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No onion, no garlic recipes (Swaminarayan and sattvic)

3,470

3470 vegetarian recipes cooked without onion or garlic, as in Swaminarayan and sattvic kitchens, with no meat, fish, eggs or alcohol. Each has photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Apfelschorle, takes 2 minutes. Most take around 45 minutes.

Filter these by time, diet or cuisine · Make No onion & garlic your diet to see only these recipes everywhere on the site.

ChiroteLayered rose pastries

Chirote are what a Maharashtrian or Kannadiga family makes to show off at a wedding or Diwali. Thin sheets of maida dough are spread with satha, ghee whipped with rice flour, stacked, rolled into a log and sliced, so each piece opens in the hot fat like a many-petalled flower. Done well they shatter when you bite them, light and buttery, with sweetness only from the dusting of cardamom sugar on top. In Pune they appear on the faral platter beside karanji and anarse; in Karnataka the chiroti is often served at weddings drenched in warm saffron-almond milk. This takes patience and a cool kitchen, so set aside an unhurried morning. Chef's tip: whip the satha until it is white and fluffy like whipped cream; a dense, oily paste won't keep the layers apart and they fuse into a single chewy disc.

75 minIndianIndian Sweets
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mkatra foutraCoconut milk flatbread

Before dawn in Moroni, women set heavy pans over charcoal to make mkatra foutra, and during Ramadan stacks of it appear at every iftar table. The dough is soft and sticky, raised with yeast and made rich with coconut milk instead of water, then patted into a thick round, scattered with sesame and baked slowly in a covered pan. It comes out golden and speckled outside, with a fluffy, slightly sweet, faintly coconutty crumb. Tear it with sweet spiced tea for breakfast, or use it to mop up a fish curry or mtsolola. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and the lid on; a hot pan burns the base long before the thick middle has cooked through, which is the most common mistake.

120 minMauritianBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Katachi amtiSweet-sour chana dal stock curry

When Maharashtrian homes cook chana dal for the puran on Holi, the cooking liquid is drained off before the dal is sweetened, and nothing goes to waste: that starchy, nutty stock, the kat, becomes katachi amti. Tempered with mustard, cumin and curry leaves, then simmered with roasted dry coconut, goda masala, tamarind and jaggery, it turns into a thin, hot, sweet-and-sour dal that is poured over puran poli or drunk from a bowl alongside it. The spice balances the rich sweet bread perfectly, which is why the two always appear together on Holi and Gudi Padwa thalis. If you are not making puran poli, cook 150 g chana dal in 1 litre of water until soft, drain off the liquid for this and use the dal for something else. Use gluten-free asafoetida and a goda masala made without wheat for a gluten-free amti. Chef's tip: keep it thin, like rasam; it is meant to soak into the poli, not sit on it.

45 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Singhare ka halwaWater chestnut flour pudding

Singhara, water chestnut, is dried and ground into a pale flour that North Indian homes keep for fasts, and this halwa is what many make first on Navratri Ashtami, Janmashtami or Ekadashi, often as the bhog offered before the fast is broken. It comes together in twenty minutes: the flour is roasted in ghee until it smells toasty and darkens a shade, hot sugar water goes in, and with fast stirring it swells into a soft, glossy halwa that is earthy, sweet and slightly chewy. Serve it warm, on its own or with kuttu puri and aloo for a full fasting meal. It uses only ingredients allowed on most fasts. Chef's tip: dissolve the sugar in the water and keep it at a boil; cold liquid makes the flour seize into lumps the moment it hits the pan.

25 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Bhogichi bhajiWinter vegetable and peanut stew

Bhogi, the day before Makar Sankranti, is a day of plenty in Maharashtra, and the lunch to match is this thick mixed bhaji made from everything the winter market offers: green chickpeas (harbhara), fresh field beans (pavta and ghevda), carrots, small brinjals, green peas, ber and sugarcane pieces in some homes. Peanuts and sesame are crushed into it for richness, and the spice is goda masala, the sweet-smoky Maharashtrian blend. It is served with bajra bhakri spread with white butter or sesame, a lump of jaggery and a piece of radish. The taste is earthy, slightly sweet and warming. The mistake is using too much water: it should be a thick, almost dry curry that coats the vegetables. Gluten-free if your goda masala has no wheat-cut asafoetida in it; check the label. Chef's tip: add a spoon of jaggery and a little tamarind at the end; that sweet-sour finish is what makes it taste like Bhogi.

