Food Indian Vegetarian Food!

I can't remember names of dishes right now, but there is an entirely vegetarian Indian restaurant in Columbus called Banana Leaf. Their food is absolutely amazing - if you ever make it to Columbus, genuinegirly, you should check it out!

 

I forget the name of the dish as well - but cauliflower and potato in curry.

 

Daval: Aloo Gohbi.

My current favourite is, Dal Makhani. It's the ultimate in comfort food.

 

Thanks Charlatan!

 

Love the Indian food. The Southern food especially: dosas, sambar, idli, rasam, rotis, vadai. But of course also the usual Northern stuff: aloo ghobi, matar paneer, chana masala, navratan korma. If "vegetarian" includes pescetarian, then also fish vindalu and fish tikka masala.... And I love me some parathas and naan.

Especially Peshawari naan, with coconut and pistachio and raisins....

I do have some nice Indian recipes. I tend to blend my own seasoning mixes, but any good garam masala mix will do, and tandoori mix, or various curry blends.

A couple of the simpler and easier recipes:

Aloo chole (or Aloo channa)

1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, or 1 can chopped tomatoes
3 medium potatoes, chopped (I like to use Yukon Gold or Dutch Yellows, but any red or white boiling potato will work)
1 16 oz. jar of garbanzo beans, well drained
2-6 cloves garlic (depending on how garlicky you like it)
2 tsp grated ginger, with juices
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red pepper (I used Aleppo)
1 cup vegetarian chicken broth or light vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
1-2 tsp finely minced cilantro leaf (for garnish)
lime wedges

Boil the potatoes until mostly cooked through, either in a large covered pot over high heat, or in a large covered bowl in the microwave (around 20 minutes on high). Drain well.

Heat ghee in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add mustard and cumin seeds, wait until they start to dance; then add ginger, garlic and onion, sautee for a few minutes until onions soften. Add in the rest of the spices, the tomatoes, tomato paste, and tamarind paste, mix together, and cook, stirring often, until dry (2-3 minutes). Add in potatoes, mix well, and when coated, add in water and broth. Reduce heat to low, and cook about 15 minutes. Add garbanzo beans, cook another 10-15 minutes. Add more water if needed, but sauce should be fairly thick. When served, squeeze a little lime onto the aloo chole, and garnish with some minced cilantro leaf.

Bangladeshi Sag (or Palak)

3 lbs fresh spinach (baby spinach, if possible)
1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup crushed pistachios
1 tbsp ghee
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger, with juices
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp decorticated cardamom or 2 tsp whole cardamom seed
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp freshly grated lime zest

In a large pot, heat the ghee over medium heat. Add the cumin and coriander seed, wait until they start to dance. Then add the ginger and shallot, sautee for a few minutes until the shallot goes translucent. Add the other spices, the lime zest, the raisins and pistachios, and the almond milk, mix to incorporate, and add in the spinach. Mix to incorporate, reduce heat to low and cover. The spinach will wilt and reduce within 10-15 minutes or so. If it produces a lot of liquid in doing so, drain most of it off. Press the spinach down with a wooden spoon or spatula to ensure it is draining. Add the coconut milk, mix well to incorporate, and cook, uncovered, on medium heat, until it is thick and kind of creamy.

 

Nice thread, especially since I had some Palak Paneer last night. When it comes to Indian vegetarian dishes, nothing beats the combination of a good Palak Paneer and Butter Naan for me.

The one I get here looks exactly like this (had to Google a bit to find it, as most pictures had a spinach cream that was too dry):



As the great Chopper Read said: Yummm-ay!

 

A friend and his wife are Indian, and vegetarian.
It is a truly a treat when they cook for us. Often it's lentils or chana masala.
They swear that it's not difficult to make. I don't believe them! Something so good must be challenging to make.

 

I have had homemade Indian food before, and I don't understand how they can make it so easily. If something needs more than 4 ingredients then it is too hard for me.

 

Once you get spice mixes down for your favorite recipes you can premix them in advance so you have to add little to customize that particular recipe. If you use it enough to make it worthwhile keeping some ginger paste and pre minced garlic etc make it quicker too. I have all sorts of jars in my spice cabinet of mixes I have come up with. After you get that down most of the dishes I have cooked were rather simple to prepare.

 

If you have access to an Indian grocer, you can buy a lot of pre-made spice mixes. That's a pretty good place to start if unsure - usually the little old lady in the shop can also help you with cooking instructions

 

Shelf-life of those spice mixes is long.

My mother has had a bunch of mixed spices in the kitchen drawer for almost two years now, and uses a bit of each whenever she needs to.

You usually make a large amount while only having to use tiny amounts each time.

 

Really it depends on the spices but dried spices weaken but don't really go bad. If they aren't so fresh you can sort of refresh them a bit by putting them in a dry (no oil etc) pan and toasting them until you notice they become a bit more aromatic. Some people don't bother with that, some people just toss things out and buy new but frankly some of my spices are not cheap at all and I hate to throw money down the drain. Another tip spice wise is that many of the more expensive spices, like saffron can be found at a fraction of the price if you go to a Indian, Asian, middle eastern grocer etc. I was positively shocked at how cheap some things could be.

As far as the pastes go, if I am really on a kick I make my own ginger paste which is good for like a month. As far as curry paste goes, they really aren't my preference to work with so I use the powdered instead and make my own. You could use ginger powder and add it to the curry mix if fresh ginger is a bother to you.

My basic curry mix is something like this:

3 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seed
2 tsp ground paprika
2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp mustard seed
2 tsp chili powder

You can just use a cheapo coffee grinder for any spices that need to be ground but you should try to grind them pretty fine. I would dedicate it to spices afterward though or your coffee will end up coming up weird in the future.

If you are missing something from your pantry.. no big deal.. skip it. People worry too much about following recipes. Sometimes the absence of what someone else thought was important improves it for your own taste buds. Or just buy curry powder and mess with adding things you like.. like cinnamon, some garam masala.. don't fret about it so much, it's supposed to be fun to experience new things. I have used Archer Farms curry and thought it was okay.

So basically when I want a curry I'll start with some onion and sautee it a bit in a little coconut oil, add in a little ginger and garlic toss in some spice mix, add a little tomato and then follow it with whatever else I want to toss in, some potato, cauliflower, chickpeas etc.. sometimes even a boiled egg. Cook it to desired thickness.. add some tomato if it came out too dry cook it down if it is too wet.. or just make more rice . Add some red pepper to kick it up if that's your thing.. if you screw up and made it too hot splash in some coconut milk or add some tomato.. it really isn't too complicated.

Just a note: I grew up in a home where my mother would fret if you accidentally sprinkled a little extra garlic powder into the sauce and it was a real OMG moment if you mixed the sugar in with the flour. I detested the iron-clad absolute cooking experiences that I grew up with. She was.. an angry cook. I adopted a pretty care-free attitude about it. If I fail at something.. no big deal, I open a can of soup or make myself a good old pb&j and chalk it up as a learning experience. At least I tried something new, right?

 

This is one of the best threads here! I love to make curries, my daughter's first food besides breastmilk was lentil dal, everyone in the house loves this cuisine, and I have a total weakness for samosas! I can't wait to try all of your recipes! <3

 

Latest I checked I think the word "Indian" and "food" existed together because they don't use veggies.