Madhur Jaffrey's Easy, Healthy Indian Recipes

Flavored with roasted fenugreek and coriander seeds and coconut milk, this rich, succulent South Indian-style chicken dish is ideal for entertaining.

Spooned over rice, this brothy dal is a classic home-cooked dish among the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins, on India’s southwestern coast.

Jaffrey cooks the beans until they are very tender, so they’ll better absorb the spices.

This light dish can be served at room temperature as a side or dip.

Jaffrey recommends serving these cumin-spiked potatoes with roasted meat.

Roasted urad dal gives the carrots a subtle, nutty flavor.

Jaffrey takes the guesswork out of cooking basmati rice with her super simple (and reliable!) method.

Toast and grind your own cumin seeds to give this cooling cucumber raita a major flavor boost.

Fiery green chiles -- Jaffrey likes the bird's-eye variety -- give this bright condiment just the right amount of heat.

Chicken with Roasted Coriander and Potatoes with Sesame Seeds recipes excerpted from "

Indian Cooking

," by Madhur Jaffrey, copyright © 2002 Madhur Jaffrey, published by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All other recipes except Fresh Cilantro Chutney excerpted from "

Vegetarian India

," by Madhur Jaffrey, copyright © 2015 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.