Vegetarian Indian dinners

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Aloo methiPotato and fenugreek stir-fry

When winter methi floods the Punjab sabzi mandis, every family cooks aloo methi with makki di roti or plain phulka and a bowl of dal. The leaves cook right down into a dark green coating around tender potato cubes, garlicky and gently bitter, with a little sourness from amchur and heat from dried red chilli. It's a classic tiffin sabzi because it tastes just as good cold. The common mistake is covering the pan after the methi goes in, which traps steam and brings out the bitterness; cook the potatoes covered first, then finish uncovered. Chef's tip: sprinkle the chopped methi with a pinch of salt, leave it ten minutes and squeeze out the green juice to tame the bitterness, just as Punjabi grandmothers do.

30 min

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Pav bhaji masalaPav bhaji spice blend

The bhaji at a Juhu Beach or Girgaum Chowpatty stall gets its unmistakable taste from a ready-made masala, but a home-roasted blend smells far brighter and lets you choose the heat. Whole coriander, cumin, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and star anise are roasted, cooled and ground with Kashmiri chilli for colour, amchur (dry mango powder) for tang, kala namak (black salt) for that eggy, savoury depth, and dry ginger. A good pav bhaji masala is red, sour-salty and aromatic rather than very hot. It is also the quick way to give tawa pulao, masala toast and Bombay sandwiches their street flavour. Common mistake: stirring the masala into a dry, very hot pan; the amchur and chilli powder scorch in seconds. Chef's tip: add the masala once the tomatoes have broken down into the butter, and keep a spoonful back to sprinkle over the bhaji in the last minute for a fresh hit of aroma.

20 min

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Paruppu sadamMashed rice and toor dal

Long before they can manage rasam or sambar, children in Tamil homes are fed paruppu sadam: rice and toor dal cooked together until very soft, mashed smooth and loosened with a spoonful of ghee. It is plainer and wetter than a khichdi, with no vegetables or spice blend, just turmeric, salt and a light thalippu (tempering) of cumin, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida. The same bowl is comfort food for grown-ups, eaten with a crisp potato roast, a fried appalam (urad papad) and a dollop of mango pickle. It also turns up at the start of a festive Tamil meal, where the first course is always dal rice with ghee. The texture should be creamy and spoonable, almost like a thick soup. Chef's tip: mash the rice and dal while they are piping hot; once they cool, the starch sets and the mash turns gluey rather than smooth.

30 min

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Methi dana ki sabziSweet-sour fenugreek seed curry

Marwari wedding and festival thalis in Jaipur, Bikaner and the Marwari homes of Kolkata always carry a small bowl of this: fenugreek seeds soaked overnight, boiled to tame their bitterness, then cooked down with jaggery, raisins, amchur and warm spices until sticky and glossy. It is eaten in small spoonfuls with puri, bajra roti or dal-baati, more like a relish than a vegetable, and it's especially loved after childbirth and in winter as a warming food. With no onion, garlic or root vegetables, it suits Jain homes as is. The common mistake is skipping the boil-and-drain; seeds that are only soaked stay unpleasantly bitter. Chef's tip: the sabzi keeps for a week in the fridge and tastes better on day two, so make it a day before a festive meal.

35 min

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Methia masalaPickle spice mix

In Gujarati homes, methia masala (also called achar masala or sambhar masala in Kathiawad) is mixed each April before the mango pickling begins, and a jar of it lasts the year. It is built on methi kuria and rai kuria, split fenugreek and split mustard seeds sold at every Gujarati grocer, which are bloomed in smoking-hot groundnut oil with hing so they lose their raw bitterness, then mixed with Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric and salt. That one masala makes instant pickles of carrot, gunda, raw mango or kerda in minutes, is spooned beside khichu, thepla and dhokla and goes into methia keri, the classic Gujarati mango pickle. Common mistake: pouring the oil over the chilli powder while it is smoking hot; the chilli turns black and bitter. Chef's tip: pour the hot oil over the kuria and hing only, wait until it is just warm, and only then stir in the chilli, turmeric and salt.

