Recipes from Bombay’s indigenous East Indian Christian community! The one I belong to. Find out more about the community here.
If you want our traditional East Indian recipes on hand, these books from the Abby’s Plate Cookbook Series are perfect for you. Available online or in-store wherever books are sold. If you don’t want to buy it online, just hop over to your nearest bookstore and ask for a copy using the ISBN listed on this other page.
East Indian Celebration:
30 Festive Recipes from Abby’s Plate
Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and tangy at the same time, the traditional East Indian wedding pickle takes a few weeks to prepare. This is our modified modern version of this mouth-watering East Indian raw papaya and carrot pickle.
Ground aka minced beef, lamb or chicken meat is seasoned with spices and cooked before being encased in a patty of mashed potato. For appetizers or as sides for your mains, these East Indian potato chops are just perfect!
Tongue Moilee is a traditional East Indian dish that is so flavourful and juicy. The slow-cooked ox or beef tongue meat just bursts with the flavor of all those spices. Served with rice, foogias, apas, or chitaps, you’ll be going back for seconds soon!
Apas are an unleavened East Indian flatbread that are also called bhakri in many Maharashtrian households. Made of rice flour, these handmade breads are gluten-free and so so soft!
Chicken hearts are as tasty an offal dish as you can think of. These tasty offal pieces of chicken hearts or other animal hearts are perfect for upping your vitamin quota and getting healthier.
Fried gaboli or fried fish roe is a delicacy among East Indians. Made with the eggs of the palla or hilsa fish, the gaboli fry is also called Indian caviar.
A delicacy among Indians and East Indians, the fish eggs or roe is the Indian version of caviar, and called gaboli in Marathi. Usually sourced from the hilsa or illish fish, it’s easy to store them for use in the winter months.
An easy snack or homemade appetizer, these homemade boiled grams or spicy chickpeas are easy to make and disappear quickly. Simple and pocket-friendly, these boiled chickpeas are an East Indian must-have. You’ll find …
This quick and easy East Indian Salad is called an Onion Tomato Cucumber Salad and can be ready in just a few minutes. The simple fresh onion tomato salad with cucumbers is cooling, …
Here are some amazing Easter egg dessert recipes and popular Easter eggs that are just adorable.
Traditional East Indian Christmas sweets include one delicious dessert made from almond marzipan. They take a while to make, but these almond marzipan shaped like stars, Santa, trees, fruits, flowers, veggies, and more are the perfect Christmas treat for friends and family.
Rice is such a versatile food that it can be cooked in a zillion ways. Here are different ways to cook rice!
East Indian Pork Ukra Recipe made by us East Indians of Mumbai is what we call a yellow vindaloo. As tasty as traditional spicy vindaloo but yellow in color! If you love the …
Different ways that indigenous East Indians of Mumbai make Marzipan Desserts for Christmas, Easter and other times.
Jeera rice or jeera fried rice is an easy-to-make rice of cumin fried in ghee. Try this jeera rice recipe and you’ll start making it for everyone you know!
The Spicy East Indian Pork Tamriad Recipe made by the East Indians of Bombay, India is a cross between the East Indian vindaloo and the sorpotel. Made with both dry and fresh masala, here’s how our family makes it for dinner!
East Indian Wedding rice is a delicious and tasty dish served at most East Indian weddings and special functions. This rich rice goes well with curries, dals and salads too!
Amboshi is easy to make and can be stored for use throughout the year. Because of its tangy flavour, it’s used in several East Indian dishes.
Baiki Fish Vindaloo is a delicious tangy fish curry made in the traditional East Indian style. Serve with rice, chapatis, or chitaps, a tasty salad on the side for an enjoyable meal!
East Indian Mutton Khudi is a traditional curry that is loaded with flavour. This richer version of the local Maharastrian jungle khudi can be served with rice or foogias or chitaps, and a refreshing salad for a great meal!
