vegetarian Indian cuisine... ...from our kitchens to yours
We thank the following for their contributions to this cookbook: Madhukar Misra Pushpa Agashe Shamita Misra Sudha Aroor Rajiv Mohan Alagu Arunachalam Sushama Nagarkar Sandra Basu Visala Palaniappan Sunder Balasubramanian Shuba Puttur Kusum Chandrapal Ratti Ratneshwar Meera Chandrasekhar Shuba Ratneshwar Raghu Chandrashekar Chandra Rawlani Abirami Elangovan Smita Sadhu Mahua Ghosh Namita Satpathy Anantha Gopalaratnam Sashi Satpathy Dishti Goyal Anjna Sethi Munish Goyal Punam Sethi Leela Jashnani Sandhya Sharma Kavita Katti Sunilima Sinha Sumidha Katti Divyashree Somashekara Vinita Khanna Hema Srikanta Latha Krishnan Uma Srinath Kala Kumar Raji Subramanian Yolanda Kumar Rajini Tolani Geetha Kutikkad Ashwini Upadhya Jasvir Mahal Anandhi Upendran Sushma Malik Pramila Viswanath Surya Mantrala Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary Cookbook Committee: Meera Chandrasekhar Anantha Gopalaratnam Leela Jashnani
Sandhya Sharma Gopalakrishna Srinath
Š 2012 Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC), 2006 Holly Ave, Columbia MO 65202. All rights reserved. Proceeds from the sales of this book benefit HTCC. ISBN 0-9711223-8-5 First printing: March 2012
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Table of Contents Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Sample Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Appetizers and Snacks Masala Peanuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Corn Pakoras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Onion and Chana Dal Pakoras . . . . . . . . . 16 Beetroot Cutlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Potato Vadas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Masala Vadas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Sabudana Khichdi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Sour and Sweet Poha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cream of Wheat Dhokla . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Upma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Bread Upma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Vegetable Pinwheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Salads and Chutneys Corn Salad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Sprouted Moong Salad . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Moong Usal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Carrot Chutney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Cranberry Thokku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Green Chutney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Sweet Chutney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Raisin Chutney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Coconut Chutney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Tomato Chutney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Yellow Squash Chutney . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Cucumber Raita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Eggplant with Yogurt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Pineapple Raita Royale . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Pineapple Gojju. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
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Breads, Pasta and Rice Phulka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Chapathi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Sindhi Koki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Spinach Paratha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Rice Flour Roti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Beetroot Pooris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Sweet Pooris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Macaroni with Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Spicy Spaghetti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Pav Bhaji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Plain Rice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Lemon Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Capsicum Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Tomato Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Cranberry Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Vegetable Pilaf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Tamarind Rice (Puliyogare) . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Chana Dal Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Ven Pongal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Vegetable Zafrani Biryani . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Khichdi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Vegetable EntrĂŠes Roasty Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Beans with Coconut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Crispy Okra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Cauliflower and Peas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Grilled Mixed Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Shallow Fried Eggplant . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Stuffed Eggplant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Eggplant Kosthu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Tandoori Paneer Ki Subzi . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Tofu Bharta / Scramble . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Kali Urad Dal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Punjabi Chole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Rajma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Khoya Makhana Paneer . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Palak With Chana Dal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 4
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Potato Cauliflower Rasedar . . . . . . . . . . 79 Sarson Ka Saag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Bamboo Shoots Tarkari. . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Sindhi Kadhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Zucchini Kofta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Tomato Rasam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Onion Sambar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Green Saagu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Majjige Huli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Avial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Desserts Almond Burfi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Burfi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Bhapa Dahi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Almond Kheer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Microwave Pedha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Easy Rasmalai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Kulfi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Microwave Besan Ladoo . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Shrikhand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Gulab Jamun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Mango Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Mango Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Pineapple Kesaribhath. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Index and Glossary Recipe Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Ingredient Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
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The Basics
E
ach style of cooking has its special methods. Even within India, different regions espouse different techniques. We describe below a few basic ingredients and techniques that are common throughout the country, and that a new cook might find useful.