15 min

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Vangi bathAubergine rice

In Bengaluru and Mysuru, vangi bath is weekend breakfast at a darshini and a favourite for office tiffins, and at Kannada weddings it often appears on the banana leaf. Small purple brinjals are cooked with tamarind, jaggery and a fresh vangi bath powder roasted from dals, coriander seed, byadgi chillies, cinnamon and dry coconut, then folded into cooled rice. The flavour is warm, smoky, tangy and slightly sweet, with peanuts for crunch. Serve it with plain curd or a cucumber raita and a papad. The common mistake is cooking the brinjal to mush; cut it into fingers and cook just until tender, so the pieces hold. Chef's tip: grind the powder fresh and roast each ingredient separately on low heat; burnt dal or coriander turns the whole dish bitter.

40 min

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Bhindi masalaSpiced okra

Bhindi masala is the dry okra dish of North Indian homes and Delhi dhabas, made with sliced okra rather than the stuffed whole pods. The okra is fried in a wide pan until it loses its stickiness and gets crisp, browned edges, then tossed with onions softened until sweet, a little tomato and a dry masala finished with amchur. It is a favourite with dal-chawal, roti and raita, and keeps well in a lunchbox. The common mistake is washing okra and slicing it wet, or covering the pan; both make it slimy. Wash it well ahead, dry every pod with a cloth, and cook uncovered. Chef's tip: add salt only at the end, once the okra is cooked, because salt draws out moisture and makes it sticky.

30 min

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Malvani masalaKonkan spice blend

Head down the coast to Malvan, Vengurla or Devgad and every family has its own masala tin, ground in summer when the chillies are crisp and dry. Malvani masala is hotter and more aromatic than goda masala and uses no coconut: it is mostly Bedgi chillies (for a deep red colour and moderate heat) with a handful of fiery Sankeshwari, roasted with coriander and about fifteen whole spices including fennel, star anise, mace, nutmeg and stone flower. Fried in oil with coconut and onion, it becomes the base of kombdi vade (chicken curry with puris), bangda and surmai curries, prawn sukka, and vegetarian dishes like kala vatana usal and Malvani batata bhaji. The blend itself is vegan. Common mistake: leaving the stalks on the chillies; they grind into hard, woody bits and dull the colour. Chef's tip: dry the chillies in the sun or in a barely warm pan first, then roast them separately on low until they crackle, so they grind to a fine, bright powder.

30 min

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Chora nu shaakBlack-eyed pea curry

Chora nu shaak is a Sunday favourite in Surat and Baroda homes and one of the pulse shaaks that rotate through a Jain kitchen in place of onion-based gravies. Black-eyed peas are cooked soft, then simmered in a thin tomato gravy built on a vaghar of mustard seed, cumin, hing, cloves and dry red chilli, sweetened with jaggery and sharpened with lemon in true Gujarati style. Dry ginger powder replaces fresh ginger, and there is no onion or garlic. The gravy should be loose enough to soak into rotli or rice, with a few beans mashed to give it body. A common mistake is adding tomato and jaggery before the beans are fully soft; acid and sugar keep them hard however long you cook them. Chef's tip: let the shaak rest for 10 minutes before serving; the chora drink up the gravy and the flavours round out.

45 min

Indian Curries

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Karela nu shaakBitter gourd and jaggery curry

Most children in Gujarat grow up hating karela and end up asking for this version. Bitter gourd is sliced into thin rings, rubbed with salt and turmeric, squeezed, then cooked slowly in a vaghar of mustard seed and hing until soft and browned. A spoonful of besan toasted in the same pan clings to each ring, and jaggery melts into a glossy coating, so it tastes sweet, nutty, spicy and only pleasantly bitter. With no onion or garlic it suits Jain homes, and it's a monsoon favourite with dal-bhaat-rotli. A common mistake is salting the shaak again as if from scratch; the squeezed karela still holds salt, so taste first. Chef's tip: add the besan only once the karela is dry and browned, and stir constantly for a minute; in a wet pan it forms lumps.

