The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Ginger lovers: this one is for you.

A spicy sweet and sour chutney, with ginger as its star. (more…)

Inspired by the chapter on curry leaves in Ratna Rajaiah’s fascinating book How the Banana Goes to Heaven, I recently resolved to eat curry leaves as much and as raw as I possibly can. The prospect wasn’t enticing, let me say up front. Though I like curry leaves, I find their taste overpowering and use them sparingly even in tadka. I would have to steel myself to eat curry leaves raw, or so I thought.

How wrong I was.

A tentative stab at making curry leaves and peanut chutney turned out to be hugely successful. Peanuts balance out the bitterness of curry leaves, making this chutney not only palatable but also delicious.

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Till a month back, I had had sundried tomatoes only in the bottled, preserved form. Much as I liked it, I was cautious of its salt and preservative content and would use it sparingly.

I never knew how delightfully simple and light sundried tomatoes could be till I got myself a pack of Ladakhi sundried tomatoes – they are chewy, tomatoey (as opposed to pickle-y), and induce no "junk food" guilt pangs.

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You’d expect the last mangoes of the season to be ripe yellow, robustly sweet and oozing juice, but nature has a way of subverting expectations. I cut open a fat Banganapalli this Sunday to have mango cubes as a post-lunch dessert. The mango’s insides turned out to be half-white and tending towards sour.

My first thought was to make sweet mango chutney but then the fresh aromatic ginger in my pantry nudged me to try something different – a chunky mango and ginger chutney.

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Those beautiful green berries on the vegetable vendor’s cart looked so bewitching, I had to pick them up. I used them in this delicious amla (gooseberry) dal and loved the result, I can heartily recommend the recipe to you.

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A fruity raita to give company to Indian meals, specially good when you have heavy gravies like kofta curry or paneer butter masala on the menu. I love the sweet and tart taste that ripe pineapple gives to the raita.

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I must warn you before giving you this recipe – methi chutney (that is, chutney made of fenugreek leaves) is not for everybody. It is bitter, it is fiery hot. If you are like me, you will love it. If you are not, I warned you didn’t I :)

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