 tbsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds (methi), lightly crushed
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)

Equipment needed: — Completely dry glass jar with tight lid (1.5 to 2 litre capacity) — Dry clean knife and chopping board — Dry clean bowls throughout — No moisture anywhere at any point

Method

Step 1 — Dry the mangoes: After washing, wipe each mango completely dry with a clean cloth. Then leave them in sun or under a fan for 2 hours. Any moisture is the enemy of pickle.

Step 2 — Cut the mangoes: Using a completely dry knife, cut mangoes into large pieces — roughly 2 to 3 cm chunks. Keep the skin on. Remove the seed but keep the fibrous part around it — it has flavour. Place cut pieces in a large dry bowl.

Step 3 — Salt and draw moisture: Sprinkle 2 tbsp salt over the mango pieces. Mix well. Leave in the bowl for 4 to 6 hours. The salt draws out moisture from the mangoes. After this time, you will see liquid pooled at the bottom. Drain this liquid completely and discard. Pat the mango pieces dry with a cloth.

Step 4 — Spice and oil: In a large dry bowl, mix together all the spices: red chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, fennel seeds, kalonji, fenugreek seeds, turmeric, hing, and remaining 2 tbsp salt. Add 3 tbsp mustard oil to this spice mix and stir to combine. The mixture will smell intensely pungent — this is correct. Add the drained mango pieces. Mix thoroughly until every piece is well coated.

Step 5 — Jar the pickle: Pack tightly into the dry glass jar. Press down firmly so there are no air pockets. Pour 4 tbsp mustard oil over the top — the oil should cover the top surface of the pickle. Close tightly.

Step 6 — The waiting period: Place the jar in a sunny spot for 5 to 7 days. Each day, open the jar using a completely dry spoon, mix the contents, and press back down. Close tightly. After 7 days, taste a piece. It should be tangy, spiced, and the raw edge of the spices should have mellowed. It can be eaten from this point but improves dramatically over 3 to 4 weeks.

What Goes Wrong (And Why Your Grandmother’s Was Better)

Pickle turned soft or mushy: Moisture got in at some point — either the mangoes were not dry enough before cutting, or someone used a wet spoon to remove pickle from the jar. Once soft, the pickle cannot be recovered.

Mold appeared on top: The oil layer on top was not enough, or the jar was not sealed properly. Always ensure the oil completely covers the top surface.

Pickle is too bitter: The fenugreek seeds were not crushed lightly — they released too much. Use lightly crushed, not powdered.

Not sour enough after weeks: Your mangoes were not sour enough to begin with. Check sourness before buying.

Why Grandmothers Were Better: They had experience reading the mangoes, they never rushed the drying step, and they used stone jars (bharni) that maintain consistent temperature. Modern glass jars work well but require more attention to sun placement.

Storage and Use

Once ready, the pickle keeps for 6 to 12 months at room temperature if you follow the golden rule: never introduce moisture. Every time you take pickle from the jar, use a completely dry spoon, close the jar immediately, and ensure oil is covering the surface.

In Mumbai summers, leave the jar in a spot that gets 2 to 3 hours of afternoon sun. In the monsoon, bring it inside and keep in a cool, dry spot.

Serve as a condiment with dal-rice, with thepla for breakfast, or just eat with plain roti when nothing else is available — which, if you are honest about it, is when pickle tastes best.

Introduction: The Rs. 15 That Feeds a City

If you want to understand Mumbai, do not go to Marine Drive at sunset. Go to any railway station at 8am and watch a thousand office-goers eat vada pav while standing, while running, while somehow managing to also check their phones and argue with someone on the other end of the line.

Vada pav is not just food. It is infrastructure. It is what keeps this city moving.

My first memory of vada pav is from Dadar station — age seven, holding my father’s hand, being handed a vada pav wrapped in old newspaper. The garlic chutney stained the paper orange. The vada was crisp on the outside and pillowy inside. The pav was slightly sweet. Together, they were perfect.

Every Mumbaikar has their vada pav origin story. Here is the recipe that comes closest to that memory.