Cooking Oil
Almost every Indian dish needs oil. Indian cooking commonly uses sesame, peanut, mustard and coconut oils. Some of these oils are rather heavy and pungent. In the US, Indians frequently use vegetable oils – commonly corn, canola or olive oils. When we refer to “oil” in this cookbook, we mean one of these three (or a vegetable oil of your choice). For deep frying, corn or canola oil is preferred, since olive oil tends to smoke at lower temperatures.
Ghee
At one time, ghee (clarified butter) was an indicator of a person’s financial status, and was liberally poured over rice and chapathis. The low-fat version is not to have any! Apart from its heavenly aroma, ghee keeps without refrigeration, unlike its parent material, butter. Yes, you can purchase ghee at ethnic grocery stores. Or you can make it yourself. Here’s how: Ingredient: 1 pound unsalted butter Warm the butter in a 1-quart pot or skillet over very low heat. Be watchful during the first few minutes; as the moisture in the butter evaporates, it can cause little explosions. After a while, the bubbles in the melted butter will change. They become small, white and frothy. The liquid underneath takes on a golden color, and the sediment at the bottom of the pot will turn a light brown. Your ghee is done. Take the pot off the heat! If the sediment becomes dark and the ghee turns brown, it has burned. If the sediment in the bottom is yellow, the ghee is not quite done yet. After it has cooled, decant the liquid ghee, transfer it to a jar, and store it at room temperature. In cold weather ghee will solidify, but can be returned to its liquid form in a bath of hot water. 8
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Sample Meals
I
ndian meals are as varied as the people of the sub-continent. A simple meal usually consists of bread or rice, a couple of vegetable dishes, often one dry and one with gravy, and plain yogurt or a raita. Elaborate meals during festivals or weddings can run up to two-dozen courses, and include several desserts – and of course, come with a chef. Below are examples of home-cooked simple and fancy meals, each with at least one item from each chapter of this book. Simple meals omit appetizers and desserts. Yogurt is usually included.
A simple North Indian meal
A simple South Indian meal
A simple meal with North and South Indian dishes
Lunch or Brunch (choose one)
A fancy North Indian meal
A fancy South Indian meal
Eggplant with Yogurt Phulka or Chapathi Plain Rice or Chana Dal Rice Crispy Okra Kali Urad dal or Palak with Chana Dal
Corn Salad Spinach Paratha Lemon Rice A cabbage or chayote squash variation of Beans with Coconut Rajma Corn Pakoras or Onion and Chana Dal Pakoras Green Chutney and Sweet Chutney Eggplant with Yogurt or Cucumber Raita Beetroot Pooris or Plain Pooris Vegetable Zafrani Biryani or Capsicum Rice Khoya Makhana Paneer Punjabi Chole or Sindhi Kadhi Potatoes and Cauliflower Rasedar Easy Rasmalai 12
Sprouted Moong Salad Chapathi and Plain Rice Beans with Coconut Tomato Rasam Majjige Huli
1. Upma and a Chutney 2. Ven Pongal and Eggplant Kosthu or Tomato Chutney 3. Poori and Shrikhand 4. Sindhi Koki and any Chutney 5. Vegetable Pilaf and a Raita
Masala Vadas Yellow Squash Chutney or Tomato Chutney Cucumber Raita or Plain Yogurt Plain Rice Cranberry Rice or Tomato Rice Roasty Potatoes Onion Sambar Avial Microwave Besan Ladoo
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Salads and Chutneys
Corn Salad
Corn Salad Wait: 1 hour
Ingredients:
2 cups frozen sweet corn 1 cup cucumber, diced 1 cup cherry tomatoes 1/2–1 cup fruit (apples, mangoes or pomegranate) ½ teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon chaat masala ½–1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon lime juice
Cook: 5 minutes
Serves: 6
Directions:
Steam the corn according to instructions on the package. Let it cool in the refrigerator for 45–60 minutes. Mix cucumber, tomatoes, and fruit. Stir in chili powder, chaat masala and fresh lime juice. Add salt just before serving. Serve cold.
