The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

A recipe I picked up from a friend – carrot and beans stir fry. It’s healthy, it’s simple. Next to white rice, the saffron-green of the vegetables sets up a meal with all the hues of the Indian tricolor.

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Dress up the slender green eggplant with the heat of green chilies, the spice of coriander and the sweetness of golden onions.

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Carrot radish curry that comes together in a matter of minutes. The veggies are roughly chopped and pre-cooked before being given an express sauté in spiced mustard oil.

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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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Besan ki sabzi is a curry we make for festive occasions: gram flour batter is cooked, cooled, cut and fried, then simmered in curry. It takes time, it takes skill – but the result is worth every bit of the effort.

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Sattu, or roasted gram flour, was once a little-known staple of rural Bihar. Not anymore. With more awareness of sattu’s nutritive profile – low glycemic index, fiber-dense, low sodium – “poor man’s protein” sattu is now hailed as a superfood.

Is there a delight greater than discovering that tasty comfort food is also extremely healthy, and that extremely healthy is also extremely affordable?

This sattu jaljeera drink combines sattu with jaljeera (cumin-based spice). It is really quick to put together and needs no cooking or fancy processing equipment. A great choice for “shortcut” breakfast or post-workout drink.

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