You Need:

[For 8-10 pakoras]

Assorted vegetables:

• Onions – 2 medium chopped
• Beans – 1/2 cup, chopped
• Carrots – 1/2 cup, chopped
• Cauliflower – 1/2 cup, chopped
• Cabbage – 1 cup chopped
• Green chili – 1 teaspoon finely chopped (optional)

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Batter ingredients:

• Besan (gram flour) – 1/2 cup approx (adjust to consistency, details in section “Prepare the batter”) [buy here]
• Red chili powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Cumin powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Pepper powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Salt – 1/4 teaspoon or to taste

For frying:

• Vegetable oil or peanut oil

Equipment:

• kadhai, ladle

How To Make Mixed Vegetable Pakoras:

1. Prepare the batter

Place the chopped onions, carrots, beans, cauliflower, cabbage and green chilies in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle over the vegetables 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix well and set aside for half an hour.

After half an hour, the vegetables will give off water thanks to the salt (osmosis, for the science-minded). At this stage, sprinkle besan over the vegetables, also throw in the dry spice powders: red chili powder, cumin powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder.

Keep turning the contents of the mixing bowl with a ladle as you add the besan; stop when the besan and vegetables form a batter of “droppable” consistency. The batter should be runnier than chapati dough, thicker than pancake / cheela batter. In case you accidentally add too much besan, it is OK to fix it with a little extra water.

Let the batter stand for another half an hour. Here’s how it looks, all set to fry:

2. Shape and fry

[We’ll shape the pakoras using the ladle in this recipe – the more dexterous and so inclined are welcome to use their palms instead.]

Heat a pan or kadhai and pour enough oil into it for deep-frying.

When the oil is hot*, gently place ladlefuls of the besan-vegetable batter on the oil: one ladle = one pakora. The fun bit is that there is no geometric precision needed in the “shaping” – these are no triangle parathas or their ilk; you can go all wabi-sabi on pakoras and they work just fine! The art is in the frying, not in the form.

To fry right, make sure there are no overlaps between the pakoras and no batter sticking to the sides of the pan. My pan had space enough for frying six at a time: depending on the size of your pan, adjust the count per batch as well as the quantity of oil.

*How hot should the oil be? To test, drop a teeny-tiny batter ball into the oil. If the batter ball sizzles and browns on contact, the oil is hot enough – proceed with the rest of the batter. If the batter ball remains raw for more than a few seconds, let the oil heat up more. On the other hand, if it smokes and turns blackish, the oil is too hot – turn off the heat for a while and then start frying.

When the undersides of the pakoras get gold-rimmed, turn them over and let the other side cook. Fry till golden-brown all around.

Pick the pakoras out of the pan / kadhai using a slotted spoon or spatula. Place them on absorbent paper.

Get ready to fry the next batch of pakoras.

Top with a little more oil for frying if needed before you add the next batch. After adding more oil, wait till it heats up to the right degree and then add the next batch of pakoras to the oil.

Fry in batches until all the batter is used up.

Mixed vegetable pakoras are ready to relish!

To Serve:

Serve hot as a tea-time snack along with coriander chutney or roasted tomato chili chutney. Pro tip: Don’t just pair it with ANY tea – make the Indian masala chai to go with it!

Related Recipes:

Interested in more snack-time options? Take a look at these recipes:

Thinking about more ways for using up small quantities of several vegetables? Here are a few:

The post Mixed Vegetable Pakoras appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

And now, let me add yet another no-onion-no-garlic chickpea recipe to your repertoire.

This curry gets its flavors from tomato sauce, olive oil and Italian seasoning. Pair it with buttered garlic toast or some warm Indian flatbread (I recommend this seed-studded elliptical beauty) for a satisfying meal.

You Need:

To pressure-cook together:

• Dried white chickpeas – 1 cup [buy here]
• Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
• Water – 3 cups

To grind together:

• Tomatoes – 3 medium
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Green chili – 1-2 (optional)

For the sauce:

• Paprika powder – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Oregano – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Salt – to taste
• Extra-virgin olive oil – 1.5 tablespoons [buy here]
• Sliced olives – a teaspoon, for garnishing [buy here]

Equipment:

• pressure cooker, grinder, lidded pan

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

In the picture above (clockwise from left): chickpeas; evoo; sliced olives; paprika powder, oregano; tomatoes, green chilies, ginger.

