The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

I never knew what Brussels sprouts were in my growing up years. My first sight of this vegetable was during a work assignment in UK. They were served at a party steamed whole, and their appearance had me entranced. If Gulliver’s Lilliput land cultivated cabbages, this is how they would look.

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In the post on coriander parsley pesto, I had promised to share recipe ideas using pesto.

And so, here I am, delivering on that promise.

Three recipe ideas using pesto as key ingredient: mushroom and cherry tomato sauté with pesto, spaghetti with pesto, pesto on toast.

1. Mushroom and Cherry Tomato Saute with Pesto

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Parsley isn’t too easily accessible where I live in India, nor is it integral to Indian cooking. And so when I’m using it, I’m a little outside my comfort zone. It gives a special high when we get things right outside our comfort zones, doesn’t it?

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Mothers in Hindi movies may dish out copious amounts of halwa and kheer for their beloved betas but it is the men who rule the roost when it comes to playing food-centric roles on celluloid.

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This was my first attempt at making pickle the traditional way and I have to confess I was nervous. The pickle jar needs to be placed out in the sun during the day and brought inside before sundown, regularly for days together. It needs to be handled with super-dry, ultra-clean  equipment. My anxious mind asked – with no prior experience to bank on, a 9-to-6 job and other pressing domestic matters, will I be able to keep up with the discipline of pickle-making?

I did – and a week later, have this delicious green chili pickle recipe to share with you. Detailed step-by-step pictures included.

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Onions are indispensable to cooking in many Indian households, so much so that the humble bulb has caused governments to topple. To those for whom curries without onions seem inconceivable, I heartily recommend this recipe for stuffed baby eggplant in peanut sesame sauce. The sauce, with tamarind juice to give it body, is rich, thick, and entirely sans onions. I like to make this gravy when I have guests over, especially my no-onion-no-garlic folks.

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A fruity raita to give company to Indian meals, specially good when you have heavy curries like kofta curry or paneer butter masala on the menu. I love the sweet and tart taste that ripe pineapple gives to the raita.

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