A quick method of making mooli sambar: everything in the pot, pressure-cooked, topped with a tadka. Ideal for days when you don’t have too much time for the kitchen.
no onion no garlic
No onion no garlic recipes.
Bathua Ka Raita
Roadside vendors around me are selling mounds of lush green bathua leaves…yes, winter has truly arrived. Bathua is in season for only a short while each year, and when it is, it is abundant and inexpensive. Make the most of it while it lasts – and if this wonder vegetable is new to you, kick off your acquaintance by making this popular north Indian side dish: bathua ka raita.
Aloo Methi: Potato Fenugreek Stir-Fry
One of the joys of winter is getting to cook with in-season fresh fenugreek leaves. Lush green and fragrant, fenugreek leaves lend their distinct character to any dish they are part of (case in point: methi chhole). In aloo methi (potato fenugreek stir-fry), fenugreek leaves find a happy companion: the creamy earthiness of aloo makes a welcoming base for bitter green methi.
Chayote Stew – The Easiest Chow Chow Recipe
Chayote is commonly used in south Indian cuisine (here’s a nice kootu recipe), not so much in the north. It is not a vegetable I grew up eating and, even as I saw it everywhere in vegetable markets, I wasn’t enticed enough to try it.
Not until I read this about the taste of chayote in The Awl:
…sort of like a jicama: mildly sweet, incredibly crisp and juicy, somewhere between a potato and an apple, or a crisp pear.
That article called Eat the Chayote did, in fact, make me eat the chayote.
Moong Dal with Zucchini and Coriander
Moong dal pairs well with gourds: my much-clicked recipe of ridge gourd moong dal is ample proof of that. This recipe combines moong dal with another similar gourd – the zucchini – with some green leafy goodness added to the mix. It’s homey, light and lemony, the kind that inspires coinages such as “comfort food”.
Mooli Fry: Masala-Coated Fried Radish
"Cannot handle the pungency of radish" – is that your rationale for staying away from radish-based curries? I know how you feel. Once upon a time, I was you. Till I discovered tricks to tame the mighty mooli. May I gently recommend to you my mooli fry recipe. With steps calculated to reduce the sharpness of radish, mooli fry presents to you this root veggie in its mildest form.
Peanut Sesame Rice: 3-Ingredient Podi Rice
The southern states of India excel in the art of making various types of podi: literally ‘powder’, the word is used to describe ground dry spice blends. One really smart use of podi is as a ready-to-eat mix for plain boiled rice. Within seconds, a swirl of podi transforms plain boiled rice into a fancy one-pot meal. The traditional podis I’m familiar with use a legume such as toor dal or chana dal as the base; this very simple 3-ingredient podi uses peanuts instead. On days when there’s no time to cook a set meal of rice-dal-curry, this podi-based peanut sesame rice is a lifesaver.