How To Make Chickpea Curry in Olive Oil:

1. Soak and boil

Wash and place the chickpeas in a large bowl. Pour water for soaking the chickpeas till the level of water is over twice the height of the chickpeas.

Set the bowl aside for 8 hours or overnight.

The chickpeas will absorb the water, soften and swell. Drain the excess water (tip: don’t throw this water away! give it to your plants) and rinse the chickpeas. They are now ready to pressure cook.

Transfer the soaked chickpeas to a pressure cooker. Top with 3 cups of water, 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Lock the lid and cook till the chickpeas are soft to bite. If using an Indian style pressure cooker, cook on high heat till you hear the first whistle, then set heat to low and cook for another 15 mins. Let the pressure release naturally.

2. Grind

De-eye the tomatoes, core them if hard in the center. Skin the ginger. Cut the top off the chilies; deseed the chilies if you like the sauce mildly hot, else let the seeds remain for more heat.

Place the tomatoes, ginger and chilies in the grinder.

Puree.

3. Make the sauce

Heat a thick-bottomed pan. Add to the pan a tablespoon of olive oil along with the tomato puree.

Simmer with lid on for 15 minutes, shaking the pan every 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon or two of chickpea water if the sauce starts drying up.

Add salt to taste and paprika powder to the sauce.

Mix in and tip in the chickpeas along with the water they were boiled in.

Continue to cook covered for another 10 minutes or till the sauce reaches the thickness you like.

Stir in the remaining olive oil and oregano.

Chickpea curry in olive oil is ready. Serve hot garnished with sliced olives.

Notes:

Try more dishes cooked in olive oil:

Also check out these dry legume recipes:

The post Chickpea Curry in Olive Oil appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Some of the links below are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

You Need:

[For 3-4 servings]

• Potatoes – 300 grams
• Green chili – 2 (adjust to taste)
• Garlic – 4 cloves (~1 teaspoon when chopped)
• Onion – 1 medium
• Tomatoes – 1 medium
• Dry red chili (Kashmiri or Byadagi) – 1 large [buy here]
• Salt – to taste
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Mustard oil – 1/2 tablespoon [buy here]

In the picture above (clockwise from left): boiled potatoes, microwaved tomatoes, green chili, dry red chili, garlic, onion.

How To Make Sliced Aloo Chokha Style:

1. Boil the potatoes

Boil the potatoes till tender enough for slicing with gentle knife pressure. The time this would take depends on the style and thickness of the boiling pan and the size of the potatoes.

If using an Indian-style pressure cooker, here’s how to do it:

Place the potatoes in the cooker. Pour in a cup of water and lock the lid. Heat the cooker on high till you hear the first whistle. Set the heat to low. For medium-sized potatoes, cook for another 5 minutes and switch off the heat. Let the pressure of the cooker release naturally, then open the cooker, pick out the boiled potatoes and set them aside to cool.

When the potatoes have cooled enough to handle, peel them.

2. Chop and slice

Crush the garlic. Slit the onions into strips.

Chop green chilies into bits.

Slice the potatoes into thin disks.

3. Microwave the tomato

Chop the tomato into small cubes. Microwave on high for two minutes. Let it stand for another five minutes, then mash (coarsely done is fine).

4. Char the dry red chili

Heat a few drops of mustard oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, set heat to low and tip in the dry red chili. Keep a watchful eye and turn the chili over as soon as the side facing down turns a darker shade.

Let the other side fry and crisp up too, then pick the charred chili out of the oil and keep it aside to cool.

5. Put it all together

In the same pan, pour in the rest of the mustard oil and heat till smoky. Add half a teaspoon of cumin seeds and let them splutter.

Add the sliced onions, chopped garlic and green chilies to the pan. Fry on medium heat, moving them around regularly, till golden.

Now add the potato slices, microwaved tomatoes, charred red chili crushed to bits, and a sprinkling of salt to taste.

Mix together taking care not to break the potato slices. Cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

That’s it! Sliced aloo chokha style is ready.

Serve on the side with rice/chapatis, dal and another vegetable curry. (I missed clicking a pic of the meal plate – will come back to this post later and upload a pic when I make this again.)

Updated – meal plate below: lauki kofta, panchmel dal, aloo sliced chokha, chapatis.

