Vegetarian Recipes and Meals

[DanM]

I always recommend a copy of Cafe Paradiso Seasons by Denis Cotter to anyone who wants high end vegetarian cooking that isn't health food. He has two other books, The Cafe Paradiso Cookbook and Wild Garlic, Gooseberries, and Me. The latter is his thoughts, stores, and anecdotes on his favorite vegetables with a few recipes thrown in.

Dan

[Darienne]

DH and I were vegetarians for about 30 years so I wouldn't know exactly where to start in. I was raised by vegetarians also.

One of my favorite cookbooks is Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa. Habeeb Salloum. And just about any Indian cookbook will give you such a wealth of recipes.

We are now what Mark Bittman calls Lessmeatarians.

Edited January 25, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[SobaAddict70]

Roasted La Ratte fingerling potatoes and brussel sprouts, finished in ghee with black mustard seeds, garlic, dried curry leaves, sriracha and lemon juice. The little green bits are chopped parsley. I swear I go through three bunches a week.

If you're like me, you've just about had it with the unrelenting grip of winter as evidenced by the serious lack of GREEN at the farmer's market. Ramps are already overdue by a couple of weeks, ditto for fiddlehead ferns.

If I never see another brussel sprout between now and December, it will be too soon.

[maarla]

Is anyone interested in vegetarian cooking with a hint of South east asian or Indian flavours to it?

[liuzhou]

You'll find many people here interested in everything you mention and more. Take a look around.

[sartoric]

6 hours ago, maarla said:

Is anyone interested in vegetarian cooking with a hint of South east asian or Indian flavours to it?

That would be me ! Check out the dinner thread, nearly every night I cook Indian food, mostly vegetarian. I'd love to get some new ideas from you @maarla.

[Alex]

8 hours ago, maarla said:

Is anyone interested in vegetarian cooking with a hint of South east asian or Indian flavours to it?

 

maarla, could you be more specific about your interest? For example: Do you have some experience in that area and are looking to share ideas? Are you working on a cookbook? Are you new to that type of cooking? Etc, etc.

[chefmd]

Vegetarian cooking?  Sousa East Asian cookin?  Indian cooking?  Cooking?  Food?  I am interested.

[Bhukhhad]

16 hours ago, sartoric said:

That would be me ! Check out the dinner thread, nearly every night I cook Indian food, mostly vegetarian. I'd love to get some new ideas from you @maarla.

That would be me too! I primarily cook and eat Indian. So ask away and share away

Edited July 4, 2017 by Bhukhhad (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I have been hoping someone who is knowledgeable would open a thread like this!

 

I recently found out what fenugreek/methi is. Oh, I had read the words and tasted the ingredient many times at Udipi Cafe here in Cary. I even owned some in a curry powder in my pantry. It was only when I bought some Swad Methi Khari Biscuits and posted about it here that I made a connection of the flavour to the names that I knew what the words meant. I felt like Helen Keller at the well pump!

 

So yes I am very interested. I will be learning much more than I can contribute at this point except for unbridled enthusiasm for all things Indian cooking and ingredients.

 

I even started a topic on Indian Vegetables. I have great access to restaurants and grocers for food and ingredients in my area because we have recently acquired a thriving community of Indians, but not much previous exposure so very little knowledge about this cusine.

 

So yah!

[Bhukhhad]

Hello again everyone! 

There are a number of regular cooks who hail from india, on this forum. At least I gathered so. I have simple home cooking recipes to share, so you will have to tolerate me somewhat. But I love eating cooking and sharing so here goes: 

since the topic is about vegetarian recipes but no particular recipe has been sought, I will post here the recipe for 

Aloo Methi Sabji with some explanations. 

 

First about methi or fenugreek. You can get methi in seed form or fresh/ dry leaf form. 

You can grow your own methi if you like, by soaking methi seeds overnight and planting in a seed starter pot the next morning. Within a week you get methi leaves. You snip them to harvest, and more regrow from the stalks. 

Now for Aloo or potato. For aloo methi , you need a waxy potato, not a powdery one. 

 

Aloo Methi

 

2 or 3 medium waxy potatoes

cumin seeds optional

1 small onion

turmeric optional

2T methi leaved chopped

salt

green chilies optional

1/2 cup fresh coconut (grated) 

lemon juice

oil

 

method

 

Wash, peel and cut potatoes. Heat two T oil in a deep pan and add cumin if using and toast till golden. Then onions and cook till tender. Then add the potatoes. Add salt for the potatoes and cover and cook till tender. Add the washed methi leaves and let them wilt. Add turmeric pwd. 

After a few minutes open the lid and stir. The potatoes should be covered with gently wilted methi. Turn the heat off. Add the coconut and stir taking carenot to break the potatoes. Adda dash of lemon juice and serve. 

You may optionally add green or red chilli to taste. Do this after the methi has melted

Enjoy. Try the recipe. 

 

Edited July 4, 2017 by Bhukhhad
Adjusting methi quatity to better suit the general taste (log)

[Chimayo Joe]

I've been a fan of Indian food for something like 20 years, but I mainly cooked meat-based North Indian recipes when I cooked Indian food until recently.  About 8 months ago I switched to vegetarianism, and Indian food has become a much bigger part of the way I eat.  Lately my interest has shifted to South Indian cooking and Gujarati cooking.

[Chimayo Joe]

Yeah, if you like the flavor of fenugreek seeds, you'll love the flavor of fenugreek leaves.  It's one of my favorite elements of Indian food.  Even dried fenugreek leaves are great.  They do much better than most dried herbs.

