Okra is a summertime culinary pleasure and grilling turns into something super special and irresistible. It takes away all the sliminess and adds a delicious toasty flavor. Tossed with salt, pepper, and sumac okra makes a perfect finger food or a hearty side with meat instead of French fries.
This is what I making these days with my home grown okra because it is the best!
vegan
Wadi wali Lauki/ Bottlegourd cooked with Sundried lentil cakes
Bottle gourd is highly appreciated vegetables in Indian cuisine though it is not very familiar to the western world (yet!) as an edible. It is rich in minerals and high in water therefore considered extremely light on the digestive system. It is used in stir fries, curries, with lentils, in desserts, soups and a lot more. This is a super simple and homey dish, but the flavors are tremendous. We Punjabis particularly love to add wadis in it. They add a lot of flavor and make the dish enjoyably spicy.
Vegan Black Bean Burger with Mango Salsa
We eat a lot of beans but I’ve often resisted making “bean burgers”. It’s not that I don’t like them, It’s just that, most bean burgers have the texture of mush which I do not find appealing at all. A while ago I tried the bean burger recipe from the Food lab of Serious Eats. It was a win at first try! The tips given in the post gave a perfect burger that was not mushy at all. My family loved it and after that I tried it with different combination and spices. These burgers have a firm crust on the outside and still moist on the inside. They don’t fall apart when cooked and don’t squish out the back of the bun when you bite down. What more do you want? With the right ingredients, a little time, and the technique of dehydrating the cooked black beans, I perfected my recipe for vegan black bean burgers.
Besan Dhokla/ Steamed Savory Gram flour Cake
This incredibly tasty savory snack is light, healthy and hit the spot. It is just as good at lunchtime if you can add a salad on side or for breakfast, alongside a cup of tea and fruit. It is a steamed savory cake, called Besan Dhokla in Hindi. When I was a kid, this was one of the frequented item in our house at any given event. Soft, & delicious, mildly tangy and sweet accompanied by the light crunch of mustard and sesame, garnished with the herby cilantro! It’s been etched in my mind.
Pithaud with Chaunke Matar / Gram flour Cakes with Masala Peas
I have more than a dozen gluten-free flours stored in my fridge and pantry, but the bag of besan (gram flour) is the one that needs to be restocked most often. There are many, many ways you can use gram flour in your cooking. Its characteristic nutty flavor gives besan the ability to create tasty, simple dishes that stand on their own with few ingredients. Take this Pithaud recipe for example. It looks simple, right? Well, it is! The delicate golden brown crust and silky smooth interior of pithaud really shines through in this easy dish and is well complemented by simple tomato curry and seasoned sweet green peas. I made this for my friends on Yoga retreat day and they couldn’t stop talking about how good it was.
Black Chickpea (Kala Chana) Pulao with Candied Carrot Strips
This pulao combines a tasteful combination of black chickpeas and brown rice. Being low in fat, high in dietary fiber, black chickpea is an excellent source of protein. It can be a good choice to add them to your diet, especially if you are a vegan or a vegetarian. This pulao is my mother’s recipe. My only change to the original is the addition of candied carrots. It is beautifully flavored and deliciously fragrant. The stock is the key ingredient which gives the rice it’s black color and flavor.
Cabbage Kofta Curry
Here, I am with another vegetarian recipe.
While growing up, we had koftas all the time. It was a treat for us. Koftas are delicious, deep fried meat or veggie dumplings. What I like the best about koftas is that they can be made out of anything, as long as you are able to bind the ingredients together into a ball. The most common vegetarian varieties of Koftas made are Lauki (ash gourd), cabbage, mixed vegetable and malai (cheese and potato) kofta. I made these koftas out of cabbage. In Indian household, koftas are mostly served in a curry.
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