The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

Chickpeas lend themselves generously to experimentation. The classic channa masala with its onion-garlic base is by no means the only way to cook this legume curry-style. Chickpeas CAN be curried without a shred of onion and garlic – check out these recipes from the blog archives, for example: aloo chhole, dahi chhole.

And now, let me add yet another no-onion-no-garlic chickpea recipe to your repertoire.

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Ridge gourd served up in special style: shallow-fried cylinders of the gourd stuffed with a peanut-sesame-coriander spice.

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Chayote slow-cooked in a tomato base – simple flavors that get their kick from a tempering of mustard and asafoetida. This is one of those curries that only ask for time, not exceptional skill or effort.

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An easy arbi (colocasia) side dish that doesn’t require much skill or vigilance to put together. And what’s more, it remains heroically spill-resistant even if you carry it around in a leaky creaky lunchbox.

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Sookhe bharwan baingan is a delicious side dish of spice-stuffed baby eggplants. It uses few ingredients – no onion, garlic or tomatoes – and can be put together easily with basic Indian spices.

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All hail this riot of red! With the crunch of peanuts, the creaminess of coconut, the heat of chili and pepper, this beetroot rice recipe makes for an immensely satisfying meal.

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I was looking for a chickpea recipe that did not call for onion, tomato, ginger or garlic, and I stumbled upon a Himachali dish called madra which is served during the dham food festival. Madra is a legume and yogurt combination with an array of aromatic spices – just the kind of recipe I wanted. My version is lighter than the traditional one and calls for fewer spices, based primarily on what was available with me – I simply call it “dahi chhole” instead of madra as I have probably strayed too far from the template…

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