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Jain recipes: no onion, garlic or root vegetables

2,799

2799 Jain recipes with no onion, garlic, potato, carrot, fresh ginger or other root vegetables, and no mushrooms, eggs or honey. Hing, dry ginger and turmeric powder are fine. Each has photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Apfelschorle, takes 2 minutes. Most take around 40 minutes.

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PappchiFried wheat and rice biscuits

Pappchi are little scalloped discs that Chhattisgarhi families fry in large batches for Teeja, Diwali and weddings, made from wheat flour and rice flour, fried slowly and then turned in sticky sugar syrup until they wear a thin white glaze. They snap cleanly and keep for weeks in a steel tin. A common mistake is taking the syrup too far, so it crystallises into lumps; you want a one-string syrup that dries to a matt coat as it cools. Chef's tip: press the edge of each disc with a thimble or bottle cap to make the frilled pattern, which also helps them fry crisp.

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Makhaniya lassiSaffron lassi with butter

Around the clock tower and old city of Jodhpur, lassi shops churn this rich drink all day in summer: chilled set curd whisked with sugar, saffron and cardamom, poured into tall glasses and crowned with a spoon of fresh white butter (makhan) and a layer of malai. You drink the cool lassi and eat the butter and cream with a spoon. It is a meal in itself. The common mistake is thinning it with too much water or ice, which loses the thick, almost spoonable texture that makes it Jodhpuri. Chef's tip: use curd set from full-fat milk the night before and whisk it by hand or with a few pulses only.

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Sungnyung (scorched rice tea)

Before electric rice cookers, every Korean pot of rice left a golden crust, nurungji, stuck to the bottom. Rather than waste it, cooks poured in water and simmered it while the family ate, and the warm, cloudy sungnyung was drunk at the end of the meal in place of tea. Older Koreans still describe it as the taste of home, and many Seoul restaurants that cook rice in stone pots finish by pouring water over the crust at the table. It tastes of toasted grain and has a faint natural sweetness, with soft pieces of crust to spoon up at the bottom. Without a stone pot you can make the crust from leftover rice in a frying pan. The common mistake is rushing the crust over high heat: it blackens on the outside and turns the drink bitter while the middle stays soft. Keep the heat low and patient, and aim for even golden-brown. The crust is ready when it lifts away from the pan in one sheet and smells like popcorn; the sungnyung is ready when the water is milky and pale gold. Chef's tip: make extra crust, dry it completely and keep it in a jar, so you can make sungnyung in ten minutes any evening.

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HallullaFlat round bread

If marraqueta is Santiago's crusty roll, hallulla is its soft, flat partner: a pale round about the size of a saucer, enriched with a little fat and pricked all over, with a fine, tight crumb that is perfect split and toasted with butter or filled with cheese and avocado at once. Bakeries traditionally use lard; this vegetarian version uses vegetable shortening or butter. Many home bakers let the rounds over-prove and get puffy buns; give them a short rise only. Chef's tip: fold and roll the dough several times before cutting, as bakery rollers do, to get the fine, layered crumb.

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KusliSemolina-filled Diwali pastries

Kusli are the crimped half-moon pastries that fill tins in Chhattisgarhi homes before Diwali and Chhath, close cousins of the gujiya and karanji but filled with semolina roasted in ghee, dry coconut and sugar rather than mawa. They keep for a fortnight and are handed to visitors with thethri and khurmi. The common mistake is frying them in very hot oil; they blister and brown outside while the pastry stays raw within. Chef's tip: seal the edges with a dab of milk and a firm pinch-and-fold twist so not a crumb of filling leaks into the oil.

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TojoríPurple corn porridge

Before dawn in Potosí and Sucre, vendors ladle steaming tojorí from big pots into glasses for miners, students and market workers. It is a pourable porridge of ground corn cooked with cinnamon, cloves and sugar; the purple-corn version is mildly fruity and turns a deep violet. It is drunk with buñuelos or a bread roll. Don't stop stirring in the first ten minutes, which is when it sticks and scorches. Chef's tip: toast the corn flour in a dry pan for a couple of minutes before you start; it brings out a roasted, nutty taste.