Ingredients (Makes 8 vada pavs)

For the batata vada (potato filling): — 4 large potatoes, boiled and mashed (about 600g after mashing) — 2 tbsp oil — 1 tsp mustard seeds — 1/2 tsp turmeric — 8–10 curry leaves — 3 green chillies, finely chopped (adjust to heat preference) — 1-inch ginger, grated — 4 garlic cloves, grated — 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped — Salt to taste — about 1.5 tsp — Juice of half a lemon

For the batter: — 1 cup besan (chickpea flour) — 1/2 tsp turmeric — 1/2 tsp red chilli powder — Pinch of baking soda — Salt to taste — Water to make a thick batter — roughly 3/4 cup

For dry garlic chutney (the heart of vada pav): — 10–12 dry red chillies (Byadagi variety for less heat with good colour) — 1 full head of garlic (about 15 cloves), peeled — 3 tbsp dried coconut (kopra), grated — 1 tsp cumin seeds — Salt to taste

Green chutney: — 1 cup fresh coriander — 10 mint leaves — 2 green chillies — 1/2 inch ginger — 1 tbsp lemon juice — Salt to taste — 2 tbsp water to blend

Also needed: — 8 pav buns (ladi pav — the Mumbai kind, slightly sweet and soft) — Oil for deep frying

Method

Step 1 — Make the dry garlic chutney first (it keeps for 2 weeks): Dry roast the red chillies until slightly darker — 1 to 2 minutes. Remove. In the same pan, dry roast the coconut until golden. Let everything cool. In a mixer, blend chillies, garlic, roasted coconut, and cumin to a coarse powder. Do not add water. This must stay dry. Add salt. Taste. Store in an airtight jar.

Step 2 — Make the potato filling: Heat oil. Add mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter. Add curry leaves — they will crackle loudly, step back slightly. Add ginger, garlic, and green chillies. Cook 1 minute. Add turmeric. Add mashed potato. Mix everything well on low heat. Add lemon juice, coriander, and salt. Mix. Taste. It should be savoury, slightly tangy, with heat. Let it cool completely before shaping.

Step 3 — Shape the vadas: Divide potato mixture into 8 equal portions. Roll each into a smooth ball — the size of a large lemon. Set aside on a plate.

Step 4 — Make the batter: Mix besan, turmeric, chilli powder, baking soda, and salt. Add water slowly, whisking to avoid lumps. Batter should coat the back of a spoon thickly. If it drips off instantly, it is too thin — add more besan.

Step 5 — Fry: Heat oil in a deep pan to 180°C. Test with a drop of batter — it should rise immediately. Dip each potato ball into the batter, coating evenly. Lower into oil carefully. Fry 3 to 4 at a time. Turn occasionally. Fry until deep golden — 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towel.

Step 6 — Assemble: Slice pav almost through but not completely. Press open. Spread green chutney on one side. Add a generous layer of dry garlic chutney on both sides. Place one hot vada inside. Press gently. Eat immediately.

What Can Go Wrong

Batter falls off during frying: Either the batter is too thin or the oil is not hot enough. Test always before the first batch.

Vada is oily inside: Oil was not hot enough. The batter soaked oil instead of crisping instantly.

Filling is bland: You did not season properly. The potato must taste well-seasoned before frying because the batter adds nothing to the interior flavour.

Dry chutney is too hot: Use Byadagi chillies instead of regular red chillies. They give colour without punishing heat.

Pav is wrong: Supermarket bread rolls are not the same as ladi pav. Find an Iyengar Bakery or equivalent in your city. The sweetness and softness of real pav is non-negotiable.

The Mumbai Way

At the station stalls, the vada pav wala does something most home cooks forget — he butters the pav lightly before pressing it around the vada. That small amount of butter is what makes the difference between a good vada pav and a great one.

Also: eat it standing. Something about eating vada pav while seated at a dining table makes it taste 30% less authentic. Mumbai food is meant to be eaten in motion.

Introduction: Every Family Has One Correct Dal

There is a quiet but extremely serious debate that happens in Indian families. It is never spoken aloud directly. It exists in the raised eyebrow when you taste someone else’s dal. It exists in the polite “achha hai” — it’s fine — which means it is absolutely not fine. The debate is this: whose dal is best?

In our family, the answer was my father’s mother. Her dal tadka had a specific quality that no one could quite replicate — a depth that came from long cooking, a smoke from the ghee and whole spices, and a texture that was neither thick nor thin but exactly right.

