OUR VEGETARIAN BLOG
JOURNEY BREAD
Gujaratis are naturally suspicious of food cooked outside of the home, and will usually carry a stash of these when they travel, alongside a small but lethal tub of garlic and chile chutney. Unlike the daily chapati, which was designed to be a backdrop to more…
CAULIFLOWER CHEESE + CHILE STUFFED ROTI
I love a stuffed paratha as much as the next Indian, but when life feels too short to make them, I prefer to make these, much quicker stuffed rotis. I tend to stuff them with whatever can be foraged from the fridge, which is how I found this strange and wonderful…
SQUASHED TOMATO UTTAPAM
This dish is dedicated to making your snack times brilliant: uttapam is a cross between a pancake and a crumpet, to which you can add any vegetables. I am partial to squashed tomatoes, sweet caramelized onions, and the odd chile, and I am also not averse to Cheddar…
AUTUMN PILAU WITH EGGPLANT, TOMATOES, + CHICKPEAS
Some things never go out of fashion—this combination of eggplant, tomatoes, and chickpeas is one of them. This is an excellent dish for a cold autumn day and always hits the spot. Serves 4 as a main dish 1¼ cups basmati ricecanola oil3 medium eggplants (roughly 2…
TOMATO + GREEN BEAN SEVAI
Sevai are rice noodles that are incredibly popular in South India, particularly in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. They’re eaten for breakfast, as a snack in the day, and even for dinner. I like to cook these when I’m looking for something light, quick, and zingy to eat….
GRAND VEGETABLE BIRYANI
This is a love letter to humble vegetables. It’s a meal for special occasions, whether that be Diwali, Christmas, or a bar mitzvah. It’s packed full of a rainbow of colors, flavors, and textures, from spiced paneer, chickpeas, and tomatoes to roasted beets, sweet…
LIME PICKLE RICE WITH ROASTED SQUASH
If this is the first recipe you turned to in this book because you love lime pickle so dearly, welcome. You have found a kindred spirit in me. For the uninitiated, lime pickle is hot, salty, and with so much punch that you’ll be left trying desperately to open your…
RHEA’S POTATO + ONION POHA
Rhea is Mum’s friend Praful’s nephew’s wife. She is Maharashtrian and lives in Mumbai. She often makes this for the family for breakfast, but it’s easily lovely enough for lunch or dinner. Poha is partially cooked and flattened rice. It’s a magical ingredient which…
DAYBREAKER KEDGEREE
I can’t think of a better daybreaker than fried onion rice with seared portobello mushrooms and runny poached eggs. Serves 4 as a main course 1½ cups basmati rice½ ounce dried mushrooms (e.g. porcini)butter10 fresh curry leaves (optional)1¾-inch cinnamon stick½…
FRESH COCONUT RICE WITH CASHEWS + SHALLOTS
This would be one of my desert island dishes, partly because I assume most desert islands have a plentiful coconut supply (and the odd frying pan), but also because it is good enough to eat just by itself. It’s also one of the few dishes where you can’t substitute…
LEMON RICE WITH PEANUTS + CURRY LEAVES
I’m a huge fan of any recipe where the end result far outweighs the effort of making it. Lemon rice is one of those dishes. The sweet, smoky shallot, lemon, and peanut mixture can easily be knocked up while you wait for the rice to cook. I like to eat it by itself or…
TAMARIND + CARAMELIZED RED ONION RICE
A very simple way to create a flavorful rice that’s a great accompaniment to many of the dishes in this book—particularly coconut curries, like the Keralan vegetable istoo and the pumpkin and black-eyed pea curry. It is also an absolute hit with dogs, judging by how…