Indian

Haldiram's Aloo Paratha is a frozen wheat flatbread stuffed generously with spiced mashed potato, rolled and part-cooked so it finishes on the tawa in minutes. The filling is seasoned in the north Indian home style and spread right to the edges, so every bite has potato in it.

Best for

• Breakfast with curd and pickle
• A fast dinner with dal on the side
• Lunchboxes and weekend brunches

How to cook it

Cook straight from frozen — do not thaw. Heat a tawa or heavy pan over medium heat and lay the paratha on the dry surface. Cook for about two minutes a side, until brown spots appear, then brush with a little oil or ghee and give it another thirty seconds on each side to crisp. Press lightly with a spatula so it puffs.

Pack and storage

400 g pack containing 4 pieces. Keep frozen at -18°C. Do not refreeze once thawed.

MDH Chicken Masala is a straightforward everyday blend for chicken cooked in an onion and tomato gravy. It is balanced rather than specialised, with enough chilli to register and coriander and warm spices filling out the body.

Best for

• Home-style chicken curry with onion and tomato
• Chicken cooked with yoghurt or coconut milk
• Chicken keema and dry chicken fry

Using it

Brown the onion well, add ginger and garlic, then the masala, and fry it in the oil for thirty to forty seconds before the chicken goes in. Around two and a half teaspoons suits half a kilo of chicken. Let the chicken take colour in the masala before you add water, then simmer covered for fifteen to twenty minutes and reduce uncovered at the end.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MDH Kitchen King Masala is an all-purpose blend for vegetarian gravies, meant to be the single jar you use when a dish has no masala of its own. It is rounded and aromatic rather than hot, so it fills out a gravy without pushing it in one direction.

Best for

• Mixed vegetable and paneer gravies
• Aloo matar, kofta and everyday dal
• Pulao and stuffed vegetable dishes

Using it

Add it once the onion and tomato base has cooked down and the oil has started to separate, and fry it for half a minute before the liquid goes in. Two teaspoons is about right for a dish serving four. It works well alongside a plain chilli powder, which lets you set the heat separately from the aroma. A small pinch stirred in at the end refreshes the fragrance.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Telugu Foods Sakinalu is the Telangana festival snack: rice flour worked with sesame seeds and ajwain, piped into loose coils and deep fried until hard. This is the spicy version, so there is a clear chilli warmth behind the sesame. It is a substantial, brittle snack that shatters rather than crumbles, and the sesame is what people recognise it by.

Best with

• Tea or filter coffee
• Sankranti and other festival snack plates
• An evening snack with something plain alongside
• Sending to family, since it travels well

Pack and storage

130g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening. Sakinalu are fragile, so keep the pack somewhere it will not be knocked about, and move them to a rigid airtight container once opened to hold the crunch.

India Gate Excel Extra Long Basmati is the extra-long-grain line, chosen where grain length is the thing on show. The grains stretch out as they cook, stay separate and firm, and carry the clean basmati aroma that comes up as soon as the pot reaches steam. The 1kg pack suits a small household or a first try before committing to a sack.

Best for

• Biryani and pulao
• Jeera rice and plain steamed rice with dal
• Fried rice, where separate grains matter

How to cook it

Rinse until the water runs clear, then soak for twenty to thirty minutes; a long grain needs that soak to elongate rather than snap. Use about one and a half parts water to one part rice, bring it to a boil, cover and cook on the lowest heat for ten to twelve minutes. Rest it five minutes off the heat before lifting the lid, then separate the grains with a fork rather than stirring with a spoon.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, and keep it airtight and away from strong spices.

Britannia Good Day Pistachio & Almond Cookies are butter cookies from Britannia's long-running Good Day range, made with visible pieces of pistachio and almond mixed into the dough. Good Day is one of India's most widely recognised biscuit brands.

The cookies have a rich, buttery taste with a crisp, crumbly texture, and the pistachio and almond pieces add a nutty flavour and light crunch to each bite.

How to use

• Ready to eat straight from the pack, on their own or with tea or coffee.

Pack size: 72g. Store in a cool, dry place and reseal the pack after opening to keep the cookies crisp.

TRS Tapioca (Sabudana) are small hard white pearls made from cassava starch. Dry they are chalky and rattle in the packet; soaked properly they swell into soft, translucent beads that stay separate rather than clumping.

Best for

• Sabudana khichdi
• Sabudana vada
• Sabudana kheer, and fasting or vrat meals

How to cook it

Rinse in a sieve until the water runs clear, then soak in just enough water to sit level with the pearls — not more — for four to five hours or overnight. Done right, a pearl crushes to powder between finger and thumb with no hard white centre. Too much water and it turns to glue. Drain fully and fluff with a fork before cooking.

Pack and storage

500 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Gongura Red Chilli Pickle is the sour roselle-leaf pickle with red chilli worked into it, so it runs hotter than the plain version while keeping the same distinctive leaf sourness underneath. It is made without garlic.