Notes:

Try more chokha recipes:

Also check out these offbeat potato recipes:

The post Sliced Aloo, Chokha Style appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

I recommend English cucumber for this recipe, which has thinner skin, fewer seeds and a sweeter taste than the “kheera” cucumber.

The primary seasoning in this recipe is a dry mustard-fenugreek spice blend. Check out the link for the steps to prepare this spice blend – you can make a batch and store it for later use.

You Need:

[For 2-3 servings]

• English cucumber – 250 grams
• Green chili – 2 (adjust to taste)
• Ginger – 1/2-inch stick
• Fresh lime juice – 1/2 tablespoon
• Mustard-fenugreek powder – 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/3 teaspoon [buy here]
• Salt – 1 teaspoon or to taste
• Mustard oil – 1/2 tablespoon [buy here]

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

In the picture above English cucumber, ginger, lime, green chilies, mustard-fenugreek powder.

How To Make Cucumber Side Dish with Mustard and Lime:

1. Before you cook

Crush the ginger. Slit the green chilies diagonally.

Snip the ends off the cucumber.

To reduce the cucumber’s bitterness: Rub the cut end against the rest of the cucumber till a foamy substance oozes out. Stop when you see no new foam being formed (about a minute). Rinse.

Note: Some say this trick is a myth. I don’t know – I do this always and believe it works. Even if I’m mistaken, this trick is fun! Here’s an article/video with more detail about it.

Cut the cucumber into wedges about 1.5 inch long. De-seed if the cucumber has too many seeds. (The English cucumber generally does not need de-seeding.)

2. Into the pan

Heat mustard oil in a pan or kadhai. When the oil is hot, set heat to low and add turmeric powder, crushed ginger, slit green chilies. Give it all a quick stir and follow with cucumber wedges.

Cook for 4-5 minutes on high heat, turning the cucumber regularly to avoid burning. Sprinkle salt to taste and mustard-fenugreek powder. Mix.

Cook another minute, then switch off the heat. Squeeze the juice of fresh lime over the cooked cucumber. And that’s it! Your cucumber side dish with mustard and lime is ready to serve.

Meal below: chapatis, aloo tamatar sabzi, chaulai saag, cucumber with mustard and lime, fresh mooli sticks.

Notes:

Do more with cucumber – check out these recipes:

Other ways to use mustard-fenugreek powder:

The post Cucumber Side Dish with Mustard and Lime appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Kaddu borani takes a set of independently prepared ingredients (pumpkin + tomato sauce + yogurt sauce) and meshes them into something so exquisite, the end product is nothing short of a work of art.

What’s “borani”?

That was the question foremost on my mind after first coming across the recipe. Wikipedia says:

Borani is an Iranian appetizer made with yogurt, spinach and other ingredients.

That had me puzzled, as my reference borani recipe used no spinach.

Further digging around online showed me several interpretations of “borani”.

It isn’t just pumpkin that is cooked borani style: a few other popular favorites are eggplant, potato, spinach, beetroot. The sauces have variations too: the yogurt sauce might use mint or do without it; the tomato sauce might call upon onions or not. The plating can get really creative, with garnishes of cheese and walnuts and pomegranate and so on.

The way the dish is spelled has variations too: kaddu bourani, kadu borani, borani kaddo, you get the drift.

My kaddu borani recipe takes elements from the following: Arzo Food Channel, Zakia Hamidi’s Kitchen, Ashpazkhane Mazar.

Two departures from the source: I use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato paste as I don’t have the paste, and for pre-cooking the pumpkin, I don’t deep fry but use a stove-top grill pan instead.

You Need:

[For 2-3 servings]

For pan-grilling the pumpkin:

• Pumpkin – 250 grams
• Olive oil – 1 tablespoon [buy here]
• Equipment*: stove-top grill pan [buy here]

*Note: Feel free to substitute stove-top grilling with another pre-cooking method of your choice: say, microwave grilling or shallow-frying. Or just stick to the classic way of deep-frying.

