Indian

When you make a vegetarian curry, you can choose from among sturdy candidates such as potatoes, turnips, carrots, and sweet potatoes; firm-tender vegetables such as cauliflower, green beans, winter and summer squash, and peas; and heartier ones like chard and kale. If there is any rule, it’s that the colors in the bowl shouldn’t be drab or monotone. Spices are king in a curry. Assemble your own concoction or purchase a good powder or potent paste. Whether it’s mild or spicy sauce is up to you, but take care not to overwhelm the vegetables. 

My style of entertaining has decidedly mellowed over the years. Gone are the days of plated 3-course dinners and a la minute cooking. Now I serve (heavy) hors d’oeuvres followed by a family-style main meal, and everything is cooked in advanced. I’d rather sacrifice a little refinement in favor of enjoying my company.

Not feeling very creative, I decided on Tandoori Lamb. I like it because it’s easy to prepare, but still has a complex flavor that always impresses. Though I’ve made this dish many times for many occasions, no one in this group had had it before. 

Position racks in the top third and the bottom third of the oven so that the chicken and the carrots can roast together.

Meena Kumar doesn’t use standard curry spices when she makes zucchini because, she says, “Every vegetable needs its own specific blend of ingredients to bring out the uniqueness of the dish.’’ Because zucchini is a soft and watery vegetable with a delicate flavor, she says, it needs few spices. Here, she uses chili powder and mixes ground cashews and sesame seeds into the vegetable, which is garnished with fresh cilantro.

Fish moolie or fish molee (meen molee) is a spicy fish and coconut dish of possible Portuguese and/or Indian origin. It is common in India and Malaysia. During the times of the British Empire is was spread into other places of South-East Asia, such as Singapore.

When slender cucumbers come into the markets, you can make the classic Indian raita, a mixture of cooling yogurt with shredded cucumbers and tomatoes. It's supposed to offset the sauce of a hot curry, but it also goes well with all summer grills and roasted meats and fish.

Palak means spinach; paneer is Indian cheese. 

Lots of Indian spices flavor these stuffed eggplants. They can be a complete meal, but if you are feeling extra energetic, make this dish part of a multicourse Indian feast along with curried vegetables, basmati rice, yogurt salad and some Indian breads. As a side dish, plan on one-quarter of an eggplant per person.

A mixture of cooling yogurt, shredded cucumbers, and strips of tomato, raita is served with hot Indian curries, but goes well with summer grills. 

If you’ve ever had a latke lovingly prepared by your mother, grandmother, or any other relative, it may have tasted delicious but chances are it was a ghoulishly gray color. Potatoes begin to turn a grayish brown minutes after peeling. But keep your latkes pure ivory by working them with the onions. Most latkes share a strikingly similar list of ingredients: potatoes, onions, matzo meal, eggs, and salt. This recipe is no different. But here, we use a food processor instead of a box grater to grind the potatoes and onions together.