Contributors: Dishti and Munish Goyal
Sprouted Moong Salad Wait: 24 hours
Ingredients:
1 cup whole moong dal 1 large carrot, grated 2 green chilies, chopped fine or ground ½ cup fresh or frozen coconut, grated 1 teaspoon lime juice Salt to taste 1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
Seasoning:
1 teaspoon oil 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 pinch of asafetida
Cook: 5 minutes
Serves: 2–4
Directions:
Soak moong for 6-12 hours, then drain the water. The dal should remain moist. Allow it to sprout in a warm spot, covered with a damp cloth or paper towel, for 12–24 hours. (See next recipe for more details). Add carrots, green chilies, coconut, lime juice, and salt to the sprouted moong dal. Heat oil in a skillet over low heat. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and asafetida. Stir till the mustard seeds sputter. Add to moong dal mix. Garnish with cilantro.
Notes:
Sprouted moong is high in protein. It keeps well in the refrigerator for several days. Cucumbers can be substituted for carrots. Contributors: Divyashree Somashekara and Raghu Chandrashekhar
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Salads, Chutneys
Prep: 10 minutes
Vegetable EntrĂŠes
Punjabi Chole
Punjabi Chole Prep: 50 minutes
Serves: 4–5
Ingredients:
Directions:
soaked overnight ¼ cup chana dal, soaked overnight 1 tea bag ½ inch cinnamon stick 1 black cardamom 11/2 tablespoons oil 1 teaspoon ginger, grated 3 green chilies 1 bay leaf 1½ teaspoons red chili powder (or to taste) 11/2–2 teaspoons salt 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
In a pressure cooker cook chickpeas, chana dal, tea bag, cinnamon and whole black cardamom with 3 cups of water. You can also cook them on a stove top (may need more water). Don’t overcook the chickpeas. Drain and save the water.
1/2 pound chick peas,
Masala:
1½ tablespoons coriander seeds 1½ teaspoons anardana 3 cloves 1 inch cinnamon stick 2 black cardamoms, use seeds only 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
Garnish:
1 large red onion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Goes with:
Phulka, chapathi, paratha masala magic
Make the masala: Dry roast coriander seeds, anardana, cloves, cinnamon, black cardamoms, peppercorns and cumin seeds, roasting each spice separately. Dry grind to a powder in a blender.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add ginger, green chilies, and bay leaf. Sauté on medium heat. Add red chili powder, salt, and tomato sauce and cook till the oil separates (11–12 minutes). Add the freshly made dry masala powder. Mash four tablespoons of boiled chickpeas. Add to the pot along with the rest of the chickpeas. Add the water left over from cooking the chickpeas, adjusting the amount to get a medium-thick gravy. Bring to a boil. Garnish with cilantro and chopped onions.
Variations:
Use two 15-ounce cans of chickpeas instead. Drain and rinse to remove excess salt. The chickpeas need not be boiled. You will still have to boil the chana dal. Contributor: Punam Sethi 75
Vegetable Entrées
Wait: 8 hours
Beans with Coconut Prep: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pound green beans, diced into 1/4 inch circles 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 2 tablespoons sweetened coconut flakes
Seasoning:
1 tablespoon oil 1 tablespoon urad dal 1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 10 methi seeds
Goes with:
Plain or lightly flavored rice
Cook: 15 minutes
Serves: 4
Directions:
First make the seasoning: Heat oil in a skillet. When hot, add urad dal. When the urad dal turns a light brown, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds pop, add cumin seeds, and then the methi. Immediately add the diced beans; sauté till they change color. Add salt, sugar and turmeric. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover tightly and cook till the beans are done. Mix in coconut flakes, and remove from stove.
Variations:
1. Use frozen french-cut green beans instead of fresh beans. This reduces preparation time to 1 minute. Do not defrost beans.
Vegetable Entrées
2. Soak 2 tablespoons of moong dal in 1/2 cup water for 30–45 minutes. Add after beans are almost cooked, and simmer with the beans for 3 minutes. Omit coconut flakes. 3. This recipe can also be used for other vegetables, e.g., carrots, cabbage, chayote squash (good with the dal variation).
