Simple Recipes You Can Make At Home During Lockdown

The next two weeks are going to be hard with the country under lockdown. While most vegetable marks and stores are open many find it difficult to buy ingredients and most don't even know how to cook since we are happy with ordering in. To make life a little less complicated we have shared three very simple vegetarian Indian recipes that you can easily make at home with the most basic ingredients. Most of the ingredients are what you probably have in your pantry or can easily access at the market. Nothing fancy but basic simple recipes that will make some beautiful tasty meals at home. Happy Cooking!

Aloo Jeera 

Ingredients

• 2 tsp Oil
• 1 tbsp Cumin Seeds / Jeera
• 1-inch Ginger, finely chopped ( If you have )
• 2 Green Chilli, finely chopped
• ½ tsp Turmeric / Haldi
• 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder / Lal Mirch Powder
• ½ tsp Coriander Powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 boiled Potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1-2 tbsp Water
• 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped

Method

1. The first step is to peel cut and boil the potatoes. Drain the water and keep it aside.
2. Heat the oil and sauté the cumin seeds till it splutters. Add the green chillies and sauté for a minute. Then add the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Keep stirring on a low flame and mix it all together.
3. Add the potatoes and gently mix it all together without breaking the potatoes.
4. Add a little water about 2 teaspoons and cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. After that stir it up gently so that all the potatoes absorb the spices and add coriander leaves to garnish and serve hot with Rice or Roti.

Palak Dal

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Yellow Lentil / Dhuli moong dal ( can use any dal or a combination of dals if you like Chana, Tuvar, etc )
• 3 cups Water
• 1 cup Spinach / Palak Chopped
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Ghee
• 1 tsp Ginger Chopped
• 6-8 cloves Garlic Smashed
• 2-3 dry Red Chillies
• 1 Green Chilli Split into half
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/4 tsp Hing
• 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1 tbsp fresh and chopped Coriander 

Method

1. Wash the dal and put it in a pressure cooker. Add 3 cups of water, chopped spinach, salt and turmeric powder. Pressure cook till done. Takes about 10 minutes or 3-4 whistles.
2. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook it covered on medium heat till done. Will take much longer to cook.
3. Add lemon juice in cooked dal. Transfer the dal in the serving bowl.
4. Heat ghee in a small pan. When the ghee is hot, add the ginger, garlic, dry red chillies and green chilli. Fry till garlic is slightly browned. Add the cumin seeds and hing.
5. Switch off the gas and add the red chilli powder and immediately pour the hot ghee over the cooked dal.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Rice or eat it as is.

Bhindi Masala

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 300 g Bhindi (Washed, wiped and cut into 1-inch pieces)
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 cup Onion (Chopped)
• 2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp Green Chilli (Chopped)
• 1/2 cup Tomato (Chopped)
• 2 tsp Coriander Powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the bhindi and sprinkle some salt and cook until the bhindi is almost cooked. Takes about 7 minutes.
2. Remove the cooked bhindi and set it on a plate.
3. To the same pan add cumin seeds in the same oil and let them crackle for a few seconds.
4. Add the onion and fry them until the colour slightly changes. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and fry until onion turn golden brown.
5. Add green chillies and tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala and salt and cook until oil starts to separate from the sides of the pan.
7. Now add a little water if the masala is too dry. Add 1 cup of water and bring the curry to a boil.
8. Add the fried bhindi and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat.
9. Serve hot with Paratha or Roti.

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