Nimona
Nimona: winter peas ground coarse and fried in mustard oil until the fat rises, then stewed with potatoes. The eastern version, left deliberately chunky.
Gangetic Heartland
Recipes from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. An austere vegetarian tradition built on mustard oil, roasted gram flour, and sun-dried lentil cakes – earthy, pungent, and largely unknown outside the region.
Kadhi Badi
Kadhi badi: soured yoghurt and gram flour simmered thin, with fresh-fried besan dumplings dropped in at the end. Bihar’s kadhi is a rice gravy, not a thick curry.
Baingan Badi
Baingan badi: sun-dried urad lentil dumplings fried until nutty, then simmered with aubergine, spinach and dill in mustard oil. A Bhojpuri winter pantry dish.
Sattu ka Paratha
Sattu ka paratha: roasted black chickpea flour sharpened with nigella, carom, mustard oil and pickle masala, stuffed into wheat dough and griddled.
Litti Chokha
Litti chokha: sattu-stuffed wheat balls roasted in embers, drowned in ghee, served with charred aubergine, potato and tomato mashed in mustard oil.