Cumin and Coriander: 7 Indian Dishes to Try at Home

We've been in the mood for Indian all week, so this weekend we've got curry on the menu. The long list of spices for many Indian recipes can seem intimidating, but really, Indian cooking is all about using what you have and being creative. Fun times! What are your favorite Indian dishes to make at home?

If you're feeling especially industrious, pair any of these recipes with a batch of homemade naan bread or fresh chapatis. You can also make your own paneer cheese!

1. Chana Masala from Jugalbandi - Mellow, sweet chickpeas are one of our favorite legumes. They're especially good in a savory sauce like this one!

2. Lamb Rogan Josh from Food & Wine - This stew is rich and hearty, perfect if you're still snowed in where you live!

3. Malai Kofta from Monsoon Spice - We're suckers for dumplings of any kind! These are mildly spiced and served in a tangy cream sauce.

4. Aloo Gobi from What's for Lunch Honey - Ever eat a whole head of cauliflower in one sitting? You will with this dish!

5. Palak Paneer from Epicurious - This is a creamy spinach dish with chewy bits of fresh cheese for contrast.

6. Vegetable Samosas from Mamta's Kitchen - These crispy pockets of spiced vegetables are meant to be a snack, but we could honestly eat a whole meal of them!

7. Masala Dosa from India Cuisine - Think of this as an Indian crepe! The batter is made from ground lentils and rice. It's poured onto a skillet, cooked until crispy, and then filled with vegetables, chopped meat, or whatever your heart's desire.

Which recipe sounds best to you?

(Images: Jugalbandi; Tina Rupp/Food & Wine; CIA/Keith Ferris)

Comments (29)

Ah, a challenger appears. I've never tried my hand at this, but maybe it's about time. I know it won't be enough to pry me away from my favorite Indian restaurant.

I don't do much "authentic" Indian cooking, but I love the curry spice mixes from savoryspiceshop.com. Just tried the Vindaloo with some pork, potatoes, onions, chicken stock and yogurt over rice last weekend and it was very good.

We love, love Indian food, and it's so easy to make at home once you've acquired the requisite spice bottles.

Our favorites: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2006/02/public-display-of-chickpeas.html for Orangette's easy chana masala,
and lemony cilantro chicken, a version of which is here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/12/madhur-jaffrey-lemony-chicken-with-cilantro-sauce-recipe.html

And basmati rice, which makes me swoon.

My favourite Indian recipe to make at home is this Murgh Makhani, or Butter Chicken. It is the closest I've come to replicating my favourite Indian place's Chicken Tikka Masala. This dish is excellent and pretty easy to make:
http://recessionrecip.es/2009/12/10/murgh-makhani-butter-chicken/

Our favorite by default (it's the only one I've ever attempted) is Mattar Paneer:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Mattar-Paneer-85853

I learned how to make paneer on youtube: :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gkor7dW6DU

Bhindi masala is hands down my favorite Indian dish to make at home or eat out.

I make Malai Kofta (a vegan version), chickpea dal, and a roasted butternut squash curry that I make all the time. You can find the recipes on my blog at http://testkitchenette.wordpress.com. I love Indian food and have been experimenting with trying to duplicate my favorite dishes from restaurants I have visited. I'd love to try the real thing one day in countries such as India and Pakistan! Has anyone ever been/done that here? Do tell!

I make the great and simple potato curry soup from Madhu Gadia's Indian Vegan Kitchen and have been working on an Aloo Mattar recipe that will come close to a version I had in a restaurant.

I love that Madhur Jaffrey lemon-cilantro chicken! I basically taught myself to cook by working my way through one of her cookbooks, so I have a huge soft spot for Indian food, even though I don't cook at as frequently as I used to.

In that same book with the lemon chicken (that page is all bright yellow from the turmeric splashes!), there's also a recipe for what she calls Lake Palace-style eggplant--the fennel in it is what gets me. So soft and delicate.

