Ground coriander

The crown jewel of Punjabi cooking. Black lentils slow-cooked overnight with butter, cream, and tomatoes. Do not rush this.

From-scratch green curry paste makes all the difference. Worth the food processor. Creamy, fresh, herbal, with just enough heat.

Lebanese lentils and rice with masses of caramelized onions. Humble pantry food that will make you understand why people call it holy.

Charred marinated chicken in a silky, spiced tomato cream sauce. The tikka and the masala are two separate operations — don't skip the char.

Coconut cream replaces the heavy cream, vegan butter for the tadka. Casein-free. The lentils are the star anyway.

Add salmon fillets in the last 8 minutes of simmering. Fish sauce restores the depth that soy sauce can't quite replicate.

Add a separate tadka (tempering) of whole spices and dried chiles fried in ghee, poured at the table. Drama and flavor.

Same from-scratch paste, chicken thighs instead of tofu. Fish sauce instead of soy. The most ordered Thai dish in the UK for a reason.

Cubed lamb shoulder marinated and grilled. The same masala sauce but richer. Better the next day.

Deep-fry the onions instead of caramelizing. Totally different texture — shatteringly crispy rather than jammy. Both are correct.

Coarse bulgur wheat instead of rice. Nuttier, more textured, slightly lower GI. Lebanese grandmothers often make it this way.

For those who think the original isn't spicy enough. Green chilies in the tempering plus extra kashmiri chili. Not for the faint-hearted.