Zafar's recipes

When you walk into an Indo-Chinese restaurant in India, Hakka noodles are always on the menu, and every table orders a plate. It is a...

At the start of summer, the streets in the major cities, including Bangalore, are filled with vendors who sell push carts and boiled...

Every now and again I have a craving for mashed potatoes, especially with a steak or other grilled meat. It is comfort food at its core,...

These eggs go by many names, million-year, 1000-year or 100-year eggs. The folklore behind these eggs is from about 600 years ago during...

Indian cuisine is a vast myriad of spices often combined into a unique mix. The most common of these is termed garam masala. The term...

Sandwiches are perfect for road trips, but they need not be fussy with too many small ingredients and dry without loads of mayo and...

Combining flavours is an art. It brings the perfect balance of the essential flavours: sweet, sour, spice, salt, and umami. Understanding...

I was staying at the fabulous Amata Boutique Resort and had the opportunity to try this sambal on the elaborate breakfast buffet. I love...

This is a Mughal dish that has been attributed back to the reign of Babur in the 16th century. This version is slightly different from the Northern "Shahi Tukda" (meaning royal pieces), where the bread is also seasoned with other spices, particularly cardamom, and topped with cream or rabdi (sweetened cream), making it a much richer dessert. Both of these desserts are of Mughul origin and seemed to take on regional variations as they travelled across the sub-continent.  The name Double ka...

A sattvic diet is one of healthy eating, vegetarian cuisine that avoids garlic and onions. In practice, a saatvik diet is supposed to...

Pre-desserts adapt your palate to go from savoury to the dessert section of a coursed dinner. They are always sweet, but also spicy...

During mango season I try and use mangoes in as many dishes as I can. Here is a new recipe that I use as a pre-dessert. A pre-dessert is...

One of the most common street-food snacks in India is green mangoes with chili powder and salt. I have also had this combination around...

I love tuna salad but have learned to make my own over the decades. The main reason for this is that commercial tuna salads are loaded...

I travelled with the cookbook author and authority on Chinese cuisine, Fuschia Dunlop, in the village of Dali in the Yunnan province. I...

As soon as chicken soup is mentioned I think of a nourishing light soup that is both nutritious and healthy. The soup brings back...

Charred is a flavour that is usually associated with grilled meats, but charred vegetables and even fruit are delicious. They are often...

I love kimchi, the Korean mainstay for pickled cabbage. It is crunchy, spicy and perfectly acidic. There is always a bottle in my fridge...

I love making and serving cheese boards, and I love seeing one when I enter someone's house as a guest. The first thing a cheese board...

I was asked to make sandwiches for a road trip so we did not have to stop multiple times. This is one of the sandwiches that I created....