The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

This green juice is loaded with the goodness of fresh herbs: coriander (cilantro) and mint. Light, water-rich cucumber makes it a perfect solvent for the dense herb extract. A squeeze of lime enhances the color and flavor of the drink, besides upping the vitamin quotient. Ideal for the summer, easy on the waist – as well as on the  the wallet.

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Flaxseed is one of the best sources of Omega-3 fatty acids, a high-fiber low-GI wonder that’s great for health. The benefits of flaxseed become a lot more accessible when consumed as flaxseed powder.

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Ridge gourd onion chutney spiced with pepper and tamarind. Add a spark to a simple Indian meal with this chutney on the side.

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Dal is usually cooked in soupy form, but yellow moong dal – the skinned and split form of moong beans – lends itself to very interesting dry recipes. Sookhi moong dal is one such.

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This aloo mooli kadhi (potato radish sticks in gram flour curry) recipe, adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor’s, is a simpler alternative to pakora kadhi, besides being an interesting way of adding radish (mooli) to the diet. The Indian white radish has a taste so powerfully pungent that one can’t have much of it raw. I like mooli paratha, but other ways of cooking mooli don’t excite me. Aloo mooli kadhi, though, had me sold from the word go. The potatoes tone down the sharpness of mooli, and the yogurt and gram flour cloak it all in a rich, delicious sauce.

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This red capsicum curry (red bell pepper curry) is among the quickest dishes you could make when you’re pressed for time. It doesn’t take long to cook and more importantly, doesn’t demand meticulous slicing: large irregular chunks work just fine.

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A healthy fresh fruit preparation that you can serve as a snack or an after-meal dessert.

Traditional rabri can be pretty heavy with its high content of sugar and condensed milk. Its usual pairing with malpua and jalebi (while delicious!) doesn’t help either if you’re watching your weight. Enter my recipe of fresh fruit rabri – the best sort of dessert to satiate your sweet tooth even on a healthy diet. No refined sugar, no tinned condensed milk – this rabri is sweetened only with natural nutrient-rich dates and apricots. No canned fruit either – only wholesome seasonal stuff. 

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