Water

18-hour pork bone broth. Creamy, rich, cloudy white. This is a weekend project, not a weeknight dinner. Worth every hour.

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

Crispy bottom, steamed top, juicy inside. The potsticker technique makes them perfect every time.

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

2-hour version using chicken backs instead of pork trotters. Still rich, still real. For when you can't do the full 18-hour odyssey.

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

Minced shrimp filling with ginger and chives. Pan-fried and steamed the same way. More delicate than pork, quicker to cook.

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

Finely chopped shiitake and oyster mushrooms with pressed tofu and chives. Squeeze out all the moisture — this is the critical step.

Korean twist on gyoza: kimchi and glass noodles in the filling, no pleating required. Just fold and pinch.