Snack and street food recipes

Street food is where South Asian cooking is at its most playful: crunchy puffed rice with tamarind and onion, pani puri with spiced water, pakoray fried in the first rain, and kebabs sizzling on a tawa. In the Gulf and Levant the equivalents are falafel, sambousek and fresh mezze with flatbread.

Most of these snacks are quick to assemble but depend on good timing, so a hot fry is crisp and a chaat is served before it turns soggy. Pick a few for tea time, a party platter or an iftar table, and follow the timers for the frying and resting steps.

This collection has 49 dishes, including Chapli Kabab, Chicken Tikka, Seekh Kabab. A typical recipe takes about 45 minutes, and each one comes with step-by-step instructions and cooking timers.