I posted about it here, with an adapted recipe that involves roasting the eggplant first, instead of frying--much easier. (Scroll down for the recipe, if you don't want to read my whole learning-to-cook saga!)

I love a good masala dosa (or even better, a rava masala dosa) but the recipes have always been so daunting...and there is a lovely (and cheap!) dosa cart three blocks away from my apartment.

This recipe looks doable...I'm bookmarking it for a rainy day. Will definitely try the chana masala recipe, though. Anyone have a recommendation for the best garam masala in NYC? Kalustyans? Penzeys? Trek to Jackson Heights?

Those look great! I really like the tomato-egg curry from The Moosewood Cookbook, but I would love to learn how to make a killer saag paneer or chicken makhani. I'm going to try some of these recipes for sure. Thanks!

Indian curry with seared chicken, stirfry onion, carrot and potatoes. Yum!

Dum aloo is my favourite...Indian cooking looks tough at first but once you get the hang of the spices you can mix and match them to suit your pallete...love your short, simple and easy to follow recipes :)

i recently made butter chicken (recipe from tasty kitchen via pioneer woman), which was awesome-- alongside I served smitten kitchen's adaptation of a madhur jeffrey chana masala, which was also spectacular. Rice and homemade chapatis rounded out the meal-- and chapatis are just so easy to make!

Can't imagine masala dosas stuffed with meat.

Indian restaurant food is very different from Indian home cooking. And there is a lot of variation in homestyle cooking - it's different in different parts of India and in different communities.

Very few people in India actually make malai koftas (restaurant food) or samosas (very popular street food).

Oh goodness. We've also been in Indian food kick and we've been cooking 'em at home this past couple of weeks.
Thanks for the links.

Palak Paneer is one of my favorite Indian dishes, but that picture from Epicurious is INCREDIBLY unappetizing.

I love making tarka dal. It's flavorful, filling, easy to make, and inexpensive.

I am Indian so I've never actually seen a recipe for Indian food. My grandma just kind of throws everything into a pot. But I would like a recipe for lamb vindaloo or other Goan dishes because my family is from Nothern India. That is one of my favorite things to order at Indian restaurants, because I love spice!

Oh yes and @sunnycloudy my grandma always makes samosas - but the are a lot of work so she only makes them for me and my brother :). She has a little plastic samosa mold that she gave to me so I can try my hand at it...

My grandmom used to make samosas too and I have a cousin who makes great ones.
One can buy excellent samosas, so most people would rather avoid the labour and the deep frying

I've been cooking from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries for the past couple of months with great success. In fact, I'm eating some mutter paneer right now! I pride myself on being a good, versatile home cook, but damn, I didn't think I could ever turn out curries this delicious. Highly recommended, especially for people who are interested in learning a lot about spices/spice blends, and who are interested in tackling off-the-beaten-path dishes.

I wanted to share an Indian cooking video I just did for a really easy yogurt dish. Enjoy!

http://abcdsofcooking.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-first-cooking-video-radish-raita.html

Pav Bhaji - so yummy and easy - a childhood friend made this 2 min video:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=DIRECTORJI#p/u/2/mA37gTjOGr8

I have to agree w/the previous comment that the photo of palak paneer from epicurious looks awful...whats the red stuff?

My favorite is mattar paneer and basmati rice.

OH they are red bellpeppers...I love palak paneer but think red bellpeppers is not such a great addition. Sometimes though I substitute chickpeas for paneer which is a good combination.

I LOVE Indian food too! Cumin is my favorite Indian flavor. Check out this video I found for Indian Cumin Potatoes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIvrWDvIQbY

Indian food has at least ten major different cuisines to boast....using a blanket phrase - Indian food is rather too modest in describing food from the subcontinent

susrith - that is true of pretty much every ethnic food: Chinese, Mexican, French, Italian..... I think we all understand that.

I like to make tandoori chicken quesadillas or on naan bread make mini tandoori pizzas. A big hit!