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Calia e simenzaRoasted chickpeas and pumpkin seeds

Calia (toasted chickpeas) and simenza (salted pumpkin seeds) are sold together in twisted paper bags by the old caliari of Palermo, at the Festino of Santa Rosalia in July, along the Foro Italico seafront and outside the Teatro Massimo after a show. You crack the seeds with your teeth and chase them with the crunchy, nutty chickpeas, a habit that can last a whole evening. This home version roasts soaked dried chickpeas and salted seeds in the oven. Chef's tip: dry the soaked chickpeas really well; any surface water steams them instead of making them crunchy.

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Kakinada kajaSyrup-soaked layered pastries

Kakinada kaja is the famous sweet of Kakinada in Andhra's East Godavari, a long, golden pastry made of layered dough that is fried and soaked in syrup until the hollow centre fills with sweetness and bursts when bitten. Telugu families buy it for weddings, Sankranti and housewarmings. The common mistake is syrup that is too thick: Kakinada kaja is soaked in a thin, just-sticky syrup so it seeps inside, while the outside stays crisp. Fry slowly so the layers open. Chef's tip: roll the dough sheet tightly into a log after spreading the ghee paste, and seal the ends, so each piece puffs into distinct layers.

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Parwal ki mithaiStuffed candied pointed gourd

Parwal ki mithai surprises anyone who knows pointed gourd only as a curry vegetable: in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh sweet makers peel the gourds, candy them in syrup until translucent, then fill them with sweetened mawa and nuts. They sit in shop windows at Diwali, Chhath and weddings, often glinting with silver leaf. The common mistake is undercooking the gourds before candying, which leaves them crunchy and vegetal; blanch until a knife slides in easily. Silver leaf (vark) is optional; choose one certified vegetarian. Chef's tip: scrape out every seed carefully, because even a few hard seeds spoil the soft bite.

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BelgramiChewy fresh cheese sweet

Belgrami belongs to Udwantnagar in Bihar's Bhojpur district, where sweet makers have cooked it for generations and travellers buy boxes on the way through. Fresh chhena is cooked down with sugar until it firms into a dense, slightly chewy, pale cream block with a gentle caramel note, then cut into pieces. It keeps for days, which makes it a favourite gift at weddings and Chhath. The common mistake is stopping too early: it must cook until the mass pulls into one lump and no longer sticks to the pan, or the pieces stay soft and weep. Chef's tip: use chhena from full-fat cow's milk and hang it for an hour, so it is dry enough to cook down quickly.

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PantuaFried milk balls in syrup

Pantua is the Bengali answer to gulab jamun, but made with fresh chhena and a little semolina instead of only khoya, which gives a lighter, slightly grainy inside under a deep brown skin. It is the sweet of Jamai Sasthi, Bijoya visits and Sunday afternoons in Kolkata, often with a hidden cardamom seed or nugget of sugar at the centre. The common mistake is under-kneading the chhena: if the dough is crumbly the balls crack and drink oil. Knead until it feels smooth and leaves a film of fat on your palm. Chef's tip: let the syrup and the fried pantua both be warm, not boiling, when they meet, so the balls soak up syrup without collapsing.

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Lavang latikaClove-sealed syrup pastries

Lavang latika is a festive sweet of Bengal and Bihar, shaped like a tiny sealed envelope with a single clove pinned through the flap; it fills sweet-shop trays at Bijoya Dashami, Diwali and Bhai Phonta. Inside is mawa with coconut, nuts and cardamom, and after slow frying the parcels are soaked in syrup, so the outside is crisp and sweet and the clove gives a warm, peppery bite. The common mistake is folding the pastry loosely; the flaps must overlap well and be pressed shut before the clove goes in, or the parcels unfold in the ghee. Remove the clove before eating if you prefer. Chef's tip: soak the cloves in hot water for 5 minutes so they push through the pastry without cracking it.

