The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

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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A fruity raita to give company to Indian meals, specially good when you have heavy curries like kofta curry or paneer butter masala on the menu. I love the sweet and tart taste that ripe pineapple gives to the raita.

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The very versatile spinach goes into this very green one-pot rice meal, making it a wholesome Sunday lunch option.

I normally keep coriander pesto handy in the fridge for a quick addition to salads or sandwich spread. Putting some pesto into spinach rice, along with the garnish of fried cashew nuts, worked wonders with the otherwise simple meal.

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Learning how to make stuffed parathas wasn’t exactly a cakewalk for me. Most often I would go overboard with the filling and the paratha would crack open while rolling, leaving a messy spill. To counter that, I would fill so little that only superactive taste buds could tell there was actually something between the layers of atta.

One day, quite by accident, I discovered this pleasing middle ground – aloo parathas without stuffing. Sharing my method here. I’m sure this will help the novice paratha rollers among you.

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The big purple eggplant is generally used for baingan bharta in my kitchen. Not so tonight. A yummy eggplant-ginger chutney awaits the rice that’s still cooking.

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Moong dal and spinach complement each other perfectly. One comes packed with protein, the other boasts of high vitamin-mineral content; one is known for its digestive ease, the other for its roughage. And the colors – the pale yellow of moong playing off the rich green of spinach – are an added invitation to dig into this delicately flavored sautéed spinach moong dal.

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