In-season eggplants make an amazing roasted Harissa Eggplant, along with lentils infused with spices like garam masala, cumin and coriander. The dish is drenched in a sumac dressing and plated over a tangy, garlicky and herby yogurt. You can easily find harissa paste, a North African red chile paste, at local grocery stores or online. Note: You will need to soak the lentils for 30 minutes.
This loaf cake is a simple and delicately flavored cake that is swirled with the fig and star anise compote. The cake itself has coarsely chopped pistachios for a nice bite and orange zest to brighten it up. The natural pink icing is made with the compote as well. Enjoy a slice in the beautiful fall crisp weather, with a cuppa.
This eggplant parmesan is a great weeknight meal. The best part is that it is eggless, and no frying of eggplant involved, making it delicious and healthy! Leftovers make great lunch box options.
A world of flavors and experiments
Hello everyone! I’m Amisha, a passionate food lover, recipe developer, food photographer and the heart behind The Jam Lab. Cooking has always been my first love and I am excited to share everyday recipes with you!
Gujarati Kadhi and Makai na Bhajia is essentially a spiced yogurt soup with corn fritters. The Gujarati kadhi is essentially made with buttermilk (watered down yogurt drink), chickpea flour to thicken it slightly, ginger, green chili, and tempered in ghee with whole spices like cinnamon, cloves, whole dried red chillies, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and sweetened with jaggery or brown sugar. It has no dry spice powders and it takes a mere 20 min to make it. My favorite way to eat it is with vegetable pulao or jeera rice(cumin rice) and pickles. I served it here with corn fritters which are vegan and gluten free and are super addictive. Leftovers can be stored separately in the fridge for upto two days.
Bharela Bhinda Nu Shaak is basically stuffed Okras. Okra is slit in the middle leaving the edges intact and stuffed with a stuffing that is made with chickpea flour, peanuts, ginger, garlic, dried spices, cilantro, coconut and a bit of oil. The stuffing is simply roasting the chickpea flour and then blitzing all the ingredients in a high speed blender. Once the okras are stuffed, they are sautéed in oil, mustard seeds, and cumin seeds and sprinkled with more stuffing. This is a vegan meal that is best enjoyed with some fresh homemade rotlis and daal.
This recipe minimizes waste by turning red beets into spiced patties and then putting the beet greens into a creamy chutney for dipping. (Or you could copy my kids and pair the patties with ketchup.) With rice flour and cornmeal giving the tikkis their crunch, this dish is also gluten-free. Leftover Beet Tikkis can be kept in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to four days. Warm them up in a toaster oven or on a pan on low to medium heat.
This beautiful Paneer and Aloo Kofta in Saag Curry starts off with koftas, which are made with potatoes and paneer with spices and Panko breadcrumbs to bind it. The greens include mustard greens and spinach, that is blanched, pureed and cooked in alliums and dry Indian spices. Enjoy this dish with garlic naan or with plain rotlis. The dish is beautifully flavored and very delicious. It comes together fairly easily and makes for a great weeknight meal.
Lunch box series: Schezwan Tofu Fried Rice is a riff off Schezwan Paneer Fried Rice which is what I grew up with. It is a popular Indo-Chinese dish that I loved growing up. I use store bought Schezwan sauce to make the fried rice. A day old rice works best for this dish. The fried rice literally takes under 30 minutes to make. This fried rice makes a fantastic school lunch for the kids. You can include a boiled egg for extra protein.
Use in-season Brussels sprouts to make this very flavorful vegan Brussels Sprouts Manchurian, my take on a popular Indo-Chinese dish called Vegetable Manchurian. The dish is best served with a quick vegetable fried rice, but plain rice works, too. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to two days.
This vegan Indian daal with black eyed peas and Swiss chard is a simple, comforting and easy weeknight meal that will become a family favorite.
Do you have fussy kids who do not eat vegetables? I have a cool mom hack with my Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. I make a roasted vegetable marinara sauce with zucchini, bell peppers, onions and eggplant, and puree it with store bought marinara along with herbs and spices. You can use the no-boil noodles or the boiled lasagna, either way works. The sheets are layered with that vegetable-rich sauce, along with lemony ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan and baked to perfection until golden brown.Leftovers make for an awesome next day lunch. It can also be frozen and baked at a later time, at your convenience.
Vegetable Noodle Soup is a comfort meal that is best enjoyed on a rainy cold day. I use Vegetarian noodles that I get from Mega Mart which is a Korean grocery store. The noodles are available on Amazon too. I add vegetables like carrots, broccoli, bok choy, purple cabbage, bean sprouts and alliums like ginger, garlic and green onions. This soup is comforting, like a hug in a bowl. You can use boiled eggs or tofu as protein per your preference. The soup is topped off with a chili crisp for some extra deliciousness.
This Gochujang Tofu-veggie bowl is a weeknight meal that is on repeat at my home. The meal comes together fairly easily. There are tips on how to prepare the different components of this meal. It is vegan with tofu as the source of protein and vegetables like sugar snap peas, marinated cucumbers, corn and edamame, making it a nutritious and delicious meal. Leftovers can be served as school lunch as well.
🪔✨ Did you love Diwali Delights, Volume 1? Discover even more mouthwatering recipes and pro hosting secrets in Volume 2—your key to an even brighter celebration!
Discover a world of spice and color in Mumbai Modern – a celebration of Indian cuisine made for the American kitchen. Mumbai Modern offers more than 100 vegetarian recipes, complete with Gurbani’s stunning photographs and mouth-watering recipes, that will leave you craving for more.