50 minIndianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bharwa lal mirch ka acharStuffed red chilli pickle

In winter, when the fat, fleshy red chillies of Banaras and Rajasthan come to market, families in Varanasi, Lucknow and Jaipur set aside a day to make bharwa lal mirch. The chillies are large and only mildly hot, more like a long pepper, so they are emptied, packed with a sharp masala of coarse yellow mustard, fennel, fenugreek, nigella and amchur (dried mango powder), and cured under smoked mustard oil in the sun. After a week the skins soften and the filling turns tangy and pungent, almost a meal in itself; one chilli sliced beside dal-chawal, puri-sabzi or a plain paratha is plenty. Wear gloves for the cutting, and make sure the chillies are fresh, glossy and firm. Common mistake: stuffing chillies that are still damp inside after washing; dry them for a few hours, cut side down, or the jar will spoil. Keep them under oil, use only a dry spoon or tongs and discard if mould appears. Chef's tip: a spoon of lemon juice in the filling helps it cling and gives a brighter tang.

60 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Urad dal papadPeppery lentil crisps

Bikaner and the old Punjabi bazaars of Amritsar have made black-pepper urad papads for generations, and summer is when home kitchens still roll them: the dry heat crisps a whole tray on the terrace in a day or two. The dough is unlike any bread dough. It is stiff, grey-cream, seasoned hard with crushed pepper, cumin and asafoetida, and given its snap by papad khar (an alkaline salt sold at Indian grocers), then pounded until it turns smooth and stretchy. Rolled thinner than a chapati and sun-dried, the discs keep for months. Roast one over a gas flame and it blisters and curls in seconds, ready to eat beside dal-chawal, kadhi or a Rajasthani thali, or to crush into papad churi and papad ki sabzi. These are large, spicy and meant to be roasted; for the small, plain, coconut-oil-fried kind from Kerala, see pappadam. Chef's tip: dry the papads in light shade for the first hour before moving them into full sun; straight into harsh sun, the edges dry before the middle and they crack and curl.

135 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PeradGuava cheese

Goan grandmothers make perad when the guava trees are full in winter, and it sits in a tin on the dresser all through Christmas, cut into dark pink squares for the kuswar plate. The name and the method come from the Portuguese goiabada: ripe guavas are cooked, sieved, then boiled down with sugar and lime juice for the best part of an hour until the paste is thick, glossy and comes away from the pan in one mass. Set in a tray, it slices cleanly and tastes intensely of guava, sweet and slightly tart, with a chewy, jelly-like bite. Eat it on its own, with a piece of cheese, or on bread. The common mistake is stopping too early: it looks thick in the pan but stays soft and sticky once cool. Test a little on a cold plate; it should hold its shape and peel off cleanly. Chef's tip: choose fragrant pink-fleshed guavas and add a couple of slightly under-ripe ones; they carry more pectin and help it set.

95 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Arisi vadamSun-dried rice crisps

Chithirai and Vaikasi, the blazing months of a Tamil summer, are vadam season. In Madurai and the older Chennai neighbourhoods, terraces are covered with white sheets and rows of pressed rice-dough spirals, ribbons and stars, guarded from crows by whoever is on duty. Fried, the vadams puff into light, crunchy curls with a hint of chilli, cumin and lime. They come out on the side of a lunch of vatha kuzhambu, mor kuzhambu or rasam with rice, where they do the job a papad does in the north. The dough is a cooked rice-flour koozh, and it has to be pressed through the vadam (murukku) press while warm. Common mistake: making the koozh too thick; the press becomes impossible to turn and the strands break. It should feel like soft, sticky mashed potato. Chef's tip: lime juice is not just for flavour, it keeps the vadams bright white as they dry.

80 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chakka pradhamanJackfruit coconut milk pudding

When the jackfruit trees of Kerala hang heavy in summer, families cook the ripe bulbs with jaggery and ghee into chakka varatti, a dark, sticky preserve that keeps for months. Come Onam in August or September, a jar of varatti is all that stands between them and chakka pradhaman, the richest payasam on the sadya leaf. The preserve is melted into thin coconut milk, simmered, then finished with the thick first pressing, dry ginger, cardamom and coconut slivers fried in ghee. It tastes of caramelised fruit and toffee, smooth and heavy, with crunchy bits of coconut. Serve it warm in small cups or on the leaf with a crushed pappadam and a slice of banana, as Malabar families do. Do not let the pot boil once the thick coconut milk goes in: it splits and turns oily. Chef's tip: if you have ready varatti, use 250 g and skip the first stage; the slow-cooked jackfruit is what gives the deep colour, so do not rush it.