35 min

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Thengai sadamCoconut rice

Thengai sadam is one of the 'variety rice' dishes that fill Tamil lunchboxes and temple prasadam lines, alongside lemon and tamarind rice. It is made for Aadi Perukku and Varalakshmi Vratam, packed for train journeys to Madurai, and turned out on busy weekdays from leftover rice. Fresh coconut, lightly toasted in coconut oil, clings to every grain; crunchy urad and chana dal, cashews and curry leaves give bite, and a dry red chilli a gentle heat. It tastes mild, sweet from the coconut and very fragrant. Serve it with potato roast, appalam or a spoon of mor kuzhambu. A common mistake is browning the coconut; it should only lose its raw smell and stay snowy white. Chef's tip: spread the rice on a plate to cool fully; warm, freshly cooked rice breaks and turns pasty when tossed.

25 min

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Tawa pulaoGriddle rice with peppers

After the pav bhaji crowd thins out at Juhu or Girgaon Chowpatty, the stall owner scrapes the giant iron tawa, drops in a slab of butter and leftover rice, and starts tossing it with the same masala, peppers and tomato. Tawa pulao began as a quick meal for the cooks themselves and became a Mumbai favourite in its own right, eaten late at night and packed into lunchboxes. It's buttery, tangy and spicy, red with Kashmiri chilli and smelling of pav bhaji masala, with peas and capsicum for colour and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with raita, onion rings and papad. The common mistake is using freshly cooked, warm rice; it breaks and goes sticky. Day-old, fridge-cold basmati gives separate grains. Chef's tip: use a wide pan and toss rather than stir, as the stall cooks do with two flat spatulas.

25 min

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Rabodi ki sabziDried maize wafers in yogurt curry

In the Thar desert towns of Barmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner, green vegetables were scarce for much of the year, so women boiled maize flour with sour buttermilk in summer, spread it in thin rounds on cloth and dried it in the sun. Those rabodi keep for months and become this curry: fried until puffed, then simmered in a spiced yogurt gravy until soft and chewy. It is tangy, savoury and comforting, eaten with bajra roti or rice, and because it has no onion, garlic or fresh ginger, it suits a Jain or Marwari festive thali. A common mistake is letting the dahi gravy boil before it has been stirred to a boil with besan; it curdles. Whisk besan into the dahi and stir constantly until it comes to a boil. Chef's tip: fry the rabodi only until they puff and turn a shade darker; burnt rabodi taste bitter and stay hard in the gravy.

40 min

Indian Curries

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Goda masalaMaharashtrian spice blend

Goda means sweet in Marathi, and the word describes not sugar but the warm, rounded fragrance of this masala, which every Pune and Satara household roasts in small batches. It is the soul of Brahmin Maharashtrian cooking: masale bhaat at weddings, a spoonful in amti (tangy toor dal), bharli vangi (stuffed brinjal), and usal for misal. It is dark and aromatic rather than hot, built on coriander, dry coconut (kopra) and sesame, perfumed with cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and given its earthy, slightly musky depth by dagad phool (stone flower, a lichen), with nagkesar and maratha moggu if you can find them at a Marathi grocer. Common mistake: roasting the coconut and sesame with the hard spices on a high flame; the coconut burns before the coriander is done and the whole batch tastes bitter. Chef's tip: roast each spice in a drop of oil until a shade darker, because that slow roasting is what gives goda masala its colour.

