The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Pumpkin (kaddu) and red kidney beans (rajma) make a hearty, richly flavored kaddu rajma curry. Dry red chilies give it heat, tamarind lends it tang, jaggery balances it all.

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Aloo chana is an easy-to-cook recipe from Bihar that uses kala chana (black chickpea) – the smaller, thicker-skinned sibling of the chickpea used in channa masala or hummus. Black chickpea has an earthy, dense flavor and high roughage content. This dish is filling, a good source of carbs, protein and iron – besides being really tasty.

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Of late I have been on the lookout for recipes that would put my stock of fennel seeds to good use. I also intend not to restock tomatoes till their price subsides to non-crazy level. My quest came to a satisfying end with this recipe for dahi wali lauki. Easy on the pocket , great to taste, fennel flavored, and no tomatoes.

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With garlic, curry leaves and ghee for company, dal with raw mango is like heaven in a bowl. What’s more, it doesn’t take much to give your workaday yellow dal this exotic tangy twist. Let me show you how.

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A nutritious one-pot meal in which fenugreek leaves, peanuts and ghee add their charm to rice. Methi moongphali chawal is just the answer for you if you *want* to consume fenugreek for its health-giving properties but find its – shall we say, potent – taste unpalatable.

This recipe is really quick to put together if you have the boiled ingredients and the spice base – methi chutney – ready beforehand. Do as I do – make a big batch of methi chutney, use it as side dish on Day 1 and in fenugreek peanut rice on Day 2. Ek panth do kaaj.

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Wondering what to do with zucchini in Indian cooking? Here’s your answer! With each bite, dhania nimbu wali zucchini delivers a delightful lemony jolt to the senses. Green, light and tangy, with a quick tadka of Indian spices, this zucchini side dish is summer exemplified.

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