The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

A quick-cooking curry with kachcha kela (raw bananas or plantain) that’s easy enough to make for beginners – no intricate slicing, no artful pounding/grinding, no watchfulness needed while the dish is on the heat. Everything chopped or grated "roughly", all spice measurements  open to personalization.

The only detail to take care of is to avoid the blackening of plantain when it is peeled and sliced – there’s a simple tip below to prevent that happening, which doubles up as a way to keep the stickiness of the plantain at bay.

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The tart sweetness of roasted cherry tomatoes and the freshness of coriander leaves come together in this lovely chutney.

Garlic and dry red chilies give it that extra zing.

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This one’s especially for garlic fans – a flavorful Indian curry of potatoes in garlic sauce.

Baby potatoes go very well with heavy spices – this dish is a classic example. Team up potatoes in garlic sauce with something simple like boiled rice and a raita, for a complete meal.

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Fresh curry leaves coax you to use them all up before they start to dry, but there is only so much you can add to tempering. How do you make the most of a fat bunch of fresh curry leaves? If you ask me, I’d say make chutney.

Curry leaves and peanut chutney is the recipe I usually turn to, but I tried out an unusual combination this time – a recipe that adds a touch of sweetness to offset the bitterness of curry leaves. With extra notes of nuttiness from poppy seeds and tartness from tamarind, this curry leaves and poppy seed chutney is a one to add to your cherished family recipe handbook.

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An assorted collection of food words, one for each letter of the English alphabet. Every word in the list has something special to recommend it – the quirkiness of the dish it represents, the sound of the word as it rolls off the tongue, or a bit of both.

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Palak toor dal (spinach with yellow pigeon pea lentils) has everything your nutritionist would give the nod to – and your palate would agree. Proteins, minerals, iron, and great taste!

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Traditional cooks who, when prompted upma, say “semolina” in a word association game, will probably raise quizzical eyebrows at this recipe. Upma without its core ingredient! No doubt the brainchild of someone with a large loaf of bread on hand along with a batch of tomatoes and an allergy to sandwiches. Bless the sandwich-hater for this brilliant recipe – "bread tomato upma", the nicest way to use bread when it’s best-before date has arrived.

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