Notes:
I thank my friend Abanne for teaching me this recipe when I was in graduate school. It was the first “dry vegetable” recipe I learned, and have used it almost weekly ever since! Contributor: Meera Chandrasekhar 66
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Easy Rasmalai Prep: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 15-ounce carton ricotta cheese ½ cup + 1/3 cup sugar 1 pint half-and-half ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder ¼ teaspoon saffron strands, crushed and soaked in 1 tablespoon warm milk
Cook: 1 hour
Wait: 3 hours
Serves: 12
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Whip together ricotta cheese and ½ cup sugar. Pour into an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Bake 40–45 minutes or till the edges just begin to change color. Do not overbake. Cool completely. While the ricotta cheese is cooling, add 1/3 cup sugar to half-and-half and simmer on low heat, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in cardamom powder and saffron. Cut the baked cheese (malai) into squares (about 11/2 x 11/2 inches each). Gently slide them into the hot half-and-half mixture. Chill thoroughly before serving. I first saw this recipe several years ago in the Columbia Daily Tribune. That recipe instructed me to bake the ricotta cheese mixture for 15 minutes in a muffin pan to make 12 portions. Although I followed the directions completely, my first batch of baked rasmalai fell apart when I soaked them in the milk syrup. But my kids loved its taste, and the dish was emptied in a day! This recipe is a result of multiple trials since then. It continues to be a big hit in my household. I generally double the recipe because most people come back for seconds!
Contributor: Sandhya Sharma masala magic
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Desserts
Notes:
Ingredient Index A
D
all-purpose flour 17, 26, 40, 48
dates 33
almonds 60, 61, 91, 92, 93, 96
drumsticks 82, 88
ash gourd 87, 88
B bamboo shoots 81 banana 48 beetroot 17, 47 bell pepper 49, 51, 86 besan 15, 18, 22, 48, 80, 82, 83, 96
E eggplant 38, 46, 67, 69, 70, 71, 87
G green beans 23, 24, 26, 51, 57, 60, 61, 66, 68, 85, 86, 88 green pepper 49, 54, 72
black urad dal 74
K
bottle gourd 87
kidney beans 76
bread 12, 17, 25, 32, 49, 73, 96 broccoli 79, 80 butternut squash 88
M macaroni 49 makhana 77
C
mango 97, 99
cabbage 19, 23, 26, 51, 66
milk powder 92, 94, 98
carrots 17, 24, 29, 31, 46, 51, 57, 60, 61, 66, 86, 88
mint 19, 33, 55, 60, 61
cashew nuts 53, 55, 57, 59, 60, 61, 100, 103
mushrooms 49
cauliflower 26, 51, 57, 60, 61, 62, 67, 68, 79, 86 chapathi flour 43, 44, 45, 47 chick peas 75 condensed milk 92, 93, 94, 96 corn 8, 15, 22, 23, 29, 57 cranberries 32, 56 cream of wheat 21, 22
moong dal 29, 30, 59, 62, 66 mustard greens, 80
O okra 67, 82 onions 15, 16, 17, 19, 24, 25, 26, 35, 37, 38, 44, 46, 49, 50, 51, 54, 55, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 85
cucumber 29, 37, 87, 88 masala magic
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Standard Measures (measures used in cooking are usually rounded to the nearest whole number)
Volume:
1 teaspoon = 5 ml 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 15 ml 1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 8 fluid ounces = 237 ml 1 fluid ounce = 30 ml 1 pint = 2 cups 1 quart = 4 cups = 960 ml = 0.96 liters 4 quarts = 1 gallon = 3.8 liters 1000 ml = 1 liter
Mass/Weight:
1 ounce = 28 grams 16 ounces = 1 pound (lb) = 454 grams
Clockwise from top: Large slotted spoon for deep-frying Kadhai, used for deepfrying or cooking Two spatulas A variety of small pans and large ladles used for preparing seasoning.
toor dal
moong dal
chana dal
urad dal
black sesame
whole moong
white sesame
whole urad
cumin
coriander
mustard
methi
cloves
black pepper
fennel
nutmeg
cinnamon
green cardamom
black cardamom
saffron
curry leaves
ginger
cilantro
green chilies
asafetida
turmeric
red chili powder
red chilies