Vegetarian India

Cover image courtesy Knopf, copyright 2015

India has different traditional vegetarian cuisines distributed across the regions of the entire subcontinent, from the Himalayan peaks in the north to the tropics of the south. "This is the wonder of Indian food--its specificity to each state, each town, each community," writes Madhur Jaffrey in her latest cookbook. "It is these very regional foods that I wanted for this book, as that is where vegetarian India is at its most glorious. I am equally interested in how people in different Indian communities eat--their eating habits and their menus--as these offer true glimpses into the variety of vegetarian worlds within India."

Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking (Knopf) is out this month. Madhur has written several cookbooks--those concerning India steadily progress from the food of her hometown, Delhi, to other parts of the country. She began cooking when she was studying drama at RADA in London (acting is a second career) and missed certain foods from home: mangoes and litchis, curries, vegetable dishes, freshly made chapatis, samosas, and dals. For this book, she went beyond into areas of India she's less familiar with. "India is a vast nation, about the size of Europe, with as much variation between the cuisines of the different states as there is between the foods in the countries of Europe," she explains. From her Greenwich Village apartment, she traveled to India a few times to collect material, driving from town to town.

"My first trip was to my home region, including trips to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Bengal, as well as to Bombay [Mumbai] and the western state of Gujarat. The next two trips were to areas that I knew less well, in South India, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. This meant going right across India from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, a good 645 miles, with many productive detours along the way. Driving on the roads, with every manner of traffic, from camels to bullock-carts to overcrowded, careening buses, was always painfully slow but also generous in allowing for many delicious food stops."

Madhur wrote Vegetarian India as a response to the comments she hears most often from her readers: that Indian food takes so long to make, it's complicated, requires several steps, and has too many ingredients. Here, she includes recipes that take less time with simplified cooking techniques. She's reduced the number of spices. There are still some items that require a visit to an Indian shop, like fresh curry leaves and ground, roasted cumin seeds. 

For those who haven't cooked Indian before, there are many accessible recipes to start with. Onion fritters. Roasted cauliflower with Punjabi seasonings. Crisp okra fries dusted with chili powder, turmeric, and chickpea flour. Grilled portobello mushrooms flavored simply with green chilies, lime juice, and salt. Spinach stir-fried with garlic, cumin, and fenugreek seeds. Potatoes from Goa studded with mustard seeds and refreshed with green chilies and cilantro. "You don't have to make every dish Indian," she says. "Make just two things, or one, to serve with the rest of your meal." On a busy weeknight, she often makes a simple dal, rice, a vegetable dish, and some yogurt relish.

Bombay Sandwiches (Toasties)

"These sandwiches are a newish addition to Bombay street food," Madhur writes. "The sandwich-wallah today sits with other snack vendors, with his grilling cage held over an open fire. He is making India's version of a toasted sandwich, only it has many more ingredients: sweet peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and the all-important green chutney, which is what makes the sandwich Indian." Have them with a cup of hot tea, or for lunch with a soup or salad. Make the toasties using a panini/sandwich maker or a frying pan. Serves 2. 

Ingredients

2 waxy potatoes (about 8 oz.), freshly boiled, cooled, and peeled (do not refrigerate)

2 medium tomatoes

1/2 large green or red pepper

1 medium onion 

butter

4 large slices of your favorite bread

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons Green Chutney (see below)

2 slices of cheese, such as cheddar

Directions

Cut each of the potatoes lengthwise into 5 ovals. Discard the rounded outer pieces. Slice the tomatoes, discarding the top and bottom slices. Cut off the top and bottom of the pepper and remove all the seeds. Cut the pepper into thin, long slices. Peel the onion and cut into fine rings.

Butter the slices of bread. Working with just two, arrange as many potato slices on them as will fit easily. Dust lightly with salt and pepper. Put as many of the tomato slices as will fit on top of the potatoes and dust lightly with salt and pepper. Top with the pepper slices and onions. Drizzle the chutney over the top. Put the cheese over the chutney. Top with the reserved bread slices and press down.

Use a sandwich maker, or set a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the center, then place the two sandwiches on top of it. Keep pressing down on them with a spatula until the underside is reddish gold and the cheese has melted. Turn carefully, add a little more butter, and toast the second side. Remove the sandwiches, cut into triangles.

Green Chutney (Hari Chutney)

"This is the simplest version of the green chutney that all northern Indians eat in their homes," she writes. "It is used with snack foods and as a dip for fritters. Being a fresh chutney, this keeps for only a few days, though it can be frozen. It is hot and sour and totally unlike any preserved chutney." Makes about 1 cup. 

Ingredients

1 good-sized bunch fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon lime juice

2-3 fresh hot green chilies, sliced into fine rings

a 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon plain yogurt

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cut off the leaf-free stalks of the cilantro. Wash and drain the remaining stalks and leaves. You should have 1 1/2 well-packed cups. Chop well.

Put the lime juice in your blender first, followed by the chilies, then the ginger, yogurt, and 4 tablespoons of water. Blend, then add the chopped cilantro. Whiz to a smooth paste. Pour the chutney into a small bowl, add the salt, and mix it in.