Dishoom

Royally magnificent. Tender pieces of lamb leg cooked slowly with rich keema and roasted spice. Much stirring and vigour were used in the making of this dish. Dip the soft handkerchief bread. Eat the onions. Nibble the chillies.

Where to start? Chole (chickpeas), halwa (sweet semolina), pickles (which are pickles) and one giant, crackled, puffy puri. Satisfying morning, noon or night.

Toasted pistachios and shredded mint leaves with finest, greenest broccoli, fresh red chillies, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, dates and lime.

Creamy charred chicken, leafy greens, sprouted beans, bulgur wheat, vegetable fiddlesticks, toasty coconut and tarty curry-leaf dressing. Brimming with zing.

Delicate handkerchief roll crisped and filled with grilled paneer, onion, peppers and green leaves. Mint chutney on the side.

Flaky paratha with a fine omelette layer, wrapped all-about an abundance of chicken tikka, fresh kachumber and zingy green chutney. A most-popular street food in Kolkata. Pleasingly sating.

Much loved, humble, unifying Bombay street staple. Hot potato vada, crunchy titbits and chutneys, tucked inside a soft home-made bun. Sprinkle the red spicy masala to taste.

The Irani café classic. Soft bun with butter inside, to be dipped happily into the hot chai.

Poppadoms torn, then fried 'til crisp. Flecked with green chilli. Best dipped into home-made chutney, rich with two kinds of mango. Marries nicely with drinks.

Perked-up Irani café classic: earthy, aromatic minced lamb, studded with peas, distinguished with subtle dill and warming lindi pepper. Arrayed with slices of toasted, buttered pau. Buy this now and convince yourself.

Some Irani cafés now aim to please with Indo-Chinese fare. A plate of crispy garlic-ginger-soy-chilli-chicken is a modern café staple.

Crunchy Punjabi-style shortcrust pastry, pea and potato filling warmly spiced with cinnamon. Tamarind chutney for dipping.

Gujarati filo (not Punjabi shortcrust) stuffed with minced lamb, onions and spices.

Fine lady's fingers for the fingers.

A nostalgia for Bombayites. Green chillies, capsicum and garlic in Cheddar melt on white sliced loaf.

Bombay's Koli (fishermen) Wada (district) recipe: a bowl of delicate, crispy morsels, perfect for chutney-dipping.

An old-time favourite with lovely qualities, pre-eminently nicer than any you have sampled before. Buttery-spicy, mashed vegetables and home-made buns on a Chowpatty tray. No food is more Bombay.

Warm-cold, sweet-tangy, moreish. Golden-fried sweet potato covered with cool yoghurt, pomegranate, beetroot, radish and carrot. Tamarind drizzle and green chutney lift it nicely.

Cold and crunchy, light and lovely. Puffed rice, peanuts and Bombay Mix tossed with fresh pomegranate, tomato, onion, lime, tamarind, mint.

Chicken thigh meat is steeped overnight in garlic, ginger, coriander stems and a little cream. Slightly pink when fully cooked.

Two chops of generous proportions lie overnight in raw papaya, yoghurt and humble spices. Blackened on the grill and finished with a thrilling Kashmiri chilli sauce. A speciality of new standing.

A family recipe, using a marinade of sweet vinegar, not yoghurt. Laced with ginger, turmeric, garlic and green chilli.

Each one charred slightly at the edges, succulent and simple, nothing to bamboozle.

Minced lamb is marinated with green chilli, coriander and cumin, then grilled.

Such simplicity. Pillows of paneer, marinated, charred and spiced gently. A flourish of fried cashews and pomegranate. Makhmali means velvety.

The seduction is in the tumble. New potatoes are smoky-grilled, broken apart, tossed with butter, crushed aromatic seeds and green herbs.

Glowing golden, hot from the grill. Soft, buttery magnificence with warm masala tingles.

Tender chicken in a rich, silky makhani sauce. A good and proper curry redolent with spice and flavour.

Choicest monkfish simmered in creamy coconut, tamarind, tomatoes and kokum. Strewn with fragrant curry leaves. Most popular for its sublime balance of aromas. Think quality!

Finest mutton marinated in red chilli, ginger and garlic, then cooked with black peppercorns and whole spices. Robust, spicy and tender.

A steadfast, humble and delicious vegetarian curry, beloved of Bombay families.

A Dishoom signature dish, dark, rich, deeply flavoured. It is cooked over 24 hours for extra harmony.

Fall-apart leg of lamb bedded in a pot with buttery saffron rice, caramelised onions, rich stock and warming spices. Best with raita.

Tempting and flavourful pot of chicken, ginger, garlic, mint, coriander and rice cooked together in the Kacchi style. An homage to Britannia's Chicken Berry Pulao, with cranberries.

Sturdy, savoury jackfruit and delicately flavoured rice, potted, sealed and cooked the traditional way. Adorned with barberries and sultanas.

It means "the fragrant one".

Toasted pistachios and shredded mint leaves with finest, greenest broccoli, fresh red chillies, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, dates and lime.

Grilled mangetout and Tenderstem broccoli with lively Bengali mustard dressing. Greens for choosing, not refusing!

Corn-on-the-cob, brushed with butter and grilled over charcoal fire. Finished with chilli, salt and lime, Chowpatty style.

A messy to-do of cucumber, onion and tomato. A little lime lifts the whole affair.

A rare embellishment of sweet and sour and spice. "Very chatpata" (or lip-smacking), says Chef, "not ordinary." A little goes a long way.

Delicate minty yoghurt, cool as a cucumber.

Freshly baked in the tandoor.

With minced garlic and coriander sprinkle.

Cheddar is melted inside.

Wholewheat flaky-buttery bread. Fresh from the tandoor, with chaat masala and dried mint.

Soft handkerchief-thin bread, thrown, stretched and griddled to order on an upturned tawa.

Wholewheat bread, delicately charred from the tandoor.