13 Indian style salads and vegetable dishes to try

Who doesn’t love Indian food? It’s the perfect comfort food. Unfortunately, for my family, they don’t enjoy it too spicy so I do try to create a more mild version of the traditional dishes but I satisfy my Indian food cravings with salads and a bulk cook up of vegetable dishes I can enjoy for my lunch. Here are 13 Indian style salads and vegetable dishes to try.

Ingredients to Keep in Your Pantry

These types of salads are based around whatever is in season. Other ingredients to keep in your pantry include:

• tinned or dried pulses and beans, eg chickpeas, lentils, quinoa etc
• olive oil
• spices like cumin, ground coriander, chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric, cardamom, ground ginger, mustard seeds, cinnamon and cloves
• fresh herbs can be added to flavour and garnish the dish like coriander (cilantro), parsley, mint
• nuts like cashews or almonds can be stirred through or sprinkled on top for extra crunch.

Recipes

Spiced Chickpea & Cucumber Salad

Indian Chopped Salad

Indian Salad with Coriander & Poppy Seeds

Bombay Salad with Cashews & Raisins

Indian Fried Cabbage

Masala Pasta (Indian Style Pasta Salad)

Curried Sweet Potato & Lentil Salad

Easy Bombay Potatoes

Coconut Vegetarian Korma

Pumpkin Coconut Curry

Curried Sweet Potato, Chickpeas & Quinoa

Aloo Gobi (Potato & Cauliflower Curry)

Cauliflower Tikka Masala

 

Make your own Bhuja Snack Mix

We all have our guilty pleasures I guess. Chocolate, potato chips, candy, nuts and whatever else we like to snack on. Me? I pretty much love all of those but I have a real weakness for the store bought Bhuja Snack Mix.  I want to teach you how easy it is to make your own Bhuja Snack Mix.

 

The store bought Bhuja mix has so many varieties so when you make it yourself you can add whatever you like and make it as spicy as you like. Bhuja mix is more commonly known in India as chevda or chanachur, or in the United Kingdom as Bombay Mix or in the USA as Chex Mix. It’s basically a mix of nuts, dried noodles, dried fruit, dried green peas and different forms of rice crackers.

 

I just happened to have a small bag of mixed nuts and they would’ve been nice enough on their own but when I saw I still had a small packet of dried noodles in the pantry, I immediately started thinking about my beloved bhuja mix. I don’t like dried fruit added and can take or leave the green peas so this is all I had in mine.

 

Then, all you need to do is add your blend of spices, a beaten egg white and toss it all together. I used curry powder, paprika, a little bit of chilli powder (I made sure knew I was the only one eating this lot) and salt and pepper.

 

Spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a 180 deg C oven for about 10 to 15 minutes or until aromatic.

Bhuja Mix is the perfect accompaniment for drinks, a cocktail party, lunch box treats (if nuts are allowed at school) after school snacks and munching out on in front of the TV, as I did. They are also gluten free. The best part of all to making it yourself is the price. To buy them ready made is about $3.00 for approximately 150 grams. Homebrand salted peanuts are around $2 for for 350gm and fried noodles are about $1.25 for 100 grams. Add a couple of spices from the pantry and an egg white. For around $4 you’ll have triple the quantity. Hope you give it a try.

Suggestions for your own Bhuja Mix:

• peanuts
• cashews
• almonds
• fried noodles
• 2 minute noodles
• dried green peas
• sultanas
• other dried fruit
• chickpeas
• pumpkin seeds
• sunflower seeds
• rice cracker snacks
• Spices: curry powder, paprika, chilli powder, garlic powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon

 

Indian Chicken & Spinach Curry (from the pantry)

 

You might remember a couple weeks ago I made an easy Garlic Naan bread? It was late-ish on a Saturday night. We didn’t have the kids for the weekend and I was craving Indian food. I had the ‘I can’t be bothered’ mood but had chicken defrosted for whatever it was I was planning on cooking. The thought of paying somewhere around $50 for takeaway food just for the two of us soon got me into gear and was all the motivation I needed to make this Indian Chicken & Spinach curry just from things I had in the pantry and freezer.

 

 

You’ll have to excuse the lack of ‘how to’ photos. I’m positive I took them but just can’t find them but this dish is so, so easy to make and if you can slice an onion and a chicken breast and open a couple packets (not that is made from packet mixes), you’ll be fine making this dish.

As I always say, it’s best to have a fully stocked pantry with all the essentials so you can create a tasty dish with little or no effort. To make this creamy curry I used a small long life box of cream (not sure if that’s available in all parts of the world but it’s a lifesaver) and normal curry powder. A tin of coconut milk would work just as well. I used to have all the Indian spices that went into a good curry but no one in the house likes it as much as me so they all went to waste. A traditional curry powder will still give you a lot of flavour similar to an Indian curry.

The spinach was frozen and the brand I get comes in blocks so you only use the amount you need. If you have an abundance of spinach (or silverbeet or chard) you can quite easily make your own blocks by blanching in hot boiling water for a minute or so, cool in cold water, drain and briefly blitz or chop. Fill an ice cube tray or small containers with the mixture and freeze. It’s too easy.

