The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Few things compare to the taste and smell of just-fried onions. What’s usually an embellishment in meals plays starring role in this recipe: spiced fried onions strips with an aromatic peanut-sesame spice mix. Try it!

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I am a fan of the fierce, bitter methi chutney, but I gather that not many are on my side. Most friends find it "a bit much" for their taste. And so – for them and for those of you that share their taste – here’s a milder, nuttier version of it: sesame fenugreek chutney or til methi ki chutney. (more…)

I often do a dry stir fry of cabbage, peas and onions with Indian spices, to accompany plain parathas in my office lunch box. This time I looked towards pan-Asian cuisine for inspiration, putting in a honey soy dressing in place of cumin and coriander.

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When chefs with expertise in other cuisines turn to Indian, it is lovely to see their interpretations of dishes well-known to us. Parathas are regular fare at my place but I learnt of this interesting variation courtesy MasterChef Australia.

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Onions are indispensable to cooking in many Indian households, so much so that the humble bulb has caused governments to topple. To those for whom curries without onions seem inconceivable, I heartily recommend this recipe for stuffed baby eggplant in peanut sesame sauce. The sauce, with tamarind juice to give it body, is rich, thick, and entirely sans onions. I like to make this gravy when I have guests over, especially my no-onion-no-garlic folks.

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I don’t exactly have a sweet tooth. The effort needed to prepare most desserts doesn’t match up to the high I get in eating them. So I doff my hat to Sailu’s recipe for til laddoos – the simplicity and attractiveness of these sweets shook my no-dessert spell. Here is my version – sesame almond laddoos. As an almond fan (or shall we say, "nut nut"), I hiked the amount of almonds to make up for the omission of oatmeal. The result was not bad at all.

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I was planning to make Sailu’s bhindi sambhariya for dinner when to my dismay, I found that my okra wasn’t the right fit for it – too large, not tender enough. So instead I cut the okra into vertical strips and cooked it with a sort of Indo-western spice mix. The result was an unexpected delight – nutty and fresh, delicate and sharp.

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