For the tomato sauce:

• Tomatoes – 3 medium
• Garlic – 3 fat cloves (~1 heaped teaspoon when crushed)
• Salt – to taste
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Ground pepper – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here] (adjust to taste)
• Red chili powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Dry red chili – 1, cut into pieces [buy here]
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Olive oil – 1 tablespoon [buy here]
• Equipment: flat-bottomed, thick-walled pan with lid [buy here]

For the yogurt sauce:

• Yogurt – 3/4 cup
• Garlic – 1 clove
• Salt – to taste
• Dried mint – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]

The links in the list above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

How To Make Kaddu Borani:

1. Grill the pumpkin

Peel the pumpkin, chop into manageable chunks and scoop out its seeds. Slice the pumpkin chunks into thin slivers about 2-inches long.

Heat a large grill pan. When hot, spray some olive oil into the pan and place the pumpkin slivers.

Let the pumpkin slivers toast undisturbed for a couple of minutes on medium-high, then check if the side facing down has started to turn golden. Move about only if you must to evenly distribute the heat.

Spray oil on the top, flip over the pumpkin slivers. Now toast the other side for another few minutes or till done.

Sprinkle some salt and set aside till the tomato sauce is ready.

2. Make the yogurt sauce

Whisk yogurt with some salt. Add a crushed garlic clove and a sprinkling of dried mint to the yogurt, and whisk again.

Set aside (this yogurt sauce will be called upon in the final step).

3. Make the tomato sauce

Crush the garlic. Slice the tomatoes.

Heat olive oil in a flat-bottomed thick-walled pan. On low heat, add the crushed garlic and dry red chili pieces to the hot oil.

Stir around and fry on low heat for a few seconds. Follow immediately with turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder.

Give a quick mix and immediately mix in tomato slices and salt. Cook with lid on, on low heat.

Cook the tomatoes for ~6 minutes, stirring once or twice in between.

Add half a cup of water and continue to cook covered for another 3-4 minutes, or till the tomatoes have turned into a sauce-like consistency.

4. Grilled pumpkin in tomato sauce

Layer the grilled pumpkin over the tomato sauce. Sprinkle groƒund pepper in between the layers.

Put the lid on and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.

Let the pan stand for another 5 minutes to absorb the flavors.

5. Assemble kaddu borani for serving

Take a wide serving plate. Spread at the bottom, the yogurt sauce prepared in step 2.

Layer over the yogurt sauce, the pumpkin and tomato sauce prepared in step 4.

Top with dollops of yogurt sauce.

Finally, garnish with a sprinkling of dried mint, chili flakes and ground pepper.

Enjoy kaddu borani with any bread such as chapatis or parathas.

Meal below: kaddu borani with ginger lime moong dal, masala bhindi, chapatis.

Notes:

Try other pumpkin recipes:

Check out other dishes that use olive oil as starring ingredient:

The post Kaddu Borani: Pumpkin with Tomato and Yogurt Sauces appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

To make panchmel dal (literally, “five-blend” dal), I take equal quantities of these five legumes: toor dal, masoor dal, yellow moong, chana dal, white urad dal.

Feel free to change things up – vary the proportions, use black urad in place of white, add a dash of green moong. This is a flexible, forgiving recipe – do what you will, it tastes delicious anyway!

You Need:

[For 3-4 servings]

For the five-legume mix:

• Toor dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Chana dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Moong dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Masoor dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Urad dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]

For the masala:

• Tomatoes – 2 medium
• Fenugreek leaves* – 50 grams
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Green chili -1, slit vertically
• Salt – 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
• Red chili powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Green cardamom – 1 [buy here]
• Cinnamon – 1-inch stick [buy here]
• Cloves – 3 [buy here]
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Oil – 1/2 tablespoon

*If fresh fenugreek is not available, replace with a tablespoon of kasoori methi.

For the tadka:

• Dry red chilies – 2, broken
• Garlic – ~1 teaspoon, finely chopped
• Ghee – 1 tablespoon

For garnishing:

• Fresh coriander leaves – a few sprigs, chopped

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

How To Make Panchmel Dal:

1. Prep the legumes

Place all the five dals in a large container or bowl. Wash the dals in several changes of water till the water runs clear.

Pour three cups of plain water into the container for soaking the dals. Set aside for two hours.

After two hours, the dals would have swelled somewhat. Drain the water and move on to the next step: make the masala base.

2. Make the masala base

Roughly chop the tomatoes. Scrape and crush or finely chop the ginger.

If using fresh fenugreek, pluck the leaves and chop them coarsely. Discard the stems.

