What do you do with an assortment of vegetables when the clock says snack-time? Make mixed vegetable pakoras, if you ask me. This pakora recipe does not demand exactness; take the broad template and switch around the veggies and/or quantities as you wish.
Grains & Flour
Sabudana Kheer: Vanilla Sago Pudding
Sabudana kheer (sago pudding) – an easy dessert idea for a party menu. It cooks quicker than rice kheer, needs the stove top only (no oven), and is vegetarian-friendly.
Butter Soy Baby Corn – Three Ingredients Only!
WYSIWYG in this recipe: three ingredients – butter, soy sauce, fresh baby corn – come together to give this delicious snack.
Spring Onion Jhunka
When you have run out of vegetables, make jhunka.
This piece of wisdom that I received from my Punekar friend was worth its weight in gold during the pandemic lockdown. With just besan and my backlog of onions, the barebones jhunka recipe gave me several filling, comforting meals.
So, what exactly is jhunka? Wikipedia defines it as:
…a vegetarian traditional Indian dish prepared in Maharashtra, Goa and North Karnataka. It is essentially a chickpea flour porridge.
Hmmm. Calling it a “porridge” is rather a stretch! Do they mean pithle? I’ll let the matter rest with a Shakespearean reference and point you to the blog becauseanyonecancook, which describes pithle and jhunka with more nuance.
Beetroot Rice with Peanuts and Coconut
All hail this riot of red! With the crunch of peanuts, the creaminess of coconut, the heat of chili and pepper, this beetroot rice recipe makes for an immensely satisfying meal.
Sarson Methi Kadhi: Dahi Curry with Mustard Fenugreek Tadka
A super flavorful kadhi spiced with mustard (sarson) and fenugreek (methi). This recipe’s highlight is its use of methi in as many as three forms: methi seeds roasted and ground, methi seeds soaked overnight, and fresh methi leaves fried.
Vegetable Pancakes with Soy Dipping Sauce
Till not too long ago, pancakes for me meant cheela. The flour/batter of the pancake would vary: if not besan then moong or sooji, but the template of ‘thick batter + a dash of seasoning’ was a constant.
A chance viewing of Maangchi’s vegetable pancake recipe brought about a shift in this template.