65 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PathiriThin rice flatbreads

When the call for maghrib rings out in Kozhikode and Malappuram during Ramadan, families break the fast with dates and juice and then sit down to a stack of pathiri with chicken curry or mutton stew. Also called nice pathiri, these are the thinnest breads in Kerala: a dough of fine rice flour scalded with boiling water, rolled almost see-through, cooked on a dry tawa until they puff, and then dipped in thin coconut milk so they turn soft and silky. They taste mild and slightly sweet, made only to soak up gravy. The usual mistake is adding the flour to water that has stopped boiling; the dough stays crumbly and the pathiri crack. Rice flour has no gluten, so these suit anyone avoiding wheat. Serve them warm, folded into quarters, with any curry (they are vegan as made here; the curry is up to you). Chef's tip: knead the scalded dough while it is still hot, using the heel of your hand and a little oil, until it is as smooth as a baby's cheek.

50 minIndianBreads & ParathasVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rumali rotiHandkerchief-thin flatbread

Watch a rumali roti maker at a Mughlai stall in Old Delhi's Jama Masjid lanes or Lucknow's Aminabad and it looks like a magic trick: a ball of dough is flattened, tossed and stretched over the backs of the hands until it is translucent and almost a metre wide, then laid over a huge domed iron griddle for a few seconds. Rumal means handkerchief, and the finished bread is folded into quarters like one: silky, soft, slightly chewy and very thin. It is the bread for kebabs, korma, nihari and shahi paneer. At home, an upturned wok over a high flame does the job, and you can roll most of the way and stretch the last bit by hand. The dough is mainly maida with some atta, kept very soft and well rested. Common mistake: a firm or under-rested dough tears the moment you start stretching. Chef's tip: wipe the hot kadai with salted water before each roti; the hiss means it's hot enough, and the salt film stops the roti from sticking or blistering.

60 minIndianBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

AmchurDry mango powder

Every Punjabi and UP kitchen keeps a jar of amchur next to the jeera and haldi, and the homemade version smells far fresher and sourer than most shop powder. In villages around Saharanpur and Malihabad, the raw mangoes that fall in early-summer storms are peeled, sliced and spread out to dry, and the brittle slices (amchur khatai) are either stored whole or ground. Amchur gives a fruity, mouth-puckering sourness without any liquid, which is why it goes into dry dishes where tomato or tamarind would make things soggy: bhindi masala, stuffed karela, samosa and kachori fillings, chole, chaat masala and pav bhaji masala. A kilo of mangoes gives roughly 100 g of powder. Common mistake: grinding slices that still bend; even slight moisture makes the powder clump into hard lumps in the jar. Chef's tip: choose small, rock-hard, very sour green mangoes with white flesh, not ones starting to turn yellow; riper fruit dries into a brown, sweetish powder.

40 minIndianBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Inji puliGinger tamarind relish

On the banana leaf of an Onam sadya, inji puli takes the top left corner, a small dark spoonful that you dip into between rice, sambar and payasam to wake the palate up. Some call it puli inji; it is said to balance the 'hundred curries', and it is so loved that the old saying counts it as worth them all. Fresh ginger and green chillies are fried in coconut oil, then simmered in tamarind water with jaggery until thick and shiny, sweet first, then sour, then hot. It is made a day or two before the feast because it gets better as it rests. Serve a teaspoon with rice or curd rice; it also lifts a plain dosa. The usual mistake is browning the ginger too far, which makes the relish bitter; it should just turn golden. Gluten-free if you use gluten-free asafoetida or leave it out. Chef's tip: cook it down until the oil starts to appear at the edges; any wetter and it will not keep.

