The Steaming Pot - Easy vegetarian recipes from India

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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Cutting open a pomegranate (anar) can be a messy affair, enough to keep me away from the fruit much as I like its juicy sweetness. Not so today. My local foodmart had on sale tempting glossy shelled pomegranate seeds – which got promptly purchased and put to use in this refreshing pomegranate raita.

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Chura bhuja mattar – popular snack from Bihar that pits the crunch of roasted chura against the tender butteriness of cooked peas (mattar), to fantastic effect.

What is chura, did you ask? Chura is the Bihari word for flattened rice, called chiwra elsewhere in north India. The better-known way of preparing chiwra is in its moistened form, as poha. Chura bhuja, in contrast, works on chiwra crisp and dry.

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I’m on a run of no onion recipes. This is another such. Masala bhindi (okra) that uses dry spices like cumin and coriander only – no onions, no garlic, no tomatoes.

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A simple lentil dish to go with Indian meals – toor dal (arhar dal/pigeon pea split) with a fistful of saboot moong (green gram or whole moong, with the green skin on) in it. The yellow and green of toor sabut moong dal makes for a bright-looking colorful dish.

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When onion prices skyrocket, as they have done in India nowadays, I instinctively switch to dishes that don’t use onions at all. Here is the recipe of aloo baingan bharta (that is, potato and eggplant mash) that I made today, using no onions.

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A simple no-onion-no-garlic spinach potato curry, uniquely flavored with asafoetida and yogurt. I’ll place this right up with my most-loved comfort foods.

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