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Family recipes

Amma's Notebook

Before there was a channel, there was a spiral notebook in Amma's kitchen. Every recipe here is typed up from her handwriting, with her page beside it, so you can cook it the way she wrote it.

50 recipes so far5 already filmed3 notebook sections
Haleem, in Amma's handwritingBambino Pulao, in Amma's handwriting
As she wrote it. Amounts are often Amma's andaaz (by feel). We keep her words and point out what's vague. Tested as we film. When a recipe makes it to the channel, it gets measured amounts and a video. Her words, explained. Each recipe has a short glossary of the Hindi and Urdu words she uses.
Filmed · watch the video
Main course
Adrak Lehsun Chicken

Chicken marinated in lots of ginger and garlic with herbs and spices, then cooked in the same pan.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Aloo Bonda

Spiced potato balls dipped in besan batter and fried golden.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Aloo Cutlets

Spiced mashed potato patties stuffed with kheema and fried until crisp.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Bambino Pulao

Roasted vermicelli cooked pulao-style with onion, curd and green chilli, made with kheema, or with finely chopped vegetables for a vegetarian version.

From the notebook
Main course
Basic Gosht

Amma's base for weeknight meat dishes: mutton pressure-cooked with onion and spices, then portioned and finished with any vegetable.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Besan ke Cheele

Savoury wheat and gram flour pancakes with ginger, green chilli and vegetables.

From the notebook
Vrat & prasad
Besan ke Ladoo

Gram flour roasted slowly in ghee until fragrant, sweetened and finished with silver leaf.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Bhajiya

Gram flour fritters, plain or with onion, capsicum or pakodi mirchi.

From the notebook
Main course
Bheja

Brain cooked gently with onions and spices, or in a dahi khorma.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Chakoli

Hyderabadi wheat 'diamonds' cooked in a juicy masala with meat, a full meal from fresh dough or leftover rotis.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Chicken 65

Fried, spiced chicken tossed in a tangy curd sauce with curry leaves and lots of green chillies. Works with gobi, fish and prawns too.

From the notebook
Main course
Chironji Dalcha

Mutton in a rich, nutty gravy of ground chironji, best with butter naan.

Filmed · watch the video
Main course
Chooran Bhendi

Whole okra slit and stuffed with amchoor masala, cooked slowly until tender.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Chudwa Bhaath

The chudwa version of Murmure Bhaath: flattened rice soaked, drained and tossed with onion, green chilli and coriander.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Dahi Vada

Fried vadas soaked soft, then smothered in spiced, lightly sweet curd with tamarind and green chutneys.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Dahi Vada (Extra Fluffy)

Amma's second dahi vada: an extra-fluffy batter, a double soak and a sweet-spiced curd.

Filmed · watch the video
Main course
Dalcha

Masoor dal cooked down with mutton until it melts into the gosht, soured with tamarind and finished with a garlicky tempering.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Dosa

Amma's dosa: the idli method with rice in place of rava, spread thin on a hot tawa.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Fish Cutlets

Steamed, shredded fish bound with bread or potato, spiced, crumbed and fried.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Fried Chicken

Two of Amma's fried chicken methods: a crisp cornflour coating, and an egg batter with a dash of Tabasco.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Fried Prawns

Prawns in a light coating of egg white, cornflour, pepper and green chilli, fried crisp.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Garle

A Hyderabadi snack: dry-cooked kheema mixed with crushed bhajiyas, rolled into balls, dipped in besan and fried.

From the notebook
Main course
Gurde Kapoore

Kidneys and testicles cooked like Amma's kaleji, with green chilli, curd or methi variations.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Haleem

Amma's haleem: wheat and meat slow-cooked with a potli of spices, ground smooth and finished with fried onions and lemon.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Hari Pyaaz ke Gaariyal

Three-dal fritters with green onions, with whole chana dal for crunch.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Idli

Soft steamed idlis from a simple 1:3 batter of urad dal and idli rava, fermented overnight.

Filmed · watch the video
Main course
Kadhi Pakodi

Tangy curd and besan kadhi with soft gram flour pakodas.

From the notebook
Main course
Kaleji

Liver cooked with onions and spices, then bhuna until the oil comes out.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Kashmiri Lauz

A baked kheema slice layered with boiled eggs and rich with melon seeds, chironji and cashew.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Kawabs

Amma's base kawab mix of slow-cooked, ground meat, and the classics made from it: Nargisi, Shikampur and more.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Kheema Samosa

Amma's kheema samosas, made with the same filling and dough as her lukmi.

From the notebook
Main course
Kofte ka Khorma

Soft kheema koftas simmered in dahi khorma, with methi and achari variations.

Filmed · watch the video
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Kursi Miyane

Hyderabad's stuffed deviled eggs: halved eggs filled with spiced yolk, dipped in besan and fried.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Lukmi

Hyderabadi kheema pastries: spiced minced meat sealed in a crisp ghee dough and fried.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Murmure Bhaath

Puffed rice soaked for a couple of minutes, squeezed dry, then tossed with onion, green chilli and coriander. A light breakfast or tea-time snack, ready in minutes.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Mutton Chops (Fried)

Mutton chops marinated with pepper, vinegar and raw papaya to tenderise, then fried.

From the notebook
Vrat & prasad
Panjeeri

Rawa roasted in ghee with chironji and sugar: a simple prasad.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Pav Bhaji

Buttery mashed vegetable bhaji with pav bhaji masala, served with toasted pav.

From the notebook
Main course
Piyaz ki Machi

Fish cooked in Amma's onion masala, plus her notes on other family fish dishes.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Prawn Manchurian

Indo-Chinese prawns tossed with ginger, garlic, green chilli and soy, dry or with a little gravy.

From the notebook
Main course
Prawn Masala

Prawns in softly fried onions with ginger-garlic and chilli, cooked until the oil separates.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Sambar

Toor dal simmered with okra, brinjal, pearl onions and tamarind, finished with a tempering.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Savoury Pancakes

Thin, dosa-style pancakes of flour, milk and egg, flecked with coriander and green chilli.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Seekh Kawabs

Spiced kheema kawabs, smoked with charcoal, shaped on skewers and baked.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Spring Rolls

Thin homemade wrappers rolled around saucy sautéed vegetables and fried.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Stuffed Parathas

Wheat parathas stuffed with potato, cauliflower, radish or paneer.

From the notebook
Main course
Tomato Cut

A tangy Hyderabadi tomato curry thickened with besan, tempered and served with boiled eggs.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Upma

Amma's everyday rawa upma: semolina cooked soft with onion, green chilli and coriander, finished with a squeeze of lemon. Breakfast in about 15 minutes.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Uttapam

Thick dosa-batter pancakes topped with onion, tomato, green chilli and coriander.

From the notebook
Breakfast, snacks & starters
Vada

Crisp urad dal vadas with a fistful of rice in the batter, served with dal and chutney.

More pages are being scanned. New recipes appear here as they're typed up.