The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

For days when you want to allow yourself a little snack-time indulgence. These mouth-watering pan-fried spring rolls go very well with coriander chutney.

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In the western world, Indian cuisine is mostly equated with rich, spicy gravies – kofta curry and chhole masala and shahi paneer and their ilk. In reality, Indian cuisine is far broader than that. Indian food can be simple and minimalistic, as this dish I’m going to write about today – roasted moong dal with a green vegetable combination. I picked up the recipe of ridge gourd moong dal from a friend from Andhra, it’s been a regular in my kitchen since.

Ridge gourd and moong dal are both very gentle on the stomach, as are asafoetida (hing in Hindi) and lemon, the prime flavorings in this dish. Hing is a strong spice and, I suspect, an acquired taste. If this is the first time you’re cooking with hing, I’d suggest using very little of it. If you like it, use more another time. I do recommend it warmly, especially for its wide array of health benefits.

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Come Indian summer and yogurt begins to feel like manna from heaven. This moong and onion raita uses spiced yogurt to great effect.

For the uninitiated, ‘raita’ is a yogurt-based accompaniment for Indian meals. Served cold, its digestive, cooling properties are a great counterpoint to the otherwise spicy Indian meal.

There are endless variations to the raita – every region has its specialties, every family has its own spin on it. Here is one raita recipe that I specially like – using moong sprouts and onions.

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I’ve got myself a pack of organic red poha (flattened brown rice) this time and made this nice breakfast-time dish of kanda poha (flattened rice cooked with onions, potatoes and peanuts) with it. This style of cooking poha is popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka, where it goes by the name avalakki bath.

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Spinach generously spiked with garlic cloves and dry red chilies, cooked with mustard oil – I fell in love with this simple, deliciously flavored saag from the word go. Only five ingredients and little cooking time, Kashmiri saag is also easy on the one cooking.

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Peanuts and jaggery in toor dal? It sounded bizarre and it wasn’t something I had cooked or eaten before. When I saw this recipe for Gujarati dal on a food show on NDTV Good Times I decided to try it in my own kitchen that very day.

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What do you do to get this lovely lush color in your palak paneer, I am asked.

I’ll let out my secret today.

As they tell you in Kung Fu Panda, the secret of the secret ingredient is that there is no secret ingredient. Which means that my palak paneer looks that way not because of what I add to it, but because of what I do not add to it.

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