40 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Upvasachi batata bhajiFasting potato stir-fry with peanuts

Ask anyone from Pune or Nashik what they eat on Ekadashi or a Navratri upvas, and this dry potato bhaji will be on the plate, usually next to sabudana khichdi or bhagar and a bowl of danyachi amti. Unlike North Indian vrat ke aloo, there is no tomato and no gravy: cubes of boiled potato are tossed in ghee or oil with cumin and crushed green chilli, then coated in coarsely ground roasted peanuts that cling to every piece. A little sugar and lemon give it the gentle sweet-sour lift that Maharashtrian cooking loves, and coriander and fresh coconut finish it. It is quick, filling and good cold in a tiffin too. Some families add curry leaves; others leave them out on strict fasts. Chef's tip: cool the potatoes completely before cubing; warm potatoes break into mash when you toss them.

25 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goan chana dal doceChana dal and coconut fudge

Doce de grão is one of the oldest sweets on the Goan Christmas kuswar platter, made in Catholic homes from Margao to Mapusa in the weeks before Christmas and also for weddings. Chana dal is boiled and ground with fresh coconut, then cooked with sugar in a wide pan, stirred constantly for the best part of an hour, until it turns into a thick, glossy dough that leaves the sides of the pan. Spread on a plate, cut into diamonds or pressed into small moulds, it is dense, fudgy and nutty, with a soft coconut flavour. Some families add a little ghee at the end for shine, and that makes it vegetarian rather than vegan. The usual mistake is taking it off the heat too soon: it stays sticky and never sets. Push a spoon through the middle; it is ready when the line holds and the mixture rolls into a ball. Chef's tip: grind the coconut and dal together while the dal is warm and without water; a wet paste takes twice as long to cook down.

90 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

VattayappamSteamed rice and coconut cake

In Syrian Christian homes in Kottayam and Thiruvalla, vattayappam is the sweet that appears on Christmas and Easter mornings and goes in boxes to every neighbour. A batter of raw rice and coconut is fermented until airy, sweetened, flavoured with cardamom and steamed in a round plate until it rises into a fluffy, honeycombed cake. It is light, moist and gently sweet, with a faint tang from the ferment. Grandmothers used kallu (coconut toddy) to ferment it; this recipe uses dried yeast instead and contains no alcohol at all. Eat it warm with tea, or alongside chicken stew for breakfast. The common mistake is a batter that is too thick: it steams heavy and dense. It should pour like thick pancake batter. Rice and coconut only, so it is naturally gluten-free and vegan. Chef's tip: cook a spoon of the soaked rice into a soft porridge (kurukku) and grind it in; that is what gives vattayappam its fine, silky crumb.

60 minIndianBakingVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Makhana kheerFox nut milk pudding

Most of India's makhana comes from the ponds of Mithila in north Bihar, where the lotus-like seeds are harvested by hand, roasted and popped into the airy white puffs sold everywhere. For fasts across North India, from Navratri to Janmashtami and Mahashivratri, makhana kheer is the sweet of choice because it needs no grain at all. The fox nuts are roasted in ghee until crisp, half crushed, then simmered in reducing milk, where they soften into a creamy, slightly chewy texture with a gentle nuttiness. Cardamom and a few nuts finish it. Serve it warm after a fasting meal, or chilled on hot evenings. It thickens as it cools, so loosen it with a splash of milk if needed. Chef's tip: roast the makhana until one crushes easily between your fingers; under-roasted puffs stay spongy and taste raw in the kheer.

35 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kuttu ki puriBuckwheat puris

Through the nine days of Navratri, Delhi and Punjabi kitchens switch wheat for kuttu, buckwheat flour, and these dark, earthy puris become the fast-day staple. Kuttu has no gluten, so boiled potato is mashed in to bind the dough and keep the puris soft; they puff less than wheat puris but come out crisp at the edges and tender inside, with a nutty, slightly bitter flavour. Rajgira or singhara flour can be used in exactly the same way. They are eaten with vrat ke aloo, kaddu ki sabzi or a bowl of sweet curd, and on Ashtami many temples serve them with halwa. Only sendha namak goes in, and no regular salt, spices or grains, so they suit strict fasts. Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free, but buy flour labelled gluten-free if that matters to you, as some is milled alongside wheat. Chef's tip: make the dough just before frying; kuttu dough goes sticky and wet if it sits.

