The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

This aloo mooli kadhi (potato radish sticks in gram flour curry) recipe, adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor’s, is a simpler alternative to pakora kadhi, besides being an interesting way of adding radish (mooli) to the diet. The Indian white radish has a taste so powerfully pungent that one can’t have much of it raw. I like mooli paratha, but other ways of cooking mooli don’t excite me. Aloo mooli kadhi, though, had me sold from the word go. The potatoes tone down the sharpness of mooli, and the yogurt and gram flour cloak it all in a rich, delicious sauce.

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This red capsicum curry (red bell pepper curry) is among the quickest dishes you could make when you’re pressed for time. It doesn’t take long to cook and more importantly, doesn’t demand meticulous slicing: large irregular chunks work just fine.

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To call fresh juice "refreshing" is a well-worn cliché, but some clichés are worth repeating. Apple cucumber mint juice at the end of a work-packed weekday is an excellent pick-me-up. When you’ve had a luxurious dinner, try apple mint cucumber juice first thing the next morning – it’s a wonderful way to balance out the indulgence of the previous meal.

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Red pumpkin bharta is a dry preparation of pumpkin, a simpler version of red pumpkin curry with stronger notes of mustard oil.

Unlike traditional bharta (mashed vegetables) like baingan bharta, this one does not use boiled/roasted vegetables as its base. Pumpkin cooks quickly and mashes easily without pre-treatment. This is also a chunky bharta instead of a typically smooth one, which works well with pumpkin.

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Here’s a way to sneak in some leafy goodness into your meals: make cabbage paratha (patta gobhi paratha). This recipe fortifies the traditional paratha dough with a generous spiking of cabbage and spices.

With chutney, raita and pickle on the side, cabbage paratha is awesome for a no-fuss, wholesome weekend brunch or a lunchbox treat.

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Banana blossom (also called banana flower) isn’t something I use often in my cooking – the effort of peeling and cutting is a major deterrent. This time I found a pack of pre-peeled banana blossoms at the grocery store and decided to give it a go. I am really pleased with how this recipe finally turned out!

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