Fried ray fish is a delicious dish that is easy to make and quick to cook. Serve fried pakat fish with rice, dal, and salad and you have a perfect meal!
Mutton & Pumpkin Lonvas is a traditional East Indian curry that tastes delicious. Serve with hand-breads, chitaps, and a refreshing salad for a wholesome meal!
Fried mudskippers or nivtya are a tasty fish that can be served with dal, rice, and salad for a perfect meal!
The sweet Royal Icing is easy to make in a few minutes. Use royal icing to decorate cakes, cookies, or easter eggs.
Indian food always includes spices, be it dry spices or wet spices. You’ll often find our recipes calling for ginger garlic paste or chilly ginger pastes or some combination of these ingredients. And …
Chocolate Marzipan Easter Eggs are an amazing treat to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus at Easter! A mix of chocolate and marzipan, these delicious and soft Easter eggs are the perfect dessert!
Traditional East Indian Almond Marzipan Easter Eggs are a delightful way of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ at Easter! They may take some time to make but they’re delicious and a good treat to both kids and grown-ups.
East Indian Duck Moile is a traditional dish that is full of flavour. Tender and juicy slow-cooked meat is served with rice, hand breads, or chitaps, and a cooling salad for the perfect meal!
What is a traditional Easter lunch? Here's what East Indians cook for Easter Lunch to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.
My ma’s colorful blancmange-filled Easter eggs are a childhood treat so delicious that it’s etched my memory. So cooling and yum, these delightful eggs are a cooling treat for hot summer days!
Eggless Marzipan Easter Eggs are a delicious and soft treat for Easter time! Celebrate Christs’ resurrection with these delightful Paschal Eggs that are gluten free and vegan.
Boiled Tongue tastes delicious and is easy to cook traditional East Indian snack. Serve as a side, appetizer, or even in a sandwich, and you’ll be a happy chappy!
East Indian Borose is a delightfully sweet coconutty cookie made with semolina. This traditional East Indian cookie is perfect for tea or as a Christmas dessert!
East Indian dark fruit cake is so delicious and dense, it will tickle your taste buds. Serve for Christmas lunch or dinner with some great homemade wine.
East Indian food is so delicious and tasty, once you’ve tried it, you’ll be craving for more. From appetizers or breads, to main courses or desserts, you’ll be left drooling!
East Indian Ball Curry is a traditional East Indian curry with meatballs. Serve with rice, chitaps, or fugias for dinner or lunch along with a salad and you have the perfect meal!
Bol Lucrecia is a traditional East Indian Coconut Pie dessert that is moist on the inside and crispy outside. So delicious, it will leave you craving for more! Bake any time of the year when you want to impress your family and friends.
For breakfast, lunch, or dinner, these doughnut-shaped breads are just delicious. Serve with Vindaloo or Sorpatel or even Pickle and Green Chutney.
Carambolas are an East Indian dessert or East Indian ‘sweet’ as we call them that’s made around Christmas time. More commonly known as Kulkuls, this sugary frosted treat made by most East Indian Christian households are called carambolas when they’re star fruit-shaped.
Home-made corned beef is so tasty, you’ll wonder why you never made it yourself before. Useful as an ingredient in a number of dishes, this corned beef is easy to make and delicious!
Bol De Coc is a traditional East Indian coconut cake that’s quite similar to the Thalie sweet. This cake has a delicious coconutty taste and a moist crumb, and is the perfect tea time snack!
Thalie Sweet is a traditional East Indian coconut cake usually baked around Christmas Time. This yummy dense cake has a mouthful of coconut in every bite!
Bolings are a sweet coconut semolina cookie that is made at Christmas time in most East Indian Catholic households! They are so simple and easy to make! What’s better; this yummy coconut treat can also be enjoyed as a tea-time snack any time of the year!
A delightful cake made of sweet pitted dates and crunchy walnut pieces, the Date and Walnut Cake is often made for Christmas, special events, and birthdays. Easy to make at home, this traditional East Indian version from Mumbai is a much sought after Christmas delicacy!