I also had a serving for 2 of boiled rice in the freezer. Whenever I cook rice for a meal, I cook up about 2-3 cups of it and use what I need for that meal and freeze the rest into ziplock bags, enough for a serving of 2. To defrost, I put the frozen rice in a dish, pour boiled water over it and within a couple minutes it’s warm enough to eat. Sometimes you might need to give it a quick minute blast in the microwave to make it hot.

With a little bit of preparation, having a well stocked pantry and basic ingredients, keep your money in your wallet, avoid takeaway food and make this scrummy dish at home in about 10 minutes flat.

Indian Chicken & Spinach Curry (from the pantry)

• 1 chicken breast, diced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoons crushed garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• mushrooms (optional)
• frozen spinach
• longlife cream or a can of coconut milk/cream
• 1-2 tablespoons curry powder
• salt & pepper
• fresh coriander (if you have it, to serve)
• boiled rice (to serve)

1. If you’ve got frozen pre-cooked rice, heat by pouring boiling water over and when defrosted, drain well. If not, put 1 cup of rice on to boil.
2. In a pan, fry the chicken, onion and garlic.
3. Add the curry powder and stir until it becomes aromatic.
4. Add the longlife cream or coconut milk/cream and stir well.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Add frozen spinach and any other vegetables/herbs you might have.
7. Once spinach has warmed through, serve over rice.

Easy garlic naan bread

It was a cold Saturday night a few weeks back and just the husband and I, no kids and it was late and we couldn’t really be bothered cooking dinner. I was craving Indian food for some reason and I looked online for a local Indian takeaway. I was dreaming of a hot, fragrant, spicy curry and some chewy, soft, garlic filled naan bread to soak it all up. I had all the ingredients for ALL of it and said, “don’t be lazy, get in the kitchen and make it” so I did. I had this garlic naan bread made in about 20 minutes flat while the curry was bubbling on the stove. By the time it would’ve taken us to order it, pick it up, bring it home and serve it, I had dinner made.

Every country has their own bread. The Mexicans have tortillas, the Turkish have pide and lavash, the Lebanese have pita bread and it goes on and on. Indian breads are some of the nicest and so, so easy to make. Cooking them on a griddle pan on the stove stop works just fine. It’s just a matter of mixing plain flour, baking powder, a little sugar and salt, adding oil and milk and in this case, garlic and finish off with melted butter once cooked.

I believe the best utensil in the kitchen is your hand so get stuck into it, bringing all the ingredients together until a soft dough forms.

After resting for 10 minutes, take a small piece of dough and roll out flat (about the size of your hand) and place on top a little crushed garlic. Fold that over and roll out flat again.

On a griddle pan (or any pan will do), place a piece of baking paper and the rolled out naan bread dough onto the pan over a high heat.

Once cooked and charred on the underside, flip over and repeat.

You don’t have to worry about the bread being uniform in size. I think it looks better a little uneven and odd shaped. Once cooked, brush with melted butter and serve immediately.

If you can walk to the kitchen, you can make this naan bread yourself without having to order take out. Indian food at home isn’t all that difficult. You only need a few basic spices and basic pantry ingredients to recreate similar dishes, like this naan bread, at home. Save yourself a few bucks and make this at home. You’ll be glad you did and you’ll be surprised just how easy it is.

Easy Garlic Naan Bread

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 to 1 cup milk (more or less, enough to bring the dough together to a smooth dough)
• 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbs butter, melted

1. Place the plain flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre and add the oil and the milk.
3. Add the milk a little at a time, adding more until a smooth dough is formed. (You may need more than 1/2 a cup.)
4. Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Take small handfuls of dough and roll out into shapes approximately the size of your hand.
6. Place a small amount of crushed garlic into the centre of the dough and fold over.
7. Roll out again, ready for frying in the pan.
8. Preheat a griddle pan (or similar) on the stove top and line the pan with baking paper.
9. Cook each naan bread in the pan until it is cooked on one side and flip over.
10. Once cooked and nicely charred brown, remove from the pan and brush with melted butter.
11. Serve immediately.

Indian style Pumpkin soup with tamarind

Its definitely soup weather in this part of the world and nothing says ‘winter’ and ‘soups’ to me more than pumpkin soup. I love it plain, with basic curry powder, Thai style, Moroccan style, with any sort of pulses like lentils or chickpeas. Its just such a lovely vegetable to make a soup with. I don’t know why I hadn’t done it before but I love a pumpkin curry so I thought I combine the two with this Indian style pumpkin soup with tamarind.

The tamarind tree produces a pod-like fruit, grown around the world and used in many cuisines to add a sour flavour to a dish. You can buy it from specialty Asian stores in a pulp or dried form and dilute with water or buy it already made into a paste, which is what I have. For about $4.00 you can keep it in the fridge and use it when you need. It keeps forever because you only need a bit. Its perfect to use in Indian, Thai, Mexican, African, West Indian, Middle Eastern and other Asian cuisines. These are the types of ingredients I like to pick up occasionally to broaden my cooking repertoire. If you’re unsure of what else to cook with tamarind, just Google it. Alternatively, you can substitute tamarind with lime or lemon juice or a little vinegar sweetened with a bit of sugar.

