Serious Eats / Jatin Sharma

Maybe you’re craving the rich, nuanced flavors of Indian cuisine—beautiful combinations of sour tamarind and creamy coconut or the uniquely complex savoriness of a tahdig-topped dal—but you don’t have time to wait for a long simmer. Not to worry: We’ve got just the right recipes for you. Below, you’ll find curries, soups, and dals come together in less than an hour, but taste as if they take much longer to cook.

Serious Eats / Kanika and Jatin Sharma

This tomato curry comes together in just 25 minutes. While various versions of this dish are served across India, they all feature a beautifully spiced, thick tomato-based sauce with large chunks of vegetables. This recipe uses both canned and fresh tomatoes—the canned variety reduces into a thick sauce, while the fresh tomatoes are sautéed with onion only until softened.

Serious Eats / Kanika and Jatin Sharma

Toor dal—a term that refers both to this lentil stew and the legume itself (also known as pigeon peas)—is a staple that transcends economic and social boundaries, and is eaten twice a day in many Indian households. Here, contributor Rachel Gurjar recreates the version she grew up eating: She adds onion and tomato to the stew after the peas have softened, ensuring they don’t completely disintegrate into the broth. A final tadka of spices and curry leaves infuses each bite with a warm, complex flavor.

Serious Eats / Jatin Sharma

With its rich, tangy, and luscious tomato sauce, tikka masala is a beloved classic of Indian takeout menus. In contributor Antara Sinha’s entirely vegan version, she swaps the usual chicken or paneer for firm tofu. The tofu is a versatile sponge, readily soaking up the rich, spiced sauce. Best of all, the dish comes together in under 45 minutes, making it as fast—if not faster!—than most takeout.

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Palak paneer is a weeknight staple for many Punjabi families, but it is also a fixture of celebratory meals and is almost always served at Punjabi weddings. Here, cookbook author and Serious Eats contributor Chetna Makan shares her mother’s version, which keeps spices to a minimum and allows the true flavor of spinach to shine.

Continue to 5 of 10 below

Serious Eats / Jatin Sharma

In this riff on her grandmother’s soup, Serious Eats contributor Kaumudi Marathé skips boiling and peeling fresh tomatoes and reaches for canned tomatoes instead, which also means you can make the soup year-round. Shallots stand in for India’s small, sweet onions, while ginger, cumin seeds, and Kashmiri chile powder give the soup its deep flavor. Serve it with rice or pieces of griddled bread like chapati for dipping.

Lucy Schaeffer

This chicken curry from Raghavan Iyer’s Indian Cooking Unfolded beautifully demonstrates how layering spices and fresh aromatics produces deeply nuanced flavors. The spice blend resembles a Madras curry powder: savory and warm, with a touch of heat from cayenne. Blitz it into a rich sauce made with tomatoes and half-and-half, then use it to coat tender chunks of chicken.

Serious Eats / Kanika and Jatin Sharma

Moong dal stands out among other dals for its exceptional creaminess—mung beans become soften more than other pulses, developing a velvety texture than sturdier varieties like black or French lentils, which retain some bite even after a long cook. A two-hour soak is essential for achieving that luxurious texture, so if you’re making this on a weeknight, be sure to plan ahead.

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

If you have the time, a long-simmered channa masala is absolutely worth the effort. But here, a few smart techniques deliver deep flavor with less work. Tomato paste, already reduced, speeds up the cooking process. Blooming spices in oil builds layered complexity, and simmering chickpeas with baking soda softens them more quickly, yielding the creamy texture you’re after—fast.

Continue to 9 of 10 below

Prasanna Sankhe

This dish is chock-full of bright, fruity tamarind, which provides a welcome contrast to the savory seafood at its center and bold spice blend of coriander, chili powder, cumin, fennel seeds, and turmeric. The recipe calls for kingfish, but you can use any kind of firm fish available to you.

Max Falkowitz

This recipe draws inspiration from cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey’s shrimp curry, among others. True to the curries of Kerala, it’s seafood-rich and distinctly sour, with a good dose of chile heat and the warm fragrance of fresh ginger. You’ll love the balance between piquant tamarind and rich coconut in the sauce.