The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Of all the types of dals, split toor dal (also called arhar dal) is the one I cook most often. I don’t always put a tadka with it, sometimes just plain boiled dal with salt and a few drops of lime juice tastes great when the rest of the dishes on my place are spicy. On other "tadka" days, tomato toor dal is one of my most-loved ways of having toor dal.

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What takes time to cook is not necessarily complex – that statement is so true of rajma masala (kidney bean curry). To the uninitiated, rajma masala might look like the result of sophisticated culinary jugglery. In truth this is one of the simpler gravies you could make in the Indian cuisine.

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A multi-spiced dish with chickpeas, channa masala is a great favorite in north India. This is also a wise dish to have on the menu when you’re cooking Indian for a big gathering – it is easy to prepare in large quantities since there isn’t much chopping or watching over involved.

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Khichdi isn’t exactly the height of culinary sophistication – but sometimes we don’t want culinary sophistication. Hands up all men and women living away from family who, after a series of spice-laden oily meals outdoors and countless packets of instant noodles, crave simple home-cooked khichdi?

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“Pure” vegetarians in India – as some units of my family are – do not use onion and garlic in their food. The rationale? According to Ayurveda, onions and garlic are classed with rajasik and tamasik food like meat and intoxicants. Rajasik food is considered passion-inducing and tamasik food sin-inducing – both are never offered to the Gods.

Ayurveda recommends sticking to the satvik variety of  food – fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains.^[1] Satvik food is said to keep you fitter in body and calmer in mind.

How does a no-onion-no-garlic person eat Indian-style chhole (white chickpeas), then, you might ask. The popular Punjabi preparation needs an onion-based gravy of course, but there are other ways of preparing chhole without onion and garlic.

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Snack time – want something chatpata to go with your steaming hot Indian tea? Here’s a protein-rich munching idea – soya cutlets.

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In the western world, Indian cuisine is mostly equated with rich, spicy gravies – kofta curry and chhole masala and shahi paneer and their ilk. In reality, Indian cuisine is far broader than that. Indian food can be simple and minimalistic, as this dish I’m going to write about today – roasted moong dal with a green vegetable combination. I picked up the recipe of ridge gourd moong dal from a friend from Andhra, it’s been a regular in my kitchen since.

Ridge gourd and moong dal are both very gentle on the stomach, as are asafoetida (hing in Hindi) and lemon, the prime flavorings in this dish. Hing is a strong spice and, I suspect, an acquired taste. If this is the first time you’re cooking with hing, I’d suggest using very little of it. If you like it, use more another time. I do recommend it warmly, especially for its wide array of health benefits.

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