Heat half a tablespoon of oil in the pressure cooker. Add the following spices to hot oil (turn down the heat to minimum when you do this): cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds. Stir around as the whole spices toast and sizzle – be careful to not let anything burn.

As soon as the cumin seeds turn color (this will take only a few seconds), add the chopped ginger and slit green chili to the oil.

Follow with chopped fenugreek and turmeric powder. Stir around to mix everything with the toasted spices.

Turn the heat up again and add chopped tomatoes, red chili powder and salt.

Cook till the tomatoes are slightly mushy.

3. Boil it all together

Transfer the soaked dals to the pressure cooker.

Fry the dals along with the masala base for two minutes.

Pour three cups of water into the dal. Add salt to taste

Lock the lid of the pressure cooker and set the heat to high till you get the first whistle. Set the heat to low and cook for another ten minutes.

Switch off the heat and let the pressure cooker release its steam naturally till the lid comes off without effort. Unlock the lid and this step and mash the dal lightly. Stir in fresh coriander leaves.

We are now ready for the final step – the tadka.

4. Do the tadka

Heat ghee in a tadka ladle on low heat.

When the ghee is hot, tip into it minced garlic and dry red chilies.

As soon as the garlic turns golden and the chilies crisp up, take the ladle off the heat, pour it into the dal and cover.

Panchmel dal is ready to eat.

Serve hot along with rice or chapatis.

Meal below: panchmel dal, stuffed ridge gourd, mooli pickle, chapatis.

Notes:

Try other exotic dal recipes:

The post Panchmel Dal: Five Legume Medley appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

This recipe uses as filling base the very delicious spice mix from our 3-ingredient peanut-sesame rice recipe. Remember to make this spice mix in a big batch – it can be stored for later use in other dishes.

You Need:

[For 3-4 servings]

• Ridge gourd – 250 grams
• Peanut-sesame spice mix – 2 tablespoons
• Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here
• Turmeric powder -1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Salt – 1/4 teaspoon or to taste
• Oil – ~2 tablespoons, for shallow-frying

Equipment:

• Knife [buy here]
• Vegetable peeler for taking the skin off the ridge gourd [buy here]
• Wide thick-bottomed pan for shallow-frying [buy here]
• Spatula for turning over the ridge gourd while frying [buy here]

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

How To Make Stuffed Ridge Gourd Cylinders:

1. Peel and slice the ridge gourd

Peel all the skin off the ridge gourd. Slice each ridge gourd into 1.5-2 inch cylinders.

Make a slit in each ridge gourd cylinder vertically – taking care not to slice it all the way through. Keep the end joint intact.

2. Prepare the stuffing

In a bowl, place all the spices: two tablespoons of peanut-sesame spice mix, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Use a spoon to blend all the spices and salt together.

3. Stuff the gourd cylinders

Pry open each ridge gourd cylinder gently along the slit.

Beware! Emphasis on “gently” – don’t use so much force that the cylinder snaps into half.

Take a couple of teaspoons of the stuffing spice mix and spoon it into the slit. Close firmly shut and shake off the excess back into the spice bowl.

Continue till all the ridge gourd cylinders have been stuffed.

Don’t worry if you have the filling powder left over. We will use all of it eventually.

4. Shallow fry the gourd cylinders

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a flat thick-bottomed pan on medium heat.

When the oil is hot, place the stuffed ridge gourd cylinders, slit side up, in the pan.

Tip: Don’t crowd the pan. If your pan isn’t large enough to hold all the gourds together without jostling, fry them in batches.

Let the ridge gourd sizzle and brown at the bottom. Once done, turn each gourd at an angle to cook the sides. Drizzle more oil into the pan if needed.

Turn the slit side down at the very end when all the other sides are done.

If you have any left over filling spice, now is the time to sprinkle all of it into the oil.

Let the stuffed gourds stand for a minute, then move them gently to ensure all of the sprinkled filling spice gets cooked.

When the side facing down is done too, switch off the heat.

Stuffed ridge gourd cylinders are ready to eat.

They are great with parathas or on the side of a bigger meal. Serve them on your party spread – this dish leads to conversations aplenty in my gatherings!

Notes:

Try more “party special” veggie recipes:

The post Stuffed Ridge Gourd Cylinders appeared first on The Steaming Pot.