Heavy cream

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

Competition mac and cheese: velveeta base for the protein strands, sharp cheddar for flavor, 2 hours on the smoker. Gets a crust. Changes people.

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

One lobster tail per pan. Keep it cold-smoked or just stir it in at the end. The decadent version.

Summer blueberries instead of cherries. No pit concerns. Add a little lemon zest to the batter.

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

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

Swap chicken for homemade paneer. Better charring on the tikka, richer sauce that absorbs into the cheese.

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

The French countryside batter pudding. Somewhere between a crepe and a flan. No pitting the cherries — the pits keep them from going mushy and add a subtle almond flavor.

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