South Indians don’t use ghee in cooking the way North Indians do, much preferring their coconut oil. But they always have a spoonful with their parboiled rice and dhal. The first step of a Sadhya is...

South Indian rice is parboiled during processing, which creates a more nutritious but harder grain that needs to be boiled like pasta for 40 minutes. The grains are puffy and separate, and they absorb the...

Often the dhal served at a Sadhya is very plain, but I happen to like interesting dhals, like this recipe. Here I use small orange lentils (called “red” in stores) because they cook down into a...

Pachadis are lightly cooked South Indian salads, often involving yogurt. This was my grandmother’s recipe, and it remains a feature of my core repertoire because it’s so simple and unusual at...

This starchy side dish gets a kick of heat from cayenne pepper, fresh chiles, and hot red pepper flakes.

This aromatic mixture of split peas and vegetables is a staple in the South Indian diet. It always accompanies favorite snacks such as dosas (lentil crêpes) and idlis (lentil dumplings). A traditional...

I grew up on green beans thoren, and while I’ll never tire of its crunchy deliciousness, I think adding corn makes it even better. And even though people don’t often associate stir-fries with Indian cooking, this dish is a favorite in Kerala. It’s a combination of diced vegetables and coconut, but the key is moistening the coconut so it can soak up the ground spices first. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast....

This coconut curry adds a tangy note to a South Indian menu. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast.

This quintessential Kerala vegetable curry marries many of the best ingredients of the region: coconut, curry leaves, green chiles, and a host of tropical vegetables. All the vegetables are cut into batons...

This is the South Indian equivalent of cake: essential at every wedding, birthday, and holiday. Indians like to serve it warm and soupy. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast....