Do you often get the feeling that ‘Indian food’ and ‘easy’ don’t go together?
Are you intimated by the long list of ingredients and never-ending instructions that come with making a simple Indian meal?
If your answer is a ‘yes’ to the above, you aren’t entirely wrong :). Indeed, the ingredient list for a conventional Indian meal does run long; that’s often because of the variety of spices and herbs that are used to bring out the flavors of a dish. That being said, the recipes for most Indian dishes are fairly simple and easy to follow.
Here is a list of three easy, healthy, and flavorful Indian food recipes that can be made in under 30 minutes by Gayana, a passionate food blogger.
Lemon Vermicelli chitranna
Lemon vermicelli chitranna (shavige baath in Kannada) is a yummy breakfast made using roasted vermicelli. It’s simple, light, tasty, and can be made in under 30 minutes. Serve it as is, or with coconut chutney for best taste.
Yield: 2 Servings
Ingredients:
● 1 cup roasted vermicelli
● 5 cups of Water
● 3 tbsp cooking oil
● ½ tsp mustard seeds
● 3 tbsp groundnuts
● 1 tbsp chana dal
● 3 green chillies or to taste, slit
● 6-8 curry leaves
● 1 medium onion, chopped
● ½ tsp turmeric powder
● Salt to taste
● 3-4 tsp of cilantro/ coriander leaves, chopped
● Lime juice, of half a lime
Directions:
- Boil water in a saucepan.
- Add vermicelli into it, cook until soft (roughly 4-5 minutes).
- Drain and keep vermicelli aside.
- Heat oil in a separate pan.
- Add groundnuts, fry them until light brown on low heat.
- Add mustard seeds, once they pop, add Chana dal and fry until golden brown.
- Add curry leaves, green chilies, and onion and sauté until onion turns translucent.
- Add turmeric powder, salt to taste, mix.
- Add cooked vermicelli into the pan, mix well and turn off heat.
- Garnish with cilantro, drizzle lime juice, and give it a final mix.
- Serve with or without coconut chutney. Enjoy!
Beets Pulao
Aren’t one-pot meals simply the best? This recipe of Beets-pulao in a pressure cooker is an easy-to-prepare, delicious, and healthy one-pot rice dish made using beetroot, green peas, other vegetables, and spices. Serve it for lunch/ dinner with a simple raita, and enjoy!
Yield: 2-3 servings
Ingredients:
● 1 cup basmati rice(200g approx)
● 2 cups of water
● 2 medium beetroots, chopped into small chunks
● 100g of frozen/fresh green peas
● 4 tbsp cooking oil
● 2 bay leaves
● 2 cloves
● 1/2 inch cinnamon
● 3 green cardamom
● 1-2 star anise
● 1 small onion, finely chopped
● 1 ½ tbsp ginger-garlic paste
● 1 large tomato, finely chopped
● ¼ tsp turmeric powder
● 1 tsp red chilli powder
● ½ teaspoon garam masala
● salt to taste
Directions:
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker on low-medium heat.
- Add and saute all the whole spices – bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, green cardamoms, and star anise until aromatic.
- Add onion, saute until translucent.
- Add ginger-garlic paste, saute until there exists no raw smell.
- Add tomato, saute until soft and mushy.
- Add the beets chunks and green peas, saute for a minute.
- Add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder(for heat), and garam masala, mix well.
- Add basmati rice, saute for 30 seconds.
- Pour water, mix well, and allow the mixture to come to a boil.
- Taste for salt, adjust if necessary.
- Give it a final stir, close the lid, and pressure cook until 1 whistle.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Gently mix and serve with raita. Enjoy!
Green gram curry
Green gram curry is a healthy and tasty whole lentil side dish for Rotis or plain steamed rice. Green gram or moong bean is a nutritious lentil used extensively in making curries, stews, salads, soups, and sweets. It needs to be soaked before cooking, for it reduces the cooking time and lowers the gas and bloating that may result from eating whole lentils. The list of ingredients for this recipe may run long, but the curry is easy to make and is achievable in 30 minutes (apart from the soaking time, of course).
Yield: 3-4 servings
Ingredients:
● 200g of green gram, soaked for 4 hours, and drained
● 500ml of water
● 2 tbsp of cooking oil
● ½ tsp cumin seeds
● 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
● ½ tsp minced ginger
● 1 tsp minced garlic
● 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
● ½ tsp turmeric powder
● 1 tsp red chili powder or to taste
● Salt to taste
● ½ tsp MDH kitchen king masala or garam masala(any brand)
For tadka/seasoning:
● 2 tsp of cooking oil/ghee
● ½ tsp mustard seeds
● 2 dried red chilies, split into halves
● A pinch of hing/ asafoetida
● One sprig of curry leaves
Directions:
- Heat cooking oil in a pressure cooker on low-medium heat.
- Add cumin seeds, minced ginger, minced garlic, and saute until aromatic.
- Add onions, sauté until translucent.
- Add tomatoes, sauté until soft.
- Add salt to taste, turmeric powder, red chili powder, and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Transfer soaked and drained green gram into the cooker, pour water and give it a good mix.
- Pressure cook until 3 whistles on medium heat or until green gram is well cooked and soft. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- Check for consistency, add water if necessary.
- Taste for salt, adjust if necessary.
- Add kitchen king masala, cook for a minute on low heat and turn off.
- For the Tadka – heat oil in a separate pan on medium heat. Add mustard seeds, once they pop, add dried red chilies, hing and curry leaves. Turn off and pour the tadka into the curry and give a final stir.
- Serve green gram curry with rotis, plain rice, quinoa or millets. Enjoy!
Visit Gayana’s food blog www.swaadista.com for easy, traditional, healthy, and flavorful recipes.
