Fresh India: 130 Quick, Easy and Delicious Vegetarian Recipes for Every Day

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Sodha wanted to shine a light not only on Gujarati food, but on the rich variety of Indian cooking, so at odds with the brown, indistinct rogan joshes, kormas and baltis of some high-street curry houses. “Brits have this fierce love of Indian food and I think those restaurants took that love for granted,” she says. Increasing interest in food in the UK means people travelling to India are emboldened to discover the diversity of the cuisine, and she thinks British people are also excited to use local produce in new ways. When writing recipes for Fresh India, Sodha would consider whether to use the vegetable in a twist on a traditional recipe – her matar paneer dish uses two types of peas – or to use Indian spices to create something new. “The salad section is entirely new because India doesn’t really do salads.” Although Gujarat in particular is famous for this, a similar story exists all across India. For hundreds of millions of people in India, vegetarianism is not a choice but a way of life.

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At the heart of every one of my recipes is a place called Gujarat. It’s where, as long as anyone can remember, our family came from. And although my family has now settled in England, we are still Gujarati, and day in day out we talk, think, and eat like Gujaratis. To finish, there’s a chapter of luscious puddings like salted peanut and jaggery kulfi alongside carrot halwa and pistachio cake. Add the crushed coriander and cumin, followed by the potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes, turning every now and then until crispy. Add a couple of tablespoons of water, cover with the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and no longer resist the point of a knife. Some of the dishes in Fresh India have been passed down the generations in my family and haven’t seen the light of day outside our home until now. Many have come from my travels all over India and the people I have met along the way, from home cooks to street stall vendors, temple cooks to chefs in top restaurants. In Gujarat, cabbages and potatoes are near deities. In Lincolnshire, where they are the main crops, the same is true.Walk the streets of Ahmedabad or Rajkot and you’ll come across simple but heavenly potato curries cooked with garlic, mustard seeds, and tomatoes. Or sweet corn cooked in a deeply savory sauce of ground peanuts and yogurt and eggplants that have been smoked over red coals until they become deeply mysterious and creamy. What I thought:Hara Bara kebabs are so easy to make with common ingredients and taste super delicious. All ingredients can be found in a local supermarket. Gujarat, a small state on the western coast of India, has had a very big impact on Indian food culture. It all started in 269 BC when Emperor Ashoka banned the slaughter of any living animal in the name of peace. Since that time, the majority of the millions of Hindus in the state have been vegetarian. Over thousands of years, a rich and resourceful vegetable-first way of cooking has evolved. Home cooks, restaurant chefs, and street-food stallholders alike have all been creating simple but extraordinary dishes, using just what grows on the land and is in season. The recipes are unpretentious and were immediately promoted by my family of critics into must-makes for the monthly dinner rotation, new staples for a season of chill and damp." —Sam Sifton, The New York Times Whether you are vegetarian, want to eat more vegetables, or just want to make great, modern Indian food, this is the book for you.

Meera Sodha Books – Meera Sodha

The smell of roasted pumpkin, and curry leaves sizzling in coconut oil, is enough to make anyone want to go to Kerala, which is where a variation of this dish, known as “olan”, originates.For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. This is a book all about vegetables, but whether you call it a vegetarian cookbook is up to you. I’m aware I’ve written it at a time when a change is taking place in our attitudes toward both meat and vegetables. More of us are questioning how we farm, how we treat animals, and whether how we eat is sustainable, good for the environment and also for our health.

Fresh India by Meera Sodha | Goodreads

But my aim with this book is not to preach or to write only for vegetarians: it is to inspire you to cook a different, fresher, vegetable-led type of Indian food. To honor the seasons and what grows in our fields, and also to celebrate the way that hundreds of millions of Indians eat, and the Gujarati way of thinking. If you’re using fresh corn, pull off the husks and any loose silky threads. Bring a pan of water to the boil and carefully lower in the cobs. Boil for around 8 minutes, until tender. Drain, then wash under cold water. To slice off the kernels, make sure the cob sits flat (slice off the stem on the bottom of the cob if not) and place in a shallow dish. Hold the pointy end firmly with one hand and, with the other, slice close to the core, letting the blade move down the cob. I have tried some of the recipes, I tend to tweak them a bit, I did the sweet potato vindaloo and substituted the sweet potato for aubergine and it was delicious. The method for cooking samosas worked really well. There are lots that I'm really excited about trying and there's plenty here you can get ideas from. Most are vegan but the handful of egg and paneer recipes suggest you could substitute with tofu. Most of the ingredients are easy to source from a supermarket. Several recipes use tamarind and fresh curry leaves which I will have to wait until I go to the city to get these, but most are easily achievable without fancy or hard to find ingredients. Discover everyday recipes using easy to find ingredients, delicious showstoppers and luscious puddings including:Add the fenugreek leaves, cinnamon, cloves, chilli powder, honey and salt. Stir, then add the fried paneer, cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Add the peas and cream and cook for a further 5 minutes.