Best for

• Hot rice with a spoon of ghee
• Dal and rice, or ragi sangati
• Curd rice, which balances the heat

Serving

Start with half a teaspoon, since the chilli is noticeably forward here and it is easier to add a second spoon than to sit through the first one. Use a dry spoon and level the surface so the oil covers the pickle again before the jar goes away; pickle left above the oil line spoils first. Serve something plain alongside rather than another strongly spiced dish.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Haldiram's Minute Khana Phulka Roti is a frozen thin wheat roti, rolled fine and part-cooked so it puffs on the pan in under a minute. It is the plainest bread in the range and made without dairy, which makes it the everyday one for a weekday meal.

Best for

• Everyday lunches and dinners with dal and sabzi
• Feeding a family without rolling dough
• Wrapping leftovers

How to cook it

Cook from frozen, never thawed. Heat a tawa over medium to high heat, lay the roti on the dry surface and cook about thirty to forty seconds a side, pressing with a cloth until it puffs up. Stack the cooked rotis in a covered container or cloth so they stay soft, and brush with ghee if you like.

Pack and storage

360 g pack containing 12 pieces. Keep frozen at -18°C. Do not refreeze once thawed.

MDH Meat Curry Masala is a dark, robust blend for slow-cooked mutton and lamb, where the spicing has to hold up over a long simmer. It is heavier and warmer than an everyday sabzi masala, with pepper and toasted whole-spice notes coming through.

Best for

• Mutton or lamb curry with onion and tomato
• Goat curry cooked in a pressure cooker
• Beef and other slow-braised meat dishes

Using it

Brown the meat first, then add the masala to the fried onion, ginger and garlic and cook it in the oil for a minute before any water goes in. Three teaspoons suits half a kilo of meat. Pressure cook for four to five whistles, or simmer covered for an hour, then reduce the gravy uncovered at the end so the spices concentrate.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Chicken 65 Masala is the blend for the South Indian fried chicken of the same name: hot, sharply red and tangy, with chilli well forward. It is a marinade mix rather than a curry powder, so it is used before the frying, not after.

Best for

• Bite-sized boneless chicken fry
• Paneer 65 and gobi 65
• Prawn 65

Using it

Cut boneless chicken into bite-sized pieces and marinate with two to three teaspoons of the masala, thick curd, a spoon of cornflour, salt and a squeeze of lemon for at least an hour. Fry in hot oil in small batches so the temperature does not drop, until the pieces are deep red and cooked through. Finish by tossing them in a hot pan with curry leaves and slit green chillies for under a minute, and serve straight away while the coating is still crisp.

Pack and storage

50g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Udhaiyam Red Lentils (Masoor Dal) are premium split red lentils that cook quickly to a smooth, velvety consistency. Used worldwide in soups, stews and traditional Indian dal dishes.

• Quick-cooking split red lentils
• Perfect for dal, soups, stews and curries
  

Udhaiyam Maida is refined wheat flour, milled fine and with the bran removed, so it is soft, white and low in the coarse particles that give atta its character. It makes the stretchy, soft dough that Indian fried breads and restaurant-style breads need, and it behaves like a plain all-purpose flour in baking.

Best for

• Bhatura, naan and poori
• Samosa and kachori pastry
• Cakes, biscuits and general baking

How to cook it

Maida takes less water than atta, so add it gradually. For bhatura or naan, make a soft dough with curd and a raising agent and rest it somewhere warm for two hours before shaping. For samosa pastry, work oil or ghee into the flour first until it holds its shape when pressed, then bring it together with cold water into a stiff dough and rest it thirty minutes, which is what gives a crisp, blistered shell rather than a soft one.

Pack and storage

1kg pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening, in an airtight container.

Aachi Chaat Masala is a tangy, zingy spice blend that is the soul of Indian street food. Made with amchur, black salt, cumin and chilli, it elevates fruit chaat, pani puri, bhel puri and snacks with its signature sour-spicy kick.

• Tangy street food spice with amchur and black salt
• Perfect for chaat, fruit salad and snack seasoning
  

Aachi Garam Masala is a classic warming whole-spice blend made from cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper and star anise. A finishing spice added to curries, biryanis and marinades for depth and fragrance.

• Classic warming blend of whole aromatic spices
• Use as a finishing spice or marinade enhancer
  

Aachi Chicken 65 Masala is the original spice blend for the iconic South Indian fried chicken dish. Its bold combination of chilli, pepper and aromatic spices creates the signature fiery, tangy Chicken 65 flavour.

• Authentic Chicken 65 flavour profile
• Bold chilli and pepper with aromatic spices
  

Aachi Biryani Masala is a versatile, all-purpose biryani spice blend suitable for both rice and meat preparations. Formulated with whole spice extracts, it gives any biryani a perfectly balanced, aromatic depth.

