Meals with a vegetarian bias

[broadway]

We have one veggie in our family and I want to try putting together some Indian meals for 4-5 people. While it is easy to find numerous recipes what I have difficulty is how to put them together into a balanced meal. Looking at recipes and cookbooks tend to be confusing as the dishes tend to stand in splendid isolation.

Any particular regions that would be a good idea to look at to start building some experience? Preferences would be for no seafood, not a heavy coconut bias, definitely bread with the possibility of adding meat sometimes, strength can be mild through to hottish.

Some tips and some groups of dishes and accompaniments that could be put together to form a meal would be helpful. I can do an occasional trip to an Indian grocery, but we do not have any local Indian grocery shops.

[anzu]

This is in a big rush, so *extremely* sketchy, but just to get you started (hopefully others will chime in with more details)

if interested in no seafood, no coconut, food that goes with bread, try looking at recipes from anywhere in northern India.

As to what to have in one meal, try as a general rule to balance things out as follows:

-- two dishes: either one dal or bean dish and one vegetable dish, or two vegetables but of different textures and types.

Preferably have one more dryish dish, and the other more liquidy. The idea is for some variation in texture, color, consistency, etc.

-- Yogurt, whether in the form of plain yogurt, or as a raita

-- bread or rice

You may also want:

-- some type of basic salad, e.g. diced cucumber dressed with lime juice. Doesn't need to be fancy, should simpy go well taste-wise with the other food you are serving

-- some type of pickle, such as mango pickle, lime pickle or such like.

If you do want to serve meat sometimes, still serve the two basic dishes, but serve one meat, one vegetable, and leave out the dal or bean dish.