This is a simple, no-spice dry vegetable dish that I like to carry as packed lunch to work or on a journey. No spill, no stain. Easy on the intestines. Nutritious. And tastes great – if you are a bitter gourd hater, this is the best bet to bring you over to the other camp.
Bihari Recipes
This page brings together tested vegetarian Bihari recipes from The Steaming Pot, curated for everyday home cooking:
- some classics (sattu paratha, nenua chana),
- some adapted to suit convenience (littis cooked on kitchen stovetop) or palate (potato chutney to stand in for ole chutney).
Plus, a write up on food words in Bihar and what they mean in “regular” Hindi.
Lauki Raita: Yogurt Dip with Bottle Gourd
Raita (yogurt dip), with bottle gourd as its prime ingredient, provides a lovely balance to rich Indian gravies. Bottle gourd and yogurt are bland on their own, but the other ingredients that go with lauki raita give it a suprising tangy twist.
Lauki Aloo: Bottle Gourd and Potato Stew
When you want a simple tasty vegetable curry to be ready without much effort, this stew of bottle gourd, potatoes and tomatoes is your answer. Use a pressure-cooker to make lauki aloo and you save a lot on time too.
Aloo Parval: Potato Pointed Gourd Curry
If we look hard enough, we will find parval (pointed gourd) in South India but it just isn’t the same. The skin is too thick, the insides yellow. Not like the beautiful green ellipsoids we get back in Bihar. During this visit to Patna, I brought back a packet of fresh parval, determined to make aloo parval. I was surprised at my own excitement to be cooking this vegetable – as far as I can recall, parval never made it to my "favorite veggies" list and yet, here I was, giddy with happiness at the thought of eating parval from Bihar. There is something to be said for deprivation.
Chura Bhuja Mattar: Crispy Flattened Rice and Peas
Chura bhuja mattar – popular snack from Bihar that pits the crunch of roasted chura against the tender butteriness of cooked peas (mattar), to fantastic effect.
What is chura, did you ask? Chura is the Bihari word for flattened rice, called chiwra elsewhere in north India. The better-known way of preparing chiwra is in its moistened form, as poha. Chura bhuja, in contrast, works on chiwra crisp and dry.