The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

While cucumber is great raw, a light sautéing brings out in the gourd a delicious flavor dimension. The key is to cook the cucumber just enough to let it soften, not so much that it turns limp or watery. This cucumber side dish recipe, flavored with fresh lime and mustard, shows you how.

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Kachumber – a classic Indian cucumber onion tomato salad that’s light, fresh and oil-free. This healthy side dish made with raw, fresh vegetables gives a pleasant counterpoint to rich Indian curries such as baingan masala, gobi musallam, dahi arbi. And of course, kachumber salad is most famously paired with dhansak.

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Take the basic semolina pancake recipe up a level: fortify it with carrot and cucumber, flavor its base with a dash of dahi, spice it up with ginger and chilies. Carrot cucumber rava cheela works really well for brunch or in the lunchbox with tomato pickle on the side.

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A bright side dish to perk up your mealtimes. Cucumber and pomegranate are loaded with antioxidants, and when they come together, they make a salad that’s the very definition of healthy gorgeousness.

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The staple Indian salad ingredients – kheera tamatar (cucumber and tomatoes) – can take on a curry avatar too. As these veggies are edible raw, the curry need not be cooked too long either. Cucumber tomato curry is great on the side with chapatis and a sprinkling of Bikaneri bhujia on top.

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This green juice is loaded with the goodness of fresh herbs: coriander (cilantro / coriander) and mint (pudina). Light, water-rich cucumber makes it a perfect solvent for the dense herb extract. A squeeze of lime enhances the color and flavor of the drink, besides upping the vitamin quotient. Ideal for the summer, easy on the waist – as well as on the wallet.

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