30 min

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Rasam powderRasam spice powder

A spoon of rasam podi, a lime-sized ball of tamarind, a tomato and a ladle of cooked toor dal: that is lunch in countless Tamil homes, from Thanjavur to Tirunelveli, and the podi is what makes one family's rasam taste unlike the neighbour's. This version is peppery and cumin-forward, as rasam should be, with roasted coriander for body and a little toor dal that thickens the broth slightly and gives it a rounded, nutty base. It is meant for clear, thin rasams: tomato rasam, pepper rasam, lemon rasam, and the one you sip as a soup when you have a cold. Make a small batch, since the aroma fades after a couple of months. Common mistake: roasting the coriander seeds until dark brown; they turn bitter and the rasam tastes burnt. Chef's tip: add rasam powder at the end, when the tamarind water is already boiling, and switch off the heat as soon as the rasam froths; boiling it hard kills the pepper aroma.

20 min

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Kanda lasun masalaOnion and garlic spice blend

Kolhapuri women still make kanda lasun masala once a year, in the hot months, in a day-long session of frying, roasting and pounding, and the jar lasts until the next summer. The masala is a deep brick-red, oily paste-powder that smells of browned onion and garlic and sets your mouth on fire, thanks to plenty of hot chilli powder, traditionally from Sankeshwari or Lavangi chillies, plus milder Kashmiri for colour. A spoon or two transforms misal, kat (the spicy gravy for pav), batata bhaji, anda curry or the famous tambda rassa of mutton. Common mistake: frying the onions only until golden. They must be deep brown and crisp, with no moisture left, or the masala will turn mouldy within weeks. Chef's tip: dry the fried onion and garlic on paper for an hour before grinding, and keep the finished jar in the fridge if your kitchen is humid.

60 min

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Kashmiri ver masalaKashmiri spice cakes

In Srinagar's old city, ver is still made at the end of summer and strung up to dry in kitchens: flat, ring-shaped cakes of ground spices bound with shallot paste and pungent mustard oil, dark red and rock hard. It was a way to store flavour for the long winter, when fresh ingredients were scarce. A piece grated into the pot gives Kashmiri food its typical deep red colour and its warm, sweet-hot fennel and dry ginger flavour, without tomatoes or onions: think dum aloo, nadru yakhni (lotus stem), haak (collard greens), chaman (paneer) and rogan josh. Kashmiri Muslim kitchens often add garlic; Pandit homes may leave the shallots out altogether. Common mistake: drying the cakes in a damp or closed spot; they stay soft inside and grow mould. Chef's tip: heat the mustard oil until it smokes and then cool it before mixing, to take away its raw, sharp bite.

50 min

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Panch phoronFive-seed spice mix

Every Bengali and Odia kitchen keeps a jar of panch phoron within reach of the stove, because so much of the cooking begins with a teaspoon of it crackling in hot mustard oil. The five seeds, in equal measure, are left whole and never roasted or ground ahead: bitter fenugreek, oniony nigella (kalonji), earthy cumin, sharp black mustard and sweet fennel. Together they give a layered, slightly bittersweet aroma that is the signature of tomato chutney, cholar dal, labra, chorchori and the sweet-sour vegetable dishes of a Bengali lunch. In some traditional homes radhuni, a wild celery seed, replaces the mustard. Common mistake: tempering over a high flame. The fenugreek blackens in seconds and the whole dish tastes bitter. Chef's tip: let the oil heat until it just shimmers, add the panch phoron, and the moment the mustard starts popping and the fenugreek is reddish brown, add the vegetables or dal.

5 min

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Jeera alooCumin potatoes

Jeera aloo is what North Indian mothers pack with puri for a train ride, serve with dal and rice on a weeknight, and cook in bulk for Navratri kanjak lunches alongside halwa and chana. Boiled potatoes are cubed and tossed in plenty of cumin that has sizzled until dark and nutty, with green chilli, ginger, a little turmeric and chilli, then soured with amchur. The edges catch and turn golden while the insides stay soft and fluffy. The common mistake is tossing potatoes that are still hot from boiling; they crumble. Cool them completely, ideally in the fridge, so the cubes hold their shape. Chef's tip: let the cumin turn a shade darker before the potatoes go in; pale cumin gives a raw, dusty taste.

25 min