The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Beans with crushed peanuts and sesame – one of those dishes in which you keep adding this and that, taking tentative bites to check if it tastes good, and end up liking the result enough to make note of it for repetition.

Each bite of beans with crushed peanuts and sesame gives you a variety of flavors – spicy and sweet and tangy and nutty. Yes, vegan and gluten-free CAN be adventurous!

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Baby potatoes look so adorable they make me want to pop them into my mouth whole. When I can resist that urge, this is one way I like to cook them.

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Is it just me or does a simple change like cutting vegetables in a different shape give a dish a whole new spin?

For dinner last night, before I started chopping up the okra (bhindi) into my usual 1-cm disks, I noticed that some of them were bulging – which means the seeds were big and ripe. I didn’t want those seeds and yet the bhindi good enough to eat. What could be done?

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I must warn you before giving you this recipe – methi chutney (that is, chutney made of fenugreek leaves) is not for everybody. It is bitter, it is really hot. If you are like me, you will love it. If you are not, I warned you, didn’t I?

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Achari gajar (instant carrot pickle) takes its inspiration from the taste of traditional Indian pickles. A side dish to spruce up any Indian meal, this recipe’s USP is its express approach. This recipe does not involve the long process of making conventional pickles; achari gajar is ready in minutes.

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Cumin (jeera) is a staple in Indian food – it goes into the tadka in dals and vegetables, flavors jeera rice. It is roasted and ground and sprinkled over raitas and salads and dahi vadas and chaats.

You can get roasted ground cumin powder in the market but it does not hold a candle to the flavor of fresh roasted cumin powder made at home.

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Parathas stuffed with a spiced peas masala. Peas parathas for a delicious, protein-rich weekend brunch.

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