• All-purpose biryani spice blend
• Works with chicken, mutton and vegetable biryani
  

Haldiram Palak Paneer is a ready-to-eat curry of paneer cubes in a smooth spinach gravy, sealed in a pouch that needs no refrigeration until opened. The gravy is mild and creamy rather than fiery, and the paneer stays soft through heating.

Best for

• Serving with naan, roti or rice
• A quick vegetarian dinner
• Office lunches and travel

How to cook it

Immerse the unopened pouch in boiling water for four to five minutes, or pour the contents into a pan and heat gently for three to four minutes, stirring so the spinach does not catch. In the microwave, cover and heat for about two minutes. Stir well before serving.

Pack and storage

300 g pouch. Store in a cool, dry place. Refrigerate leftovers and finish them the same day. Contains dairy.

TRS Garam Masala is the ground blend of warm spices — the finishing masala rather than a base one. Where turmeric and chilli go in at the start of a dish, garam masala is what you stir in near the end to lift the aroma.

Best for

• Finishing curries, dals and vegetable dishes
• Kebab mixes, koftas and marinades
• Chole, rajma and rich meat gravies

Using it

Add half a teaspoon in the last two or three minutes of cooking, or sprinkle it over just before serving — long boiling flattens the aroma and can leave a bitter edge. Use it alongside coriander and cumin powder, not instead of them; it is there for perfume, not for body. Keep the jar tightly shut, as ground blends fade quickly.

Pack and storage

100 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Amla Pickle is Indian gooseberry, cut in pieces and pickled in oil with chilli and mustard, made without garlic. Amla is astringent and very sour on its own; the salt and oil round it out, leaving a puckering tartness that stays on the tongue well after the mouthful.

Best for

• Curd rice
• Plain hot rice with ghee
• Dal and rice, or khichdi

Serving

One piece at a time is plenty, particularly if amla is new to you, as the astringency is stronger than in a mango or lime pickle. Use a dry spoon and press the pieces back under the oil before the jar is closed, since anything above the oil line spoils first. Serve it alongside something plain and starchy rather than with another sour dish.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Priya Mango Avakaya Pickle is the Andhra mango pickle: raw mango cut in pieces and cured in mustard, chilli powder and oil. This is the version made without garlic, for kitchens that keep garlic out. The taste is hot, salty and sour all at once, with the mustard coming through clearly behind the chilli.

Best for

• Hot rice with a spoon of ghee
• Curd rice
• Dosa, idli and chapati

Serving

Avakaya is meant to be eaten in small quantities, so serve a modest spoonful at the side of the plate rather than mixing it through the whole meal. Always use a dry spoon and press the pieces back down afterwards so the oil covers the pickle again, because anything sitting above the oil line is what spoils first. If the oil has thickened in a cold kitchen, let the jar stand at room temperature for a while before serving.

Pack and storage

300g jar. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

Haldiram's Cocktail Vegan Samosas are small frozen pastry triangles filled with spiced potato and peas, sized for one or two bites rather than a plateful. The pastry is thin and blisters crisp in the oven or air fryer, and the recipe is fully plant-based.

Best for

• Party platters and drinks trays
• Feeding a crowd without much work
• Serving with mint and tamarind chutneys

How to cook it

Cook from frozen, without thawing. In an air fryer, cook at 180°C for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking the basket once halfway. In an oven, place them on a lined tray, brush lightly with oil and bake at 200°C for 15 to 18 minutes, turning once, until the pastry is golden and blistered. They can also be deep fried at a moderate heat until crisp.

Pack and storage

650 g pack containing 28 pieces. Keep frozen at -18°C. Do not refreeze once thawed.

TRS Red Lentils (Masoor Dal) are split, skinned lentils, orange in the packet and pale gold on the plate. They need no soaking and cook faster than any other dal, which makes them the one to reach for on a weeknight.

Best for

• Everyday masoor dal
• Lentil soups and one-pot stews
• Khichdi, and soft first foods

How to cook it

Rinse two or three times until the water runs clear. Simmer with roughly 3 parts water to 1 part dal for 20 to 25 minutes, or pressure cook for 2 whistles, skimming the foam early on. Whisk briefly at the end if you want it smooth. A tempering of cumin, garlic and dried chilli in hot ghee finishes it.

Pack and storage

500 g. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.

MDH Pani Puri Masala is the sour, salty, mint-and-cumin blend used to make the spiced water for pani puri. It is built around tang rather than heat, with roasted cumin and black salt doing most of the work.

Best for

• Pani for pani puri and golgappa
• Jaljeera-style chilled drinks
• Sprinkling over chaat, fruit or boiled potato

Using it

Stir about two tablespoons into a litre of cold water with tamarind pulp and a little jaggery, then leave it for twenty to thirty minutes so the flavour comes together. Strain it, add chopped mint and coriander and chill it thoroughly before serving. Adjust tamarind and salt to taste rather than adding more masala, which can turn the water muddy.

Pack and storage

100g pack. Store in a cool, dry place, sealed after opening.