A vegetarian food blog with unique and interesting recipes from all over the world mainly focused on South Indian Cuisine.
We are traveling from east to west today. Yes from Manipur to the beautiful Goa. I am going to share a famous Goan curry prepared with fresh ground coconut masala and white peas. It’s the Tonak, precisely Chanya Tonak meaning dry peas curry. Serve this lip-smacking, quick-to-make tonak with roti or naan or pav or even with biryani. You will be showered with praises for sure. Check out the instant pot and pressure cooker version of this recipe here.
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We are halfway through this mega blogging marathon, and today I am going to share Kothalere Rondha Matidail. Tongue twister name huh? Ok, let me translate it. It’s the Assamese special sweet and spicy dal prepared with the unique blend of black gram, jackfruit, and raw papaya. Sounds interesting right? Especially the addition of jackfruit intrigued me a lot. Check out the interesting findings of the Assamese cuisine and also the recipe.
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Welcoming you all to the 12th day of this “Protein Rice Series.” Today I am going share a Bihari/Jharkhand style Dal Palak recipe popularly known as Dal Sagga prepared with spinach and mixed dals with the flavors of carom and cumin seeds. This dal is yet another No Onion No Garlic, Vegan and gluten free dal recipe.
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Matki Usal or Matki chi Usal – This traditional Maharashtrian dish is a spicy stew prepared with sprouted moth beans. It is loaded with a lot of nutrients. Thanks to the moth beans sprouts. There are different ways to make this usal. Check my version of preparing the usal with Maharashtra’s signature spice – the goda masala, and of course in Instant Pot. :-)
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Chickpeas aka garbanzo beans aka channa aka kondakadalai aka known as Egyptian pea is one of the favorite legumes that is used nearly all the world cuisines. It’s a versatile legume, and it can be added in any stew or curry or salad or spread/hummus. Today I am going to break the vegan rule and share a yummy and creamy yogurt based recipe with chick peas. It is the Channa Madra – A Himachali / Pahari Cuisine special – a no onion no garlic recipe prepared with Chickpeas simmered in creamy & thick yogurt gravy. Check out the detailed recipe and a short video recipe of the same.
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The next recipe that I am going to share in this Protein rich series is the Dalma, an Orissa special recipe. It is yet another simple dal prepared with mixed veggies and of course with split pigeon peas /toor dal. Like sobji dal, this forms a complete meal with rice as the dal is loaded with different veggies. The interesting fact is, this dal pairs nicely with dosa and idli too. :-) Check out the instant pot and pressure cooker version of this Dalma.
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Finally, I am posting my favorite recipe, Olan – the rich and creamy coconut milk stew with the goodness of black eyed peas/cow peas, red and white pumpkin. This olan is very mild, soothing because of the healing properties of coconut and coconut milk and of course, it is vegan and gluten free. Check out the video instructions and a detailed recipe below.
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Betang Meh. Unique name huh? The recipe is also unique as its name. Betang Meh is a mild gravy/curry from the state of Nagaland prepared with kidney beans and spinach with the hint of ginger. It’s a five ingredient fix. All you need is kidney beans, spinach, ginger, salt, and water. That’s it. Check out the instant pot and pressure cooker version of Betang Meh and also the different ways to serve them.
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Sambar and chutney are the most commonly used Tiffin accompaniments. But are you looking for alternatives? Then you are at the right place and here is a recipe for you with moong dal. Today I am going to share delicious tiffin accompaniment from Andhra/Telangana. It is the Pesaru Pappu Charu with Munakkaya or the drumsticks. Here are the instant pot and pressure cooker version of the same.
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The next recipe that I am going to post under theme “protein-rich recipes.” is the Mizo Dal. It’s is a simple dal recipe from Mizoram. After four no onion no garlic recipes, here comes a dal recipe with both onion and garlic. :-) But of course vegan and gluten free. Like trevti dal, we use three different types of dal to prepare this recipe, and it is the moong dal, toor dal, and masoor dal. Check out the super simple mizo dal that I made in instant pot with step by step pictures.
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After green gram dal masiyal from TN and sobji dal from Bengal, the third instant pot recipe that I am going to post is from the land of Gujarat – The Trevti Dal. Trevti means three and as the name suggests we prepare this dal with toor dal, channa dal, and moong dal. Like sobji dal, this is also a no onion-no garlic, vegan and a gluten-free dal recipe. Check out the quick video recipe and the detailed written recipe below.
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The second recipe that I am going to share as a part of this mega marathon under the theme “protein rich dishes” is the flavorful mixed vegetable dal that is prepared with roasted moong dal. This Sobji dal is a popular recipe from the Bengali Cuisine, and it is known as Sobji Diye Bhaja Muger Dal, meaning roasted moong dal with veggies. This dal is a no onion-no garlic, vegan and gluten-free recipe as well. Here are the instant pot and pressure cooker method of preparing the same.
