The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

A quick tomato carrot soup that doesn’t require much toiling in the kitchen. With just a few ingredients and a couple of time-saving tools, you will have steaming hot cups of soup on the dining table within minutes.

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The microwave in my kitchen is usually relegated to the role of reheater – rarely is it called upon to participate in the *making* of a dish. This microwaved tomato salsa recipe dodges the norm!

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I like to balance bitter with a hint of sweet: some jaggery in methi chhole, sauteed pineapple on the side with curry leaf pulao. In this gobhi kasoori methi (cauliflower and dried fenugreek) recipe, I turn to dried cranberries for the balancing act. I love the result! Do you?

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White radish, crisp and juicy, is in season. I like radish but can’t have much of it raw. More than a couple of bites, and I’m left nursing a stinging sensation and – if it’s a particularly potent specimen of the vegetable – watery eyes.

I wasn’t a fan of cooked radish either, until I discovered aloo mooli kadhi. Recently a new radish recipe has made its way into my armory, the one this post is about: mooli lachcha sabzi, or stir-fried grated radish. Thanks to a friend who shared her family recipe with me.

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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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Broccoli and red pepper are not traditionally used in Indian cooking, but they take to Indian spices very well. A simple red capsicum curry works wonderfully when you want to cook quick. With a bit more time and a few more ingredients on hand, take a stab at this colorful mixed vegetable recipe.

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Zucchini and tomatoes, in their miniature avatars, are really quick cooking (not to mention, really pretty looking!). This recipe of microwaved baby zucchini with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese is just right for days when you are ravenous and want to spend no time at all preparing your meal, or when you have had a heavy lunch and want to go light for dinner.

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