The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Each kitchen stint with the chayote teaches me something new. When I began cooking with this gourd, peeling it was hard – till I learnt the techniques of making triangular notches around its folds and boiling it before peeling. Soon I discovered a different variety of the chayote: the “Ooty chow chow”, which has a smooth exterior that demands no fiddling with folds at all.

So I switched loyalties to the Ooty chow chow, as my observant regulars would have noticed in the post on chayote dal.

While cutting raw veggies and fruits, I sometimes pop a few chopped pieces into my mouth. A reflex action if you will, this usually leads me to grimace and move on – but when I did this with the Ooty chow chow I stopped in my tracks. This vegetable didn’t just look like a pear, it tasted startlingly like one. Do I even need to cook this, I wondered. (more…)

This easy apple chutney recipe involves no peeling, no oil and only a handful of accessible ingredients. Cook on the stovetop and have delicious apple chutney ready almost effortlessly.

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Dalia (broken wheat) porridge is a favored breakfast food in many Indian homes. The grain is made by milling raw wheat grains; it’s especially nutritious as it is unrefined. Dalia is a great source of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre – all that at an affordable price.

There’s got to be a catch, you think? You are right.

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A fresh fruit preparation that you can serve as a snack or an after-meal dessert.

Traditional rabri can be pretty heavy with its high content of sugar and condensed milk. Its usual pairing with malpua and jalebi (while delicious!) doesn’t help either if you’re watching your weight. Enter my recipe of fresh fruit rabri – the best sort of dessert to satiate your sweet tooth even on a healthy diet. No refined sugar, no tinned condensed milk – this rabri is sweetened only with natural nutrient-rich dates and apricots. No canned fruit either – only fresh seasonal stuff. 

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To call fresh juice "refreshing" is a well-worn cliché, but some clichés are worth repeating. Apple cucumber mint juice at the end of a work-packed weekday is an excellent pick-me-up. When you’ve had a luxurious dinner, try apple mint cucumber juice first thing the next morning – it’s a wonderful way to balance out the indulgence of the previous meal.

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Cool homemade yogurt, flattened rice that needs no cooking, honey/jaggery and fresh fruit. A breakfast so healthy it’ll give you a palpable halo around your head. Presenting for you staple morning-time food from Bihar – dahi chura.

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A goodness-filled glass of fruit juice to start the day. Apple orange ginger juice can be made using the method described in this post, even if you do not have a juicer to do the legwork for you.

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