7 Indian Menu Ideas for Vegetarians
23 Sep
It is one thing to know how to cook individual Indian dishes, quite another to combine the dishes harmoniously into an appetizing meal. Rajma masala and chhole masala are fantastic house party food, but would you serve them together? Not if you have a modest number of items on the menu. You love pooris as much as you love kadhi, but you would pair them with each other? Not if you want to kill the essence of both.
There are flavors that cohere and flavors that clash. You wouldn’t put multiple items of the same genre – such as gourds or dals – in the same meal. Pooris would possibly go with potato curry, kadhi would most definitely get served with plain rice.
If you are new to Indian cooking, planning a meal might seem like a gargantuan task. It isn’t really. I’ll help you with some tips to make the right decisions while creating an Indian menu for vegetarians. And I’ll give you sample Indian meal menus that work.
Tips for Planning an Indian Menu
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Observe the color of your dishes and seek variety. Have something yellow (like toor dal or a turmeric-spiked curry), green (like Kashmiri saag or bhindi do pyaza), red (like tomato chutney or a tomato-based curry) and white (like rice, yogurt) on the plate. If a single color dominates the menu, that’s a red flag.
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Go for a range of flavors and texture. Not everything Indian needs to be doused in garam masala. If your menu has spicy baby potato in onion fenugreek masala on it, keep a simple spinach and moong dal sauté on the side. If your menu has mushy potatoes in mustard sauce on it, keep a crunchy masaledar okra strips on the side.
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Do not serve more than two ultra-spicy gravies in the same meal, at least not without balancing them with something cooling like a raita or buttermilk.
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If in doubt about what sort of raita to serve, stick with this safe version: plain yogurt whisked with roasted cumin powder and salt.
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Avoid the overuse of an ingredient. No moong dal with moong salad, spinach raita with spinach parathas, or rice kheer when your main course is fried rice.
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If your menu has hard-to-digest dishes like rajma masala or chana dal, make sure you have other dishes with ingredients that aid digestion, like carom seeds, asafoetida, yogurt, mint.
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A fresh salad of sliced cucumber, tomatoes, onions and lemon wedges sprinkled with chaat masala makes a fine addition to any Indian meal.
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Do not serve heavy gravies with stuffed parathas. A simple stir fry, raita/plain yogurt, chutney and pickle will do.
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Be aware of your guests’ spice tolerance – what is moderately hot for you may be fiery for another.
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Remember this thumb rule for the type of dishes to put into a basic Indian vegetarian full meal: include 1 vegetable dish with gravy, 1 dry vegetable dish, 1 dal, 1 raita, 1 chutney, salad, chapatis/paratha/rice.
Indian Menu Ideas
Here are food combinations that I like and recommend. Feel free to mix and match – do keep note of the tips above when you do!
Day 1:
Baby eggplant in poppy seed sauce
Tomato toor dal
Spinach raita
Sweet mango chutney
Parathas / Steamed rice
Day 2:
Rajma masala
Masala bhindi: okra stir fry
Butter garlic green beans
Bottle gourd raita
Coriander chutney
Steamed rice
Day 3:
Gobi masala
Potatoes in mustard sauce
Crispy green eggplant slices
Moong and onion raita
Aamras
Pooris
Day 4:
Bhindi do pyaza
Chana dal with raisins
Pickled carrots
Mint raita
Chapatis / Jeera rice
Day 5:
Ridge gourd moong dal
Crispy plaintain fry
Mixed vegetable raita
Tomato ginger peanut chutney
Chapatis / Steamed rice
Day 6:
Paneer kasoori methi
Aloo tamatar curry with nigella seeds
Carrot onion raita
Parathas
Mint and cashew pulao
Day 7:
Methi chhole
Cheesy zucchini
Pineapple raita
Tamarind jaggery chutney
Flatbread spiced Indian-style
Jeera rice
I hope these tips will help with planning Indian menus for vegetarians. Have fun and eat well!
Hey! Lovely post. So many nice ideas and combinations. Will definitely look this up the next time I’m planning a more elaborate meal than my usual dal-roti-sabzi :))
Thank you :-)
PS: I’m sure your meals are very creative without having to look anything up :-) :-)
Haha, not really. My 2 at home have very standard tastes..so I end up cooking the same stuff over and over. And then I have this standard list of dishes that I make when people come over. So..good to mix it up a little :)
Never gave much thought to the colors of the dishes. I mostly cook similar dishes throughout the week and add 1-2 special dishes. Weekend cooking is much colorful as I have more time. Good information. Thanks..
