Indian dishes with no dairy, ghee, eggs or meat. (672 recipes)
Osaman is the cooking water from boiled whole green grams, gently spiced with ginger, chilli, tamarind and jaggery and finished with a cinnamon, clove and curry-leaf tempering. It's thin, soothing and easy to digest, so it's good for anyone feeling unwell. The leftover boiled green grams can be used to make a curry.
A bright, quick rice dish: boiled rice gently mixed with sweetcorn and julienned red and green capsicum tempered with cumin and curry leaves, sharpened with lemon juice. It's light and colourful. Serve with plain yogurt or masala yogurt.
Chikki is an Indian brittle. This crystal version is made with plain white sugar, melted until clear and golden, with peanuts, almonds, pistachios and sesame seeds, scented with cardamom and saffron. Work quickly: the brittle sets in moments.
A 'royal' chutney of fresh and dried red chillies with toasted urad dal, cumin, coriander and sesame seeds, curry leaves and fresh coriander, ground smooth with tangy tamarind juice. It's hot, sour and nutty, with a little sweetness. Serve a spoonful with idli, dhosa, farsan and rice dishes.
A dry, coarse chutney powder of ground cumin, chilli, salt and asafoetida, with a few drops of lemon and oil and some fresh coriander, air-dried for a few days. Sprinkle a pinch over khichdi, dahi, chaat, bhel or buttered toast. Kept airtight, it lasts for weeks.
A very hot, deep-red paste of garlic, red chilli powder and roasted cumin with lemon juice and a little jaggery. Just a little adds a punch to bhel, sev puri, dabeli, vada pav and sandwiches. It keeps for a couple of weeks in a jar in the fridge.
A thick, fresh chutney of grated coconut and raw mango blended with coconut water, chilli and coriander. With no yogurt it's dairy free and keeps its fresh coconut taste. It's served in East Africa with lentil fritters (bhajia), Zanzibar mix and Mombasa mix.
A fresh, coarse chutney of grated coconut, mint, green chillies and cumin, sharpened with lemon and a pinch of sugar. It's bright green, cooling and spicy, and goes with idli, dhosa, pakoras and sandwiches.
A hot, chunky relish of blended red bullet chillies cooked with raw mango, green peppers, vinegar and tomato ketchup, after a tempering of sesame, cumin and split coriander seeds. It's sweet, sour and very spicy. Serve a little with farsan, thepla or sandwiches; it keeps for weeks in the fridge.
The sweet, sour, glossy brown chutney that makes chaat: tamarind and dates boiled soft, blended and sieved, then sweetened with jaggery and spiced with cumin and red chilli. Drizzle it over samosas, bhel, pani puri, dahi vada and pakoras. It keeps for a month in the fridge or longer in the freezer.
A rich, cooked red chilli chutney: chillies soaked overnight with jaggery, sugar and lemon, blended with toasted cumin, coriander and urad dal, then simmered and finished with cashews, peanuts and powdered curry leaves. It's sweet, hot and crunchy. Serve it with puri, paratha or thepla.
A smooth, tangy chutney of unripe mango, red pepper and hot red chillies, sweetened with jaggery and flavoured with cumin. It's a no-cook chutney with a lovely bright colour. Serve it with dhokla, bhajias, samosas or as a sandwich spread.
Long strips of mixed vegetables simmered in a cumin, ginger, garlic and chilli broth, with halved cashews for richness and crunch. It's light but warming, and ready in about half an hour. Serve it hot.
Cashews fried until golden and tossed while hot with black salt, coriander-cumin powder, chilli and turmeric. Black salt gives them a tangy, savoury flavour. Cool them before serving; they keep for 2 weeks in an air-tight jar.
Small samosas with a South Indian twist: the filling is sautéed onion with fresh coconut, coriander and green chilli, tempered with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Serve hot with red, green and tamarind chutneys.
A quick chaat of boiled chickpeas, peanuts and potato with onion, chilli, coriander and lemon, tossed with crushed crisps just before serving. Add the crisps at the last moment so they stay crunchy, and serve immediately.
Home-made garam masala is far more fragrant than shop-bought. The whole spices are roasted until crisp, then ground, giving a warm, slightly hot blend with dry ginger and red chilli. Add a pinch to curries, dals and rice dishes towards the end of cooking.
Samosa chapaties (patti) are paper-thin wrappers for crisp samosas. Two rounds are rolled out together with oil and flour between them, lightly roasted, then peeled apart into two very thin sheets. Cut them into strips for samosas, or squares for spring rolls.
A bright red, tangy Gujarati masala, like a dry pickle masala made with split mustard and fenugreek seeds and sharpened with lemon. It's sprinkled over steaming khichu (khichi), and it's just as good with theplas or a drizzle of oil as a quick dip.
Two reliable ways to cook plain rice. Method 1 lets the rice soak up all its water, for soft, fluffy rice to serve with curry and dal. Method 2 boils it in plenty of water and drains it, giving separate grains for fried rice, pilau and salads. Soaking first helps the grains cook evenly.
The spice blend that turns a cup of tea into masala chai. It's built on cardamom, with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and nutmeg. Add a pinch (about ¼ tsp per cup) to tea while it boils.
The South Indian spice powder that gives sambhar its body and flavour. Roasted lentils add a nutty thickness, with coriander, red chillies, curry leaves and sesame seeds. Use it in the sambhar served with idli and dosa.
An everyday curry powder that's built on coriander seeds, so it's fragrant rather than fiery. Fennel, star anise and bay give it a sweet warmth, with just two red chillies for heat. Season curries with it when you want flavour without much heat.
A heady North Indian garam masala heavy with cardamom, cumin and pepper, rounded out with mace, nutmeg and fennel. The spices are ground raw rather than roasted, so the blend stays bright and perfumed. Use it in rich Punjabi curries such as chole, rajma and paneer makhani.
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