Homemade Cooking: Simple Indian Recipes for Real Daily Meals

When you think of homemade cooking, cooking food from scratch in your own kitchen using fresh, simple ingredients. Also known as traditional home cooking, it’s the quiet backbone of Indian kitchens—where dal, a spiced lentil stew that’s eaten daily across India simmers on the stove, and paneer, fresh cheese made by curdling milk with lemon or vinegar is pulled straight from the pot. This isn’t about gourmet meals or complicated techniques. It’s about what your grandmother made, what your mom still makes, and what you can make too—with ingredients you already have.

Homemade cooking in India isn’t just about saving money. It’s about control. You decide how much salt goes in, whether the spices are fresh, and if the oil is just enough. You learn that traditional Indian food, a wide range of regional dishes built on lentils, vegetables, dairy, and spices doesn’t need fancy imports. A pinch of hing, a spoon of jaggery, a handful of basmati rice soaked overnight—these are the real ingredients that make flavors stick. You don’t need a restaurant to get depth. You need time, patience, and a little curiosity. That’s why people are turning back to homemade cooking: because store-bought sauces can’t replicate the smell of cumin hitting hot oil, or the way paneer soaks up curry like it was made for it.

What you’ll find in these posts isn’t a list of perfect dishes. It’s real talk. Can you eat 7-day-old paneer? What’s the English word for chutney? Is dal the same as lentils? Why does your biryani rice turn mushy? These aren’t just questions—they’re everyday struggles for home cooks who want to get it right. You’ll learn how to make paneer from milk without wasting a drop, why soaking basmati rice matters, and which dal gives you the most protein. No fluff. No trends. Just the kind of advice that stays useful long after the recipe is done.