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ChandrakalaSyrup-soaked milk pastries

Chandrakala is the round, moon-shaped sweet of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, made for Holi, Diwali and Chhath and sold by sweet shops in Patna and Varanasi. Two circles of flaky pastry enclose a filling of mawa, nuts and cardamom; the edge is pleated into a rope, then the pastry is fried slowly and dipped in sugar syrup. Its sister suryakala is the same sweet shaped like a sun. The common mistake is syrup that is too thin, which makes the crust soggy within hours; it should reach one-string consistency. Chef's tip: pleat the edge firmly with damp fingertips, because a loose seal is where the filling leaks out in the hot ghee.

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Jaulo for babiesRice porridge for babies

Jaulo is the soft rice and lentil porridge Nepali families in Kathmandu and the hills turn to for anyone small, tired or getting over a cold. After a baby's pasni, the rice-feeding ceremony held at five or six months, it soon becomes a regular lunch, and from about nine months it is mashed lumpy rather than smooth. This version keeps the ghee, cumin and turmeric for gentle flavour but leaves out the usual salt, garlic and ginger. It is warm, buttery and comforting. It contains milk (ghee) and is free of gluten, egg, nuts, soya and sesame. Chef's tip: fry the cumin only until it smells toasty and is a shade darker; burnt cumin turns the whole pot bitter.

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Dal baflaBaked wheat balls with dal

Dal bafla is Malwa's answer to Rajasthan's dal baati: the dough balls are first boiled until they float, then baked until crusty, so they turn out softer inside and lighter than baati. In Indore and Ujjain it is the meal for Sunday lunches, picnics and big family gatherings, broken open and drowned in ghee next to a bowl of tadka dal and garlic chutney. The common mistake is skipping the rest after boiling; wet baflas go straight into the oven and stay pale and leathery. Chef's tip: let the boiled baflas dry for 10 minutes and score a cross on top before baking, so they crack open and soak up the ghee.

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Bajre ki raabdiFermented pearl millet buttermilk porridge

In the villages of Haryana and the Rajasthan border, raabdi is drunk at midday in May and June to keep cool in the fields. Pearl-millet flour is stirred into buttermilk and left to ferment for a few hours, then cooked slowly until thick, cooled in a clay pot and thinned with more buttermilk and salt. It tastes tangy and earthy, a little like a savoury porridge you can drink. Ferment at warm room temperature (25–32 °C) for 4–6 hours: it should smell pleasantly sour with a few bubbles. Throw it away if you see pink, black or furry mould or it smells rotten or of nail varnish. The common mistake is cooking on high heat, which scorches the millet and leaves raw lumps. Chef's tip: keep the cooked raabdi in the fridge and drink it within 2 days, thinning each glass to taste.

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Bhure chawalRice with ghee and sugar

Bhure chawal is about as simple as Haryanvi village cooking gets: steaming rice tossed with plenty of desi ghee and bura, the fine, fluffy sugar sold in Haryana, and sometimes a few chopped nuts. It is the treat grandmothers make after the evening milking, at a new daughter-in-law's first meal, or on cold nights when something sweet is needed fast. Use fragrant, well-cooked rice and good ghee, as there is nothing to hide behind. The common mistake is adding the sugar to lukewarm rice, so it stays gritty instead of melting into the ghee. Chef's tip: no bura? Blitz ordinary sugar to a powder and add a pinch of cardamom.

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SingalFried semolina and banana spirals

Singal (also called singhal) are sweet, spongy spirals from Kumaon, fried for Diwali, weddings and the Harela festival and offered at the temple before the family eats them. A thick batter of semolina, ripe banana, curd and sugar rests until the semolina swells, then it is piped or poured in a spiral into hot ghee or oil. The outside turns crisp and the inside stays soft like a doughnut. The common mistake is frying straight away; unrested batter spreads into flat, greasy shapes. Chef's tip: the batter is right when it falls from a spoon in a thick ribbon that holds its shape for a second.