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So it begins – the month protein-rich dishes. The first recipe that I am going to post under the theme is Mashed Green Gram Dal or Patchai Payaru Masiyal as we say in Tamil. It’s a no-onion no garlic, vegan and gluten-free recipe with any soaking time involved. It’s a simple mashed dal tadka/kadaiyal prepared with green gram with the hint of tamarind. As I posted the theme details and what made me choose this sub-theme of Indian legume-based recipes yesterday, I am not going to explain the same today. So let me get into recipe directly. :-) Let’s check out the first recipe, a video one from the state of Tamil Nadu under Instant Pot Indian Legume Recipes.
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Today I am going to share one of the traditional cookies from Persia, precisely from Iran – Nan-E Nokhodchi | Persian Chick Pea Cookie with Cardamom and Pistachios. Chickpeas are popular in Persian cooking and this cookie is prepared with roasted chickpea flour. You know what, this is a vegan and gluten free cookie making it perfect for everyone. With the delicate flavors of cardamom and rose syrup and chick peas, this is sure a table winner.
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I am back with my Instant Pot Recipes. :-) As I mentioned in my previous posts, I started exploring other settings in the instant pot and also started preparing dry curries and stir fry. When I saw “Quick and Easy Stir Fry” as one of the blogging marathon themes for this month, I picked it right away and decided to post all the Instant Pot stir frys that I tried. I love steamed or blanched stir fry. With instant pot steaming and blanching becomes so easy. So the next three recipes are going to be Instant Pot stir fry, and I am starting with the Mushroom Stir Fry today.
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So yesterday I posted a starter recipe with carrot, and today it’s going to be the main course recipe with carrots. Here comes my carrot rice. Err honestly I am not sure how to name this recipe. These are some of the names that I was contemplating with: carrot palya rice, carrot masala baath, masala rice, carrot pulao. I even thought of calling it as carrot biryani, but I didn’t use any mint leaves or dry masalas, so finally gave it a generic name – Carrot rice. :-)
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Today I am going to share the simple and yummy Curried lentil and carrot soup with ginger. I didn’t post any soup recipes in the recent past and this winter weather calls for warm soup. So what’s better than preparing this simple soup with the fresh veggie and lentils? This curried carrot soup was on my to-do list for a very long time and this blogging marathon paved the way for posting the same.
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Today I am going to present a simple rice recipe that will add elegance and fragrance to your day-to-day meals. This simple flavorful rice dish adds richness to your parties and potlucks menu too. I always look out for simple rice recipes for my potlucks instead of plain white rice. I have already posted Brinji Masala rice which I usually serve along with Rajma gravy. Let’s welcome the holiday season (can’t believe its Nov already) with this Turmeric and Saffron rice, a recipe inspired by the Indian fast food shop at my grad school. Indian Fast foods and food trucks are becoming popular these days and the combo meals and rice bowls which are easy to grab and go makes it more popular here in the US.
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This chaat/salad recipe is my all-time favorite and I prepare it regularly. Mine is the super simple version of Delhi fame Kulle chaat or fruit chaat. Traditionally, this spiced up fruit chaat is served in scooped out veggies like bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers. Instead of that, I mixed both my fruits and veggies together and tossed it with chaat masala and added some roasted peanuts for additional flavor. That’s it.
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Batata Vada or potato fritters. is a popular fast food from the state of Maharashtra. The mashed potatoes are cooked with spicy green chili, garlic and ginger paste which is then made into round balls, then coated with the besan flour and then deep-fried. Fried potato fritters, how can it go wrong? (After two non-fried chaat recipes, I am back with fried ones) It is not only popular in Maharashtra; it’s pretty popular other states too with slight variations in the ingredients and under different names.
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Today I am posting yet another Gujarati recipe which is prepared with besan – Khandvi. If you notice, the ingredients of khandvi and Dhokla are pretty much same except that, we use yogurt for Khandvi. But the cooking process is completely different. We prepare the khandvi mix with besan and yogurt. This mixture is cooked down to a thick paste and it spread thinly across a flat surface and then rolled up to bite size pieces and then we temper it with spices.
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Dhokla or Khaman Dhokla or Besan Dhokla is one of the popular Gujarati snack or tiffin or appetizer – yet another simple recipe that can be prepared in a jiffy. As the name suggest, it is prepared with besan or chick pea flour. These steamed snacks (yayyy non-fried) are spiced up with ginger and green chillies and also tempered with sesame seeds, coconut and green chillies. The batter needs to be fermented for the Dhokla to rise and to get the spongy texture. But to speed up the process, we use yogurt and fruit eno salt.
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Sweet Potato Chaat or Shakarkandi ki Chaat is a super simple recipe and it is great alternative to the popular aloo chaat. If you want to avoid potatoes and looking for alternatives, here comes the sweet potato chaat. For aloo chaat, we usually roast or fry the potatoes and toss it with chaat masala and add in the toppings and serve with the dash of lime juice. It’s as simple as that. But for this sweet potato chaat, I boiled them first and cubed them, then tossed them with spices and pan seared until the caramelized crust is formed, making it a guilt free yummy chaat.
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Looking for healthy chaat option? Then this one is for you all. I love to call this as salad chaat or sundal chaat. A simple chaat prepared with cooked black garbanzo beans and veggies and with chaat spices. This is a perfect tea time snack and a satisfying snack during the hunger pangs. The other thing that I love about this recipe is this can be prepared well ahead and can be assembled easily any time.
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