30 minIndianBreads & ParathasGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Amla murabbaGooseberry preserve

Murabba is the old North Indian way of keeping amla through the year, and a single gooseberry in syrup each morning is still the winter habit of many grandparents in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, who swear by it for digestion and colds. Fresh amla are sour and astringent; pricked, briefly steamed and simmered in sugar syrup, then left to steep overnight, they turn golden, translucent and soft, sweet with a sour heart and a gentle bitterness at the end. Cardamom, black pepper and saffron perfume the syrup. Eat one on its own, chopped into yogurt, or with a paratha. Choose large, firm, unblemished amla in November–February, when they are in season. Common mistake: steaming them too long; they split into segments and fall apart in the syrup. Steam only until they turn pale and the lines on the skin show clearly. Store in a dry, sterilised jar with the amla under the syrup, use a clean dry spoon, and discard if mould or fermentation bubbles appear. Chef's tip: the overnight rest is what lets the syrup soak right to the centre; reboil the syrup the next day so it thickens again.

60 minIndianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ellu bellaSesame and jaggery mix

'Ellu bella thindu olle maathadi': eat sesame and jaggery and speak only good words. On Sankranti morning, girls in Bengaluru and Mysuru dress in new silk and carry small steel plates of ellu bella, a sugarcane stick, a banana and a sugar figure (sakkare acchu) from house to house, a custom called ellu birodhu. The mix itself is uncooked once its parts are roasted: white sesame, tiny cubes of dry coconut and jaggery, peanuts and putani (roasted gram), sometimes with a few fried gram-dal sugar beads. It is crunchy, nutty and sweet in small bursts. Families make a kilo at a time to give away. The common mistake is mixing it while the sesame is still warm, which melts the jaggery and turns everything into a lump. Chef's tip: cut the copra and jaggery to the same small size as the peanuts so every spoonful has a bit of everything.

20 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PanchakhadyaCoconut, jaggery and poppy seed offering

Walk into a Maharashtrian home during the ten days of Ganeshotsav and the evening aarti ends with a spoonful of panchakhadya pressed into your palm. Pancha means five and khadya means things to eat: dry coconut (khobra), jaggery, poppy seeds, dry dates (kharik) and dry ginger (sunth) powder, all toasted and pounded together into a loose, sweet crumble. Some families add a few raisins or almonds, but the five are the heart of it. It is warming, chewy and gently spicy from the sunth, and it keeps for weeks, which is why it is made in a big tin at the start of the festival. Eat it by the spoon, or sprinkle over hot milk. The common mistake is grinding everything together into a sticky paste; the jaggery should be grated and stirred in at the end so the mixture stays crumbly. Chef's tip: dry kharik are rock hard; soak them for 10 minutes in hot water, then pat dry and chop, or buy ready kharik powder.

15 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PatraSteamed colocasia leaf rolls

Arbi leaves (colocasia, sold as patra or alu leaves in Indian shops) are on every farsan counter from Surat to Ahmedabad, and steamed patra is the one Gujarati mothers make on a Sunday when the leaves look good at the market. Several leaves are glued together with a thick besan paste that is sour with tamarind, sweet with jaggery and warm with ginger and chilli, then rolled, steamed, cooled and cut into spirals. A final vaghar of mustard, sesame and curry leaves gives a crisp edge. The same dish in Maharashtra is alu vadi, where the slices are usually fried. Patra is a must on a wedding or Diwali farsan plate and is good cold in a dabba too, with green chutney or nothing at all. Tamarind matters for more than taste: raw colocasia makes the throat itch, and the acid in the paste stops it, so never skip it. Common mistake: slicing the rolls while hot, when they crumble; let them cool completely first. Chef's tip: choose medium leaves without holes, and shave the thick back veins flat with a knife so the leaves lie flat and roll tight.

70 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Namak pareSalted dough diamonds

Namak pare are the easiest thing in the festive tin, and usually the first to run out. A simple salted dough with a little ghee, ajwain and black nigella seeds is rolled thin, cut into small diamonds and fried until golden and crunchy. They are much thinner and crisper than mathri, with a satisfying snap rather than a flaky crumble, and the kalonji gives a slightly oniony, peppery note. Punjabi and UP homes make big batches before Holi and Diwali, but they also turn up on train journeys, at kitty parties and with evening tea. Sprinkle with chaat masala for a tangier version. Chef's tip: roll the dough evenly, about 3 mm; thin spots burn while thick ones stay soft, and even sheets give every piece the same crunch.

45 minIndianSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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