OUR VEGETARIAN BLOG
CHICKPEAS IN A SIMPLE NORTHERN STYLE ROZ KAY CHANEY
For this recipe, I used only two cans of organic low-salt chickpeas because that is what I was able to find. I prefer to use organic chickpeas because I can use all the liquid in the can. If your chickpeas are not organic, throw away the liquid in the can and use…
CHANA DAL WITH YELLOW SQUASH, CHAYOTE, OR DOODHI DOODHI AUR CHANA DAL
This is a Gujarati dish usually made with the very long, pale green Indian squash known as “doodhi” or “ghiya.” Many Indian grocers sell it, but I find that chayote or sayote, the South American pear-shaped vegetable (also known as “cho cho,” “chow chow,” and…
CHANA DAL WITH SPINACH AND TOMATO SAAG-TAMATAR WALI CHANA DAL
This dish, from no specific region of India but with a lovely mixture of northern and southern seasonings, could also be made with moong dal or toovar dal. I often make it for dinner for my husband and me, accompanying it with rice, a dish of green beans or…
NEPALESE BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH POTATOES AND BAMBOO SHOOTS ALOO TAMA BODI
It is a simple and very nutritious dish from Nepal, where it is made with bamboo shoots that grow in the southern Himalayan forests. (I use canned, thinly sliced bamboo shoots instead.) While it is sometimes described as a soup, it is really a main dish, eaten with…
GOAN BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH COCONUT CHAWLI USAL
Shashikala Potnis, the wife of the owner and head chef of the Highway Gomatak restaurant, together with her main assistant and daughter-in-law Sanjali, were extremely kind and generous when I visited. They patiently taught me many of the exquisite Hindu Goan-style…
BLACK-EYED PEAS WITH CILANTRO AND GREEN CHILIES LOBHIA AUR HARI CHUTNEY
A simple, everyday dish from the north that goes well with both rice and flatbreads. SERVES 4 • 1 cup dried black-eyed peas, washed and soaked overnight • ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste • 1 well-packed cup fresh cilantro tops, chopped • 2–4 fresh hot green chilies,…
KERALA VEGETABLE STEW KERALA ESHTEW
There are probably as many recipes for this in Kerala as there are families. Locally called “eshtew”—a charming mispronunciation of the English word—it is generally eaten with appam (rice pancakes), idi appam (rice noodles), or plain rice. There are many ingredients…
TURNIP BHARTA SHALJUM BHARTA
For more on bhartas (mashed vegetables), see this page. The seasonings here are very North Indian. Serve with any Indian bread or warmed whole-grain pita, perhaps a paneer dish, and a cauliflower dish. SERVES 5–6 • 6 medium turnips (about 1 lb. 10 oz. in all) • 4…
STIR-FRIED ORANGE PUMPKIN OR BUTTERNUT SQUASH LAL KADDU KI SABZI
I have combined northern and southern Indian seasonings to make this dish a great favorite in our household. Indians often add jaggery, a raw brown sugar, to pumpkin dishes, which, when combined with hot spices, makes the dish most addictive. I have used dark brown…
STIR FRIED SPINACH ANDHRA STYLE PALAKO
In Andhra, the term “vepadu” refers to dishes that are either stir-fried or deep-fried until they are crisp (see this page for vepadus and more on Andhra meals). In the south, this delicious spicy spinach is generally served on the side, along with rice, thin dals,…
SPINACH WITH DILL DAKHINI SAAG
A simple but very flavorful spinach dish from the royal palaces of Hyderabad. Serve it at meals with either breads or pilafs, along with a dal, such as Hyderabadi “sour” dal. At the Falaknuma Palace Hotel, where I first ate this, the spinach had been blended into a…
GOAN POTATOES BATATA BHAJI
This dish, from a Hindu Goan restaurant in Bombay, tastes best if made with waxy potatoes. It is generally eaten with rice or rice breads, but can also be rolled up in a chapati, along with some chopped tomatoes and cucumber, and eaten as a snack or for lunch. Urad…