I was running out of time but I usually

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prefer to roast pumpkin before making it into soup as it adds a lovely flavour. I had this soup on the table in about 20 minutes flat. I had bought some of those prepackaged garlic naan breads, just to try and they weren’t bad. I think I’d prefer to make them and have them in the freezer ready to pull out as needed. They aren’t too difficult to make but at about $3 for two large ones, they’re good to have as a treat.

Indian style Pumpkin Soup with Tamarind

• 1/4 piece of large or 1/2 of small pumpkin, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• pinch garam masala
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 whole dried chillies (kept whole or use less or more chilli to taste)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
• 2 tbs oil
• 2 tsp tamarind paste
• enough chicken or vegetable stock to cover pumpkin
• salt
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• yoghurt and naan bread (or bread rolls) to serve

(* if you don’t have these spices in your pantry, use an Indian style curry powder or paste)

1. In a pot, heat oil and add cumin, paprika, turmeric, garam masala, mustard seeds, garlic and dried whole chillies and stir over heat until aromatic. 
2. Add chopped pumpkin and cover with enough vegetable or chicken stock.
3. Add tamarind paste, salt and brown sugar.
4. Cook until pumpkin is soft.
5. Mash or blend with a stick blender until smooth.
6. Serve with a dollop of plain yoghurt and naan bread or bread rolls.

Southern Indian Vegan Lentil Rice

I was lucky enough to attend an Indian Vegan cooking class last Saturday night and this was one of the dishes that was cooked. The class was held at Govinda’s Restaurant in Elizabeth Street, Brisbane City, one of the oldest vegetarian restaurants in the country. When I worked in the city, I’d quite often go to Govinda’s for their very reasonably priced (and very tasty) vegetarian buffet, which is still going to this day.

source

Ranchor is the chef-at-large, in more ways than one. An experienced chef having worked in many of the top restaurants in the world, Ranchor demonstrates this wonderful cuisine with a lot of interesting information on Indian culture and funny little stories along the way. The room was packed with people from all walks of life. Who doesn’t love an authentic Indian curry? He explained all the different spices and ingredients and their therapeutic qualities as well. The dishes that were cooked were this Vegan Lentil Rice (from the southern Indian region), a northern Indian Palak Tofu Masala Curry (spinach) and vegan Katchoris (similar to a samosa). All very delicious.

Up until a couple years ago, I always ground my own Indian spices. I was the only one who ate spicy food so didn’t think it was economical. I did pick up a couple spice mixes from the cooking class and there’s just nothing like it. That aroma that wafts through the house as the spices are roasting, then you grind them. I’ve had this rice dish every night since Sunday and I just love it. I think I might be incorporating a few Indian, if not vegan, dishes into my weekly menu plan.

Don’t think you have to go out and buy a cupboard full of spices either. Chilli, coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric are the most common Indian spices. Buy small packets of some of the other spices every other week if you’d like to start making authentic Indian dishes or a good http://www.arquideas.net/users/vhealthportaldrugstore curry paste or powder does just as well.

Southern Indian Vegan Lentil Rice

• 2 cups basmati rice (or long grain rice – washed 3 times and left to soak for 15 minutes) *
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup brown lentils (soaked – I used a 400gm tin)
• 1 tbs coriander seeds
• 1 tbs Urad dahl (raw)
• 1 dried chilli (I omitted and used a fresh green chilli, seeds removed and finely diced)
• 1 small stick cinnamon (or 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
• 3 cloves
• 1/4 tsp asafetida
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 10 curry leaves
• 1/2 cup nuts of your choice (I used macadamia, dry roasted)
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 400gm tin diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup peas (I used a 400gm tin)
• 1/2  tsp tamarind paste (I didn’t have any so substituted with 2 tbs lemon juice)
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (I didn’t have any so omitted)
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil for frying
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• coriander leaves to serve

1. Dry roast, in a pan without oil, fenugreek, coriander seeds, Urad dahl, red chilli, cinnamon and cloves until all ingredients become aromatic. Then add curry leaves, asafedtia and grind to a course powder. (I ground them in a mortar and pestle.)
2. Boil the lemon juice with the 2 cups of water in a pot with 1 tsp salt and turmeric.
3. Add tomatoes, carrots, peas, green chilli and ground spices and boil for 3 minutes.
4. Heat oil in another pot and stir fry rice and lentils for 3 minutes.
5. Add roasted nuts to rice mixture and merge with the boiling vegetables.
6. Turn heat to lowest point and cover pot with a tea towel. Replace lid and ensure that tea towel isn’t touching flame or element on stove top. Do not remove lid for 15 mins.
7. After 15 minutes, remove from heat, unopened for another 15 mins.
8. Rice will have absorbed all of the cooking liquid and become fluffy. Separate with a fork to fluff up.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

(* I have never washed rice before in my life but thought I’d follow the recipe to a tee.)