The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

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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A colorful salad bowl with an assortment of flavors and nutrients. Fresh leaves, walnuts and cheese, crunchy pear cubes, juicy cherry tomatoes give company to adzuki beans in this recipe.

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Fenugreek leaves are in season. Homemade meals sparkle green with a fenugreek dish on the menu every day: methi parathas with imli chutney for Sunday brunch, methi chhole with jeera rice for the Monday lunchbox.

Make hay while the sun shines, they say. I make recipe replacements of kasoori methi (dried fenugreek) with fresh fenugreek while the greens are in lush supply. This is one such recipe: methi gobhi, a variant of gobhi kasoori methi (cauliflower with dried fenugreek) that uses fresh fenugreek instead of dry.

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Chana dal has a rich texture and a hint of sweetness in its taste when compared to other yellow dals such as moong or toor. These qualities make chana dal the perfect pairing choice with green leafy vegetables, especially greens that lean towards bitter.  For those who would not touch fenugreek chutney or chaulai saag, a smart alternate to get their dose of greens is by "hiding" the leaves in chana dal.

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Saag – an Indian dish of leafy greens, eaten along with rotis or rice. A variety of leaves can be used in saag: spinach and mustard greens are popular choices, while chaulai (amaranth leaves) is used often in Bihar. Chaulai saag is a simple, dry preparation with amaranth leaves and a hint of spices.

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When it comes to leafy vegetables, my kitchen staples are spinach and fenugreek. Till a while ago, cooking with amaranth greens was uncharted territory for me. What better way to start a new year, I thought, than with tackling a new beast? And so I made my debut attempt at making chaulai dal (amaranth leaves with lentils).

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