There have been fashionable Indian restaurants before Amaya - Cinnamon Club, Zaika, Benares, Deya spring to mind - but none managed the trick of producing coos of delight from hardened critics while surfing the contemporary zeitgeist: snazzy design, buzzy atmosphere, accessible food, plate eye-candy. So what is it about Amaya?

"We thought very hard about the site and the time," says Camellia Panjabi. The other part of the "we" is her sister, Namita, and together they form the creative force behind Amaya, as they do behind Chutney Mary, Veeraswamy and Masala Zone. "This is Knightsbridge," says Camellia, "and it's 2005 - people expect a certain standard of design. It doesn't matter whether you're French, Italian, Chinese or Indian, people want to be comfortable and feel they are somewhere smart. And they want to eat lightly. We've all been brainwashed into needing our five vegetables a day, but we don't want huge helpings of them."

One of the great attractions of Indian cooking for modern metropolitan eating is that it doesn't conform to the three-course structure of a traditional European meal; instead, it consists of any number of highly contrasting dishes, so diners can experience a wider range of flavours in the course of a meal, which keeps their tastebuds on a high state of alert and them happy.

What Camellia says about small helpings and vegetables may well be true, but the foundation of Amaya's menu is kebabs. But these are not greasy slivers of indeterminate meat drowned in a tonsil-searing chilli sauce. They are subtle, sophisticated forms of protein, varied in taste, texture, spicing and effect. "It's a myth that Indian food is defined by curries," says Camellia. "There is a great tradition of dry food in India, in which kebabs have a particular place. They call for a high level of skill, and the meat for each type needs to be chopped in a particular way and then pounded. Then there's the marinading and spicing."

The Panjabis painstakingly researched their own recipes, along the way overcoming practical problems involved in large-scale kebab cooking. "You have to get them to the table piping hot," says Camellia. "There's nothing worse than cold lamb kebab - they turn horribly greasy very quickly." On the other hand, cooking on grills and tandoors has a certain theatrical aspect, and by making them part of the dining room the sisters have added a bit of drama to the business of eating.

Far from basking in the reviews and packed tables at Amaya, the sisters have turned their attention to that grand old landmark of Indian dining in London, Veeraswamy, which relaunches this month. They intend to take a different tack there by going back to the classics, albeit with the attention to detail that characterises all their projects. Camellia spends months in India researching dishes, developing recipes and finding and training the chefs to cook them. She sends them to England for further training and acclimatisation under the beady eye of her sister. "We work in perfect unison," says Camellia. "I leave the final judgment on the dishes to her, because she has a finer palate, but we talk all the time. Each restaurant is an endless process of consultation. It's always been like this."

All recipes serve six.

Haldi tikka

1kg chicken supremes (tikka cut)

1½ tbsp salt

4 tbsp garlic and ginger paste (ie, equal quantities garlic and ginger, whizzed up into a paste)

70ml lemon juice

3½ tbsp turmeric

1½ tbsp chilli powder

½ tsp English mustard powder

½ tbsp ground fennel

125ml yogurt

33ml single cream

33ml vegetable oil

2 tbsp honey

In a bowl, rub the chicken with half a tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste, 30ml of lemon juice and 1½ tablespoons of turmeric, then leave to stand for 20 minutes. Mix together the remaining ingredients, stir into the chicken and marinade for four to six hours.

Preheat the oven to its highest setting. To cook the tikka, place the chicken pieces on a lightly oiled baking tray and cook for 15 minutes or so, until cooked through and slightly charred on the outside.

Tandoori quail

200g dried apricots

150ml white-wine vinegar, plus 2 tbsp extra

1½ tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder

½ tbsp cumin, dry roasted and ground

½ tsp cinnamon powder

3 tbsp salt

2½ tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp ginger paste (ie, whizzed up ginger)

½ tbsp garlic paste (ie, whizzed up garlic)

1½ tbsp honey

2½ tbsp vegetable oil

6 spatchcocked quail

Soak the apricots in 150ml of vinegar for five to six hours, then drain and discard the vinegar. Finely chop a quarter of the apricots; purée the rest in a blender, along with the extra two tablespoons of vinegar. Add all the remaining ingredients, save for the quail, to the blender, and whizz to a paste. Marinade the birds in this mixture for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to maximum. To cook, place on a rack over an oven tray and bake until the juices run clear when you pierce the flesh near the leg bones with the point of a sharp knife - around 15-20 minutes.

Grilled aubergine

500g aubergines

125ml sweet chilli sauce

1½ tsp cumin seeds, dry roasted and ground to a powder

½ tsp chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven or grill to medium-hot. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways. Mix together the remaining ingredients, and spread this over the cut sides of the aubergine halves. Grill or bake for 20-25 minutes, basting the aubergines once with the topping during cooking.

Spice-crusted Dover sole

6 skinless Dover sole fillets

½ lemon, juiced

½ tsp salt and a pinch of white pepper

For the green chutney:

1 big handful coriander, chopped

7-8 mint leaves

2 green chillies

½ tsp salt and 4 black peppercorns

A few drops of lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp pinenuts

1 tsp sugar

For the crust

½ cup golden breadcrumbs

1 tbsp flaked red chillies

1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped

½ tsp turmeric

Preheat the oven to its highest setting. Lay the fish on a flat surface, and season with lemon, salt and white pepper. Blend the chutney ingredients to a fine paste, and spread over the side of each fillet that was on the bone before filleting. Leave to marinade for 10 minutes. Mix together the crust ingredients, and lay on top of the chutney.

To cook, place the fish on an oiled or nonstick baking tray, and put in the hot oven till the fish is cooked through and the crust lightly bronzed - seven to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish and the strength of your oven.

Vegetable biryani

750g seasonal vegetables (baby potatoes, peas, beans, cauliflower - whatever you have to hand, really)

125ml vegetable oil

2 cinnamon sticks

4 green cardamom pods

4 cloves

2 medium onions, finely sliced

2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp chilli powder

250ml plain yogurt

½ tbsp salt

1 tsp green chilli, chopped

½-inch piece ginger, cut in thin strips

½ cup fresh mint, chopped

½ cup fresh coriander, chopped

1 pinch saffron strands, soaked in 1 tbsp warm water

1 tsp cardamom powder

400g basmati rice, washed in cold water and soaked for 30 minutes

Clean the vegetables and cut them into largish chunks. In a big pan, heat the oil with the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Once the spices start to crackle, add the onions and fry over a medium-low heat, stirring frequently until golden brown. Add the ginger and garlic, braise for a minute, then add the turmeric and chilli powder. Fry for a minute, then add the yogurt and salt, and braise until the oil separates.

Reduce the heat, add the vegetables and remaining ingredients save for the rice, saffron, mint and coriander, simmer for five minutes, then remove from the heat.

In a large pot, bring one and a half litres of salted water to the boil. Add the rice, boil until cooked, then strain, reserving 250ml of the cooking water.

Spread half the cooked rice over the base of a thick-bottomed pot, then spread the vegetable mixture on top. Sprinkle over the coriander and mint, and spread the rest of the rice on top. Pour over the saffron and the reserved rice water, cover and seal the pot with a basic dough, and place over a very low heat for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to rest for 10 minutes before opening the pot. Serve hot.

· Amaya, Halkin Arcade, London SW1, 020-7823 1166 (realindianfood.com).