She is gone now. But I have spent years reverse-engineering her dal, and this recipe is as close as I have come. I will also explain the science of what each step does, because understanding why makes you a better cook.

Which Dal? And Why

Dal tadka is traditionally made with arhar dal (toor dal / split pigeon peas). Some cooks mix it with chana dal for a slightly earthier flavour and better texture contrast. For this recipe, we use a 3:1 ratio of arhar to chana dal — this is the ratio my grandmother used and it is worth following.

Arhar dal cooks soft and creates the creamy base. Chana dal holds its shape slightly, giving the finished dal texture so it does not taste like baby food.

Ingredients (Serves 4–5)

For the dal: — 3/4 cup arhar dal (toor dal) — 1/4 cup chana dal — 3.5 cups water for cooking — 1/2 tsp turmeric — 1 tsp salt

For the base masala: — 2 tbsp ghee — 1 tbsp oil — 1 medium onion, finely chopped — 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped — 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste — 2 green chillies, slit — 1/2 tsp turmeric — 1 tsp coriander powder — 1/2 tsp cumin powder — 1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust) — Salt to taste

For the tadka (tempering): — 2 tbsp ghee (do not substitute with oil — this step requires ghee) — 1 tsp cumin seeds — 4–5 garlic cloves, sliced thin — 2 dry red chillies — 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder — Pinch of asafoetida (hing)

Garnish: — Fresh coriander, chopped — Juice of half a lemon

Method

Step 1 — Wash and soak the dal: Rinse both dals together until water runs clear — usually 4 to 5 washes. Soak for 30 minutes minimum. Soaking reduces cooking time and makes the dal easier to digest. Do not skip.

Step 2 — Cook the dal: In a pressure cooker: Add soaked dal, water, turmeric, and salt. Cook on high until first whistle, then reduce flame and cook 3 more minutes. Let pressure release naturally. The dal should be completely soft — test by pressing between fingers. It should dissolve.

Without pressure cooker: Cook in a covered heavy pot on low-medium heat for 45 to 60 minutes, adding water as needed.

Step 3 — Build the masala: Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee in a kadai. Add onions. Cook on medium heat until light golden — 10 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste. Cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and green chillies. Add all powdered spices. Cook until tomatoes are completely broken down and oil separates — 12 to 15 minutes. Do not rush this.

Step 4 — Combine: Add the cooked dal to the masala. Stir well. Add water to adjust consistency — dal tadka should be pourable but not watery. Simmer together for 10 minutes. Adjust salt.

Step 5 — The tadka (this is where magic happens): In a small separate pan, heat 2 tbsp ghee until shimmering hot. Add cumin seeds — they should sputter within 2 seconds of touching the ghee. If they do not, the ghee is not hot enough. Add sliced garlic. Watch it turn golden — this takes only 20 to 30 seconds. Add dry red chillies. Add hing. Add Kashmiri chilli powder. Immediately pour this entire tadka over the dal. Cover the dal for 30 seconds to trap the smoke. Then open and stir.

Add lemon juice and fresh coriander. Serve immediately with rice or roti.

What the Tadka Actually Does (The Science)

The tadka is not just flavour — it is chemistry. When whole spices hit hot ghee, the fat extracts the fat-soluble flavour compounds from the spices far more efficiently than water-based cooking can. The high temperature also triggers Maillard reactions in the garlic, creating hundreds of new flavour compounds in seconds. The hing blooms in the fat, releasing its sulphur compounds that add umami depth.

This is why the tadka must be done last and poured hot. A cool tadka added to hot dal does not have the same effect.

What Can Go Wrong

Dal is too thin: Simmer uncovered on low heat for longer. Or mash some of the dal against the sides of the pot — the starch will thicken it naturally.

Dal is gluey and thick: Add hot water, a little at a time. Never cold water — it makes dal grainy.

Tadka burned the garlic: It happened in a second, did it not? Start again. Burnt garlic ruins everything. The moment you see golden edges, add the next ingredient.

Dal tastes flat: The base masala needed more time. Undercooked masala means dull dal. Also check salt and lemon — both sharpen flavour dramatically.

No depth: You skipped the ghee in the tadka or used oil. Ghee is non-negotiable for this step.