Recipes

Nik Sharma · NYT Cooking

This dish is loosely based on an Indo-Chinese garlic noodle dish. Here, a combination of Italian and Chinese condiments like cashews, Parmesan, soy sauce and anchovies create a creamy, umami-rich garlic sauce. This recipe uses rice noodles, but you could use egg noodles, ramen or any type of noodle. Since Parmesan, anchovies and soy sauce tend to fall on the saltier side, taste as you go and season the sauce accordingly. Feel free to reduce the amount of garlic, as it leans toward the generous side. These noodles are best eaten warm as soon as they’re mixed with the sauce.

Nik Sharma · NYT Cooking

This creamy mango cheesecake has the unmistakable scent and taste of fresh limes and cardamom — and, best of all, it doesn’t require you to turn on the oven. Avoid using fresh mango pulp here: An enzyme in raw mango can prevent the gelatin from setting. (Canned mangoes don’t have that enzyme; it’s destroyed when they’re heated to high temperatures to be preserved.) If you must use fresh mangoes, purée the pulp, then bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and cool before using.

Nik Sharma · NYT Cooking

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are known for becoming dry, but brining them before cooking helps retain moisture. The chicken is soaked in cold, salted water to which a small amount of whey or yogurt is added. (The lactic acid and phosphates in the dairy help with moisture retention.) However, the star of this recipe isn’t the chicken: It’s the sauce, made from miso, plenty of garlic and a good amount of lemon and leftover pan juices. Just take care when salting it: Miso is salty by nature, and lemon juice tends to heighten its brininess. Round out the meal by pairing it with white rice, or a vibrant salad.

Nik Sharma · NYT Cooking

Coated in panko and sesame seeds, tofu takes on a splendid crunchiness that contrasts with sautéed spinach in this 30-minute dish. It comes together under a fragrant coconut-lime dressing — which you can double, then toss with salad. Swap out the spinach to your taste: Try this with mustard greens or chopped collard greens, adjusting the cooking time accordingly. Be careful when handling the uncooked tofu once it is breaded, as the breading is delicate. Using a pair of kitchen tongs or two forks to grab the tofu from the sides will help prevent its crumbling or falling apart. Serve this satisfying main by itself, or alongside a bowl of rice.

Nik Sharma · NYT Cooking

This dish, adapted from Lucy Carvalho, the cookbook author Nik Sharma’s grandmother, owes its fragrance and fiery bite to a generous amount of crushed black peppercorns in a velvety gravy. Like many other Indian home cooks, Ms. Carvalho, who lived in the coastal city of Mumbai, took the Indo-Chinese dish black pepper chicken and substituted shrimp instead. Some versions of this dish call for curry leaves to be fried with the spices, or they might call for another protein in place of the shrimp, like tilapia, cod or catfish. Here, the peppercorns are infused in hot oil, then left to steep as the dish cooks. Fish sauce bolsters the savoriness, but can be left out. For an even stronger bump of heat, increase the amount of black pepper and toss in a sliced serrano. Serve it all over rice for a fast, satisfying dinner.

Nik Sharma · NYT Cooking

One of the most wonderful ways to celebrate fresh (and, in this case, even frozen) fruit, clafoutis originated in the Limousin region of France. Here, a small part of the batter is baked in the baking dish, then the berries, ginger and the rest of the batter is layered on top to prevent the blueberries from sinking and burning. For maximum lemon flavor, zest the lemon over the batter in Step 3. You can substitute any type of fresh fruit — berries, grapes, or cherries; just remember to adjust the amount of sugar you add accordingly.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

There is no doubt that this recipe is an undertaking, what with cooking the apples, making the crepes and some Calvados-flavored sauce. But if you want, you could do away with the sauce and crepes, and serve the buttery, almost caramelized apples over good vanilla ice cream. And even though you need to rustle up the three components, it is an easy choice when you have guests over, as everything can be made in advance. The apples and sauce can be reheated at the last minute and their warmth heats up the thin, pliable crepes.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Studded with colored candies (delicious if they are peanut-filled, too), these treats are an amazing way to end a grown-up supper, and a very useful way to keep a roomful of boisterous children happy.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

The quantity of rice specified in the recipe is what I needed for the pumpkin I stipulate, but I should say two things here. One is that you might not find (or want) a pumpkin of exactly the same weight. The other is that different pumpkins have different-size cavities. The easiest way to find out how much rice you need is as follows: When you have cut the top off and scraped out the seeds, take a plastic freezer bag and line the cavity with it. Pour rice into the bag to about halfway up the cavity, then pour out the rice into a measuring cup. Double the measurement to determine how much stock or water to cook the rice in. The plastic liner is not a hygiene thing: it is just that if you don't use it, you will spend ages scraping out the rice. I know whereof I speak.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

This is a subtle cake: the coffee tempers the sweetness, and the buttery sweetness keeps it all mellow. Even if you don't make cakes, this one is a cinch. Don't be alarmed if the two sponge layers look thin when you unmold them. They are meant to be, because the cake gains a lot of height with its frosting. This cake is all about old-fashioned, homespun charm, so don't worry about how messy it looks: however the frosting goes on is fine. If you want to fully cover the sides of the cake, make a double batch of the frosting.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration. The chocolate Guinness cake here is simple but deeply pleasurable, and has earned its place as a stand-alone treat.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

A fundamental part of any feast is abundance that is shared, and for Nigella Lawson, who brought this recipe to The Times in 2004, one way is to make up little packages of cookies and give them as gifts. These cranberry and white chocolate cookies are a favorite. They are easy to make and a wonderful end to a meal, or an after-school indulgence. Don't overbake them.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

This recipe was inspired by the cuisine of Georgia, on the Black Sea. The stuffing is a simple affair of rice cooked with onions, garlic and dried sour cherries. Parsley is forked through before spooning the rice into the chickens. And yes, chickens: I take the view that one bird is a meal, two is a feast.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

This beet and ginger soup is a snap to make. Many people believe that beets cleanse the liver and that ginger wards off colds, but even if you give no credence to such beliefs, it doesn't matter: this soup is just plain good to eat. I like to make things easy for myself and do no more than blend drained canned beets with additive- and sodium-free broth and grated fresh ginger. The soup can be wonderful at room temperature, or, if you like your soup piping hot, you can heat everything in a pan. But I never do. I just blend and drink. This must be the quickest route to a restoring bowl or mug of something on record.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

There is nothing like a brown rice and seaweed salad for setting the scene for a more virtuous-feeling new year. Brown rice just seems righteous and pure, and I somehow believe that eating it makes me a better person. And just the word "seaweed" is promising: It may sound like the culinary equivalent of a hair shirt, but imagine this hair shirt lined with cashmere, so delicious and flavorsome is this salad. There is not the faintest whiff of penance about it.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

Orange-fleshed fruits, blueberries and pomegranate are all known to be supercharged with antioxidants, which scientists and dietitians say are good for us. Well, they might or might not be right, but any way you mix it, a salad of fresh mango, blueberries and pomegranate seeds, squirted with a little fresh lime juice, makes you feel good. I know all the vitamins are most present when the salad is freshly made, but I like to have a container of this ready in the fridge. It tastes so juicily wonderful and looks so beautiful that you would never know there was any reason to eat it save for the pleasure alone.

Nigella Lawson · NYT Cooking

This is a fresh, tangy salad, loaded with sweet-sour flavor and given a good crunch by toasted hazelnuts. The bitter endive and peppery watercress complement each other beautifully, and it’s all tarted up with a citrusy dressing. It’s easy, and delicious.