The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

A Bihari meal typically carries small servings of side dishes next to rice/roti and curry: chutney, bhujiya (fried stuff), chokha (mashed stuff). Parval chokha is one such popular side, in which parval (pointed gourd) is boiled and mashed with seasoning.

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Potatoes and raw banana complement each others’ tastes beautifully in aloo kela ki sabzi (potato raw banana curry).

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A combination of plantain (raw banana) with fresh fenugreek leaves brings out the best in both vegetables. Plantain has the wonderful ability to take the edge off sharp flavors, while fenugreek’s green bitterness adds some interesting notes to the simple plantain.

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Come winter and vegetable markets in town display mounds of the juiciest of turnips, crunchy fresh peas, bright red carrots. The vegetables almost invite themselves over to your place for a shalgam gajar matar fiesta – warm, comforting, colorful and fun.

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Mid-April each year, the harvest festival (or the start of the regional New Year) is celebrated round the country in diverse ways. Punjab has its Baisakhi, Kerala its Vishu. Bihar welcomes the season with Satuaan (सतुआन), also called Satuaa Sankranti (सतुआ संक्रांति).

The prefix satuaa- comes from sattu (roasted Bengal gram flour), a staple food in Bihar. For Satuaan, it is customary to eat a meal with sattu as its star item. The festival ushers in the summer season, so associating sattu-eating with it follows sound logic: sattu’s cooling properties are an effective antidote to heat.

We keep up with tradition by having sattu in some form on the occasion. This year, we had sattu chokha.

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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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