Simple and easy to make these Indian Nankhatais are a perfect treat for Christmas but are loved throughout the year. Ready in a short while, this melt in the mouth eggless biscuit leaves you wanting more!
The traditional East Indian stuffing for Christmas meals consist of a chicken liver and bread pudding that’s stuffed into the chickens’ cavity before roasting. Here’s how to make this delicious homemade liver stuffing that’s sometimes called a giblet stuffing.
Mackerel Chili Fry is a healthy dish made of fish that is easy to make and delicious too. Served with pav, rice, or chapatis, it makes a perfect light meal!
Kul-Kuls are a traditional East Indian sweet made around Christmas time! This sugary shell shaped treat made by most Indian Christian households is a great option for a sweet exchange with family and friends!
Foogias are one of the many traditional East Indian varieties of bread. These golden-fried little balls of dough are soft as heaven and disappear as quickly as they’re placed on the table. Foogias are eaten with dinner or lunch and go especially well with moile, khudi, or sorpotel.
Guava Cheese is a tasty East Indian sweet dish especially prepared around Christmas time! Both chewy and fudgy, there’s a mouthful of Guava in every bite.
If you love Indian food, mangoes will become an indispensable part of your diet. Other than as a dessert, mangoes find prominent use in curries and pickles. One popular one, this traditional East Indian Mango pickle is sweet and mouth-watering. Easily and quickly cooked, it can be stored for months.
Chicken Gizzard Chilly fry is a healthy offal dish made of chicken stomachs that can be served as an appetizer with toast, or for lunch or dinner with chapati or chitiaps.
Homemade ginger wine is a light and refreshing drink for any occasion. Using ginger root, we make this spicy traditional East Indian ginger wine in 2 weeks with a few added flavors.
The East Indians of Mumbai make a traditional currant wine for Christmas, Easter and other festivities. Here’s how to make this homemade currant wine.
Mom’s easy egg salad recipe uses just a few gluten free ingredients; mayonnaise, boiled eggs, spring onions, cucumbers, green peppers, salt, pepper.
Home-made Yellow Mustard paste is an awesome accompaniment for your sandwiches, burgers. It even goes well with a wholesome Chicken or Mutton dish by lending a unique flavor!
Most Indian recipes include large amounts of ginger, garlic and chillies. So it’s easier to make lots of ginger garlic paste and store in the refrigerator for use.
Prawn Chilly Fry is an easy to make in 20 minutes stir fry of prawns, tomatoes, onions and turmeric. Here is mom’s recipe for this traditionally Catholic Indian dish.
How to make mutton paya curry? How to make goat trotter khudi curry? What is the recipe for the East Indian paya curry? Those are the questions that brought you here, aren’t they? …
A traditional roast chicken dinner for Sundays or feast days and family gatherings, this whole roast chicken is stuffed with a delicious homemade liver stuffing. The glazed crispy chicken skin tastes as delicious …
The East Indian recipe for grape wine uses fresh black or green grapes or a mix of the two. Easy to make at home for a cheap table wine.
The East Indian recipe for corned tongue or salted tongue takes a few days or a week to prepare but is delicious and perfect for many dinners and sandwiches.
The beef tongue roast is a tasty dish that’s popular in East Indian culture! Taking about an hour to make, this offal dish using simple ingredients is easy to make and tastes delicious. …
East Indian Light Fruit Cake is a delicious treat for Christmas dessert or even as a regular tea-time snack. So yum and fruity, you won’t be able to stop at just one.
What’s your favorite not-too-sweet Christmas dessert? Mine are date rolls. What are these East Indian date rolls? Date rolls are simple and easy to make bites that are similar to buttery shortbread cookies …
Walnut fudge, also known as Milk and Cocoa fudge is a traditional East Indian sweet made for Christmas! This sweet is made in various shapes and sizes, chunks or molded. Try one and you can’t resist another!