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Kumaoni kheere ka raitaCucumber raita

This yellow raita is the famous one of Kumaon, made from the fat, pale hill cucumbers of late summer and served at every wedding and Holi gathering. It gets its nose-tingling kick from freshly ground raw mustard seed, which is left to mellow in the curd for an hour, and its sunny colour from turmeric. It is eaten with rice, puris and pakodas. The common mistake is not squeezing the grated cucumber, which floods the raita and dulls the mustard. Chef's tip: make it at least an hour ahead and chill it; the mustard grows sharper and rounder as it rests.

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Kombu dashi for babiesKelp broth for babies

Kombu dashi is where Japanese weaning starts: the gentle, savoury water that thins jūbai-gayu (rice porridge) and vegetable purées, so babies learn umami instead of salt. Japanese parents make a jug every few days, and baby-food counters in Osaka department stores sell frozen cubes of it. Kombu is very high in iodine, so this broth is used a spoonful or two at a time to flavour a meal, a few times a week, never as a drink. Nothing else goes in: no salt, soy sauce, bonito or stock powder. It is free of the major allergens. Chef's tip: lift the kombu out just before the water simmers; boiled kombu turns slimy and gives a bitter, sea-weedy taste.

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Pan-gayu (bread porridge)

Pan-gayu is a staple of the early rinyushoku (weaning) stage in Japan, the second grain after rice porridge, and it fills the 'first foods' pages of every baby magazine sold in Tokyo convenience stores. Crustless white bread is torn into a pan of water, breast milk or formula and simmered until it collapses, then mashed smooth for a soft, milky, faintly sweet porridge. Bread already contains a little salt, so this is an occasional porridge rather than an everyday one, and no extra salt, sugar or honey goes in. It contains wheat (gluten) and milk if made with milk. Chef's tip: choose the softest, plainest white sandwich loaf with the lowest salt on the label, and cut away every bit of crust.

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Koova kurukku (arrowroot porridge)

Koova, the arrowroot that grows in Kerala's backyards, is dug, washed, grated and dried into a snow-white powder that many families in Thrissur and Kottayam still make themselves. Stirred with water over a low flame, it turns from chalky to clear and glossy in a few minutes, and this kurukku is a classic first spoonful at six months, often given in the hot months because it is thought to be cooling. It is very mild and smooth. No salt, sugar, jaggery or honey goes in for babies. It is free of the major allergens. Chef's tip: buy pure koova or arrowroot powder, not a cornflour blend, and stop cooking the moment the whole pan turns translucent.

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Gangaur guneFried dough shapes in syrup

Gangaur, Rajasthan's spring festival for Gauri, is when women fast and pray for their husbands and married daughters receive a sindhara of sweets from home, and gune are always in it. A ghee-rich dough is rolled thin, pleated or pressed into ribbed shapes and fried crisp, then dipped in sugar syrup or jaggery. They are crunchy, flaky and lightly sweet. The common mistake is under-rubbing the ghee into the flour, which makes them hard rather than short and flaky. Chef's tip: rub until the flour holds a clear fist mark when squeezed; that is when the gune will shatter, not crack.

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AppelflapApple puff pastry

An appelflap is the snack Amsterdammers pick up at the bakery counter or the Albert Cuyp market on a grey afternoon: a triangle of flaky puff pastry, packed with soft cinnamon apple and plump raisins, its top crackling with sugar. You eat it from a paper bag on a bench by the canal, or with a coffee at about four o'clock, and the filling is always hotter than you expect. Chef's tip: cook the apple filling first and let it cool completely; warm filling melts the butter in the pastry and you lose the layers.

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