[maarla]

Nicee...I spent a lot of time in Southeast Asia and some time in India and currently live in Europe. I love exploring all sorts of fresh herbs and vegetables and thinking about how to cook them without overcooking. My grandparents had a south indian vegetarian restaurant and i grew up eating delicious thosai, appam idli etcc..LOL. Not difficult. I will share soon..Including some salads I am so into right now. 

 

 

[maarla]

I'm also experimenting with modern methods of cooking with banana flowers and banana stems etc. >Or baby brinjals, bttergourds which are ingredients of traditional indian cooking. Will share! Also looking for inspiration from others! Though I am not into meat substitutes in this thread.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 7/4/2017 at 4:06 AM, Bhukhhad said:

Hello again everyone! 

There are a number of regular cooks who hail from india, on this forum. At least I gathered so. I have simple home cooking recipes to share, so you will have to tolerate me somewhat. But I love eating cooking and sharing so here goes: 

since the topic is about vegetarian recipes but no particular recipe has been sought, I will post here the recipe for 

Aloo Methi Sabji with some explanations. 

 

First about methi or fenugreek. You can get methi in seed form or fresh/ dry leaf form. 

You can grow your own methi if you like, by soaking methi seeds overnight and planting in a seed starter pot the next morning. Within a week you get methi leaves. You snip them to harvest, and more regrow from the stalks. 

Now for Aloo or potato. For aloo methi , you need a waxy potato, not a powdery one. 

 

Aloo Methi

 

2 or 3 medium waxy potatoes

cumin seeds optional

1 small onion

turmeric optional

2T methi leaved chopped

salt

green chilies optional

1/2 cup fresh coconut (grated) 

lemon juice

oil

 

method

 

Wash, peel and cut potatoes. Heat two T oil in a deep pan and add cumin if using and toast till golden. Then onions and cook till tender. Then add the potatoes. Add salt for the potatoes and cover and cook till tender. Add the washed methi leaves and let them wilt. Add turmeric pwd. 

After a few minutes open the lid and stir. The potatoes should be covered with gently wilted methi. Turn the heat off. Add the coconut and stir taking carenot to break the potatoes. Adda dash of lemon juice and serve. 

You may optionally add green or red chilli to taste. Do this after the methi has melted

Enjoy. Try the recipe. 

 

 

 

There are fresh coconut cores already shelled I can get, but in order to use it all, I would have to freeze it. They are wrapped in plastic, so I picked one up and shook it near my ear, and sure enough, it has the coconut water still inside! I know coconut goes bad pretty quickly though.

 

I'm probably not up to cracking a fresh coconut myself anymore. I do remember how hard they are, but the fresh stuff is so good!

 

There is also shredded or flaked coconut in the Indian grocer's freezers I can get. I know cracking your own is the best way, but given what I can get and what I am capable of, will any of these work? I can even buy bunches of fresh methi. So I'm very excited by this thread.

 

Thank you for this recipe and your future advice on the coconut.

[Bhukhhad]

Tftc, 

Yes yes! Is the short answer. 

Almost everyone I know around me, buys the fresh frozen and already shredded coconut from either Indian stores or a mixed asian store. I have not come across the 'frozen whole coconut core with water' anywhere yet. But the 'frozen fresh shredded' works really well. You just have to open the packet while the contents are still frozen, and divide them into batches you can use, and refreeze. That is the only way it works for me. 

The fresh coconut luxury does not! And I will tell you why. I have no surface on which I can break a coconut the traditional way, I have no sharp instrument with which I can break either the outer hull nor cut the inner white flesh. 

But if I did, there is nothing as sweet and delicious! 

Dessicated coconut or dry whole core slices work fine in a pinch. 

Next, we get fresh bunches of the following leafy greens here: 

methi, amaranth (bathuwa or rajgira or lal bhaji), gongura, moringa, spinach, malabar spinach, kadhi patta, colocasia leaves and cilantro (coriander)..... all yummy!

The asian stores have many more greens that I dont have indian uses for but always eye them with the desire to use them. These are: 

dandelion greens, bok choi varieties, pak choi, pea sprouts, mustard greens ( I grow these in winter), and other greens whose names I cannot read. Has anyone used these in Indian cooking? If so, do share. 

Thanks for asking Tftc. 

 

[sartoric]

Our favourite eggplant dish.

 

I use plenty of vegetable oil (about 1/2 cup) and sauté a small finely diced onion til soft, add 2 cloves of minced garlic, a tbs of grated ginger, and fry until lightly coloured. Add 2 cups of tomato purée (fresh tomato in blender, plus a bit of bottled passata), add a tsp of chilli powder, 2 tsp of ground coriander, 1/2 tsp of turmeric and salt to taste. Add baby eggplants slit to the stem and simmer until cooked about 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander.

 

 

[Bhukhhad]

Sartoric, 

I like your version. I have a couple of different south indian recipes, either from hyderabad or chennai more elaborate in terms of effort when one is hungry...

I would enjoy this. 

Just wanted to point one or two things. I have tasted one version of this curry with coconut in the gravy and another with peanut paste. Both taste exceptionally well and I cannot reproduce them properly yet. But they are yummy indeed. 

 

Eggplant soaks up oil like crazy. I grew up eating massive amounts of oil in my curries. But now I roast my eggplant in the oven with no oil. It works to keep the shape and cook. Then I add the gravy on top. Only way I can avoid a greasy wggplant