Recipe for how to make Gluten-Free Milk Cream? Little drops of heaven that melt in your mouth, that’s what we think they are. But some people just call this the East Indian milk …
The Spicy East Indian Vindaloo Recipe made by the East Indians of Bombay, India is derived from Portuguese Carne de Vinha D’Alhos dish. Made with dry or fresh indyal masala, here’s how our …
Desserts using rice flour or cooked rice in them; rice puddings, rice cakes, Indian rice desserts and more.
I love eating dates! A handful of the sweet luscious fruit is more than enough to satisfy my sugar cravings after each meal. I sometimes eat them as snacks too. Don’t you? I …
This traditional East Indian coconut cake is different from regular coconut cakes. It’s dense and moist, and a delight to eat. Traditionally made with fresh coconut, you can also use desiccated coconut.
Brain Masala or bheja masala is a mouth-watering dish among Indian non-veg enthusiasts that can be made in different ways. What is brain masala? Brain masala or brian curry is a dish of …
Sand cake is a gluten-free East Indian cake made of rice flour. Grainy and buttery, it’s the perfect tea-time snack! And it goes well with ice cream too!
I love chitaps, always have, always will. They’re sweet and light to eat and look like handkerchiefs. They’re especially popular at East Indian dinners and Christmas celebrations. So instead of getting them from …
So some nights it’s really cold outside and you need a liquid to warm your bones. That’s when the East Indian kimad makes a warm entrance into the hearth and home. Quite similar …
The East Indian Tomato Kusondi is the perfect accompaniment for lunch or dinner. This traditional pickle is perfectly zingy and spicy.
The traditional pancakes made by the East Indian community of Mumbai are different from what Westerners would conceive as pancakes. But these tasty coconut-filled sweet pancakes are a delight to eat!
Coconut Cordial is one of the easiest East Indian sweets for Christmas to make. And it tastes yummy too! Granny has always made the coconut version of cordial. Some people use almonds or …
Growing up, the house started smelling of Christmas from early December. Literally! You could smell marzipan, vanilla cream, thali sweet, cordial, Christmas cake and so much more. The best part of being East …
The house stinks! That’s what my sister says every time mom makes a bombil pickle. And it actually does. The East Indian Lonchey or East Indian Dry Bombil Pickle stinks when you put …
Here in Mumbai, we make this lush sweet mango chutney every summer. Sweet and slightly spicy, it’s similar to the aam ka murabba or chunda; and tastes as good as a dessert. This mango pickle perfect as an accompaniment to meals or as a spread on bread or roti for snacks or breakfast!
Brown balls and white balls. Those are our punny names for gulab jamuns or rosgullas. But I’ve not heard any jokes about honey balls or snow balls yet. Is it because East Indian honey …
The East Indian Kadmat or Cuchumber is a traditional East Indian salad made from raw mangoes, onions and chillies, and can be made in a matter or minutes.
The traditional East Indian Vajri Khudi or Vajadi khudi is a gluten free goat tripe curry from the East Indians of Bombay, India. This recipe that’s been handed down from my grandmom to my mom can be made in about 70 minutes. We use the same recipe to cook sheep tripe as well.
The Easter Eggs made by the East Indian community in Mumbai, India are made using almond or cashewnut marzipan. Although there is a slight learning curve with this recipe, it tastes better than chocolate Easter eggs and is the perfect Easter gift for friends and relatives!
Two East Indian aunties meet on the street. “Hello Lucy, how are you re?” “I’m good men, how are you and the babas?” “We’re all good men. Where you went?” “To the bakery …
Special East Indian Chicken Tope is a marriage of our Portuguese cultural inheritance with our Konkan Maharashtrian Indian roots, a perfect all in one gluten free meal.
About Sorpotel or Sarapatel Sorpotel or Sarpatel or Sarapatel, the dish that makes mouths water anywhere it’s served, no matter how you spell it. And as we always say, our East Indian version …