Hi there,
Thank you for this lovely blog. I am not a vegetarian myself so really needed help on how to organise a mix of vege dishes. I had a direct question:
If I’m making
sarson and methi saag (where the dominant taste is sarson) with
Makai roti and
Kheer for dessert,
then what other items can I keep to go along.
I had initially thought methi aaloo but then thought too much methi… I could make potatoe and Rosemary cutlets (or rosti) that I’ll serve with a green chutni; and was thinking about Bharey huay baigan. What do you recommend?
I hope to hear from you soon! 😊
Hi Madiha,
Interesting question! Traditionally, “makke ki roti and sarson ka saag” is a complete combo meal by itself (much like pao bhaji or bisi bele bhath) – other accompaniments if any are kept minimal. You could serve these on the side:
1. Indian-style salad: diced carrot + radish + cucumber + fresh green chilies, mixed with lime juice and seasoning
2. Cubes of butter
3. Lassi, raita or buttermilk
4. Jaggery (yes – it’s beautiful to bite into this blob of brown goodness between mouthfuls of saag)
5. Green chutney / chili pickle
I like your idea of cutlets/rosti with chutney, which could be had as a course independent the makki roti and sarson saag main.
All the best :-)
I am looking for a easy and quick to make recipe to make Dhai Bhendi and green chutney stuffed brinjals [baby brinjals with potatoes.
Also please can you share a dal which is light and with raw mango
Looking forward to an early reply.
Here’s a recipe for dahi bhindi.
I use a different stuffing for brinjals in this recipe: stuffed baby eggplant in peanut sesame sauce.
Thanks for the suggestion of dal with raw mango. Will try it and post the recipe if it works out well. Here’s another light dal with amla: gooseberry dal.
Hey Shyolive! I posted the recipe you were looking for: dal with raw mango.
thats great 7 day menu,,,but could we have
recipies too,,,especially chutneys
Hi Varsha,
Glad you like the 7-day menu.
All the dish names in the menu link to their recipes. Just click on the name to get the recipe!
If you’re particularly interested in chutneys, check out the full listing here: chutney recipes.
Hi there,
thank you for such a nice blog! These are very good combo meal plans. I haven’t checked all the recipes but I’m sure those must be great and would definitely like to plan for such varieties in my meals. I also liked your tips for planning a menu.
I just wanted to ask, if you want to elaborate this menu for a party,(means 1 starter/appetizer, 1 gravy subzi, 1 dry subzi, 1 side dish, salad / raita / chutney, rice &/ daal , chapati / paratha / poori & 1 dessert)
then what would be the remaining items (starter/ side & dessert) to be paired with all of these meal plans?
I’m not very good in desserts so I end up making same selected items every time.
Can you give some more tips for house party organization, like how to welcome the guests, how to arrange the dinner table, presentation etc.
Hope to hear from you upon this soon.
Very. Nice
Hi,
I am Austin at 2nd street.
Can you please provide the rates for Veg food
Regards
Sandeep
Hi Steaming Pot!
The combinations mentioned above are truly very delightful.
My mom asked me though to let her know that from what region of India they come from?
Any particular state or region..?
Hi Geetika, Happy to know you found the combinations delightful :-) The recipes are from all over…e.g. ridge gourd moong dal is Andhra-inspired, rajma masala Punjab-inspired, cheesy zucchini self-inspired :P
hi,
its my parents anniversary and will be family affair.
am planning a dinner buffet,but want it to be different with a mix of indian south and north .
can you suggest a menu spread ?
thank you
Am a beginner in Indian dishes,advice me on how to take some courses online
Amazing Information very helpful Very Nicely Presented . Keep it up!
Thank you, Nischal!
Hi there,
I assume the quantities are for a family of 4. Can you confirm please?
Thank you,
Simon
Hi Simon, The quantities are mentioned in the individual recipe links. In most cases it is for a family of 4. Some recipe are for 2-3 where indicated; the ingredient quantities can be proportionally adjusted for a family of 4.
EXCELLENT VEG MENU OF 7 DAYS ,LOOKS YUMMY – FLAVORFUL MOUTHWATERING
Thank you!