vegetables

India has the world’s most developed vegetarian cuisine. Given that over 80% of their over one billon people are vegetarian, it is not surprising that this is the case.

These recipes feature vegetables and fruit, and range from simple to complex, and from mild to hot.

Many, but not all, of these recipes are suitable for vegan diets. Some contain ghee, yoghurt, or paneer.

These are some of our favourite vegetable recipes and are mainly from southern India.

mixed vegetables with coconut

Avial is a dish of mixed vegetables, yoghurt, and coconut, cooked with mustard oil and curry leaves.

beans with coconut

fansi poriyal is a South Indian dish featuring just-cooked beans. It is a simple and healthy part of an everyday meal.

pan-roasted brussel sprouts

Crispy outer leaves, and softer, but still crunchy centres, spiced with turmeric, cumin and mustard seeds, hoti bund gobhi sabzi is a wonderful way to prepare Brussel sprouts.

cabbage poriyal

Cabbage poriyal is a dry, stir-fried preparation of shredded cabbage, spiced with mustard seeds and curry leaves, then finished with coconut.

Cabbage thoran, or muttokos thoran, is a dry, stir-fried curry from Kerala made from cabbage and carrots. It is cooked in coconut oil with black mustard seeds, green chilies, curry leaves and coconut

paneer stuffed capsicums

Spiced paneer stuffed capsicums, bharwan simla mirch, are perfect for a vegetable dish on their own, as part of a feast, or as a starter.

carrots and beans with lime

A simple dish of carrots and beans, lifted with lime. Gajar sem ki sabzi is a common Bengali preparation.

carrot salad

A crunchy Gujarati carrot salad with black mustard seeds, gajar nu salat is a light, fresh and healthy dish to enjoy as an accompaniment to most main dishes.

carrots with dill

Gajar suva sabzi is a dry vegetable dish made from carrots with dill leaves and just a few spices. A great family dish.

cauliflower in pickling spices

Achari gobi is a delightful cauliflower dish from Lucknow. The pickling spices are the spices to make pickles, hence the name. Simple to cook and goes with just about anything.

roasted cauliflower

Phulkopir roast is a Bengali family recipe for roasted cauliflower and on high rotation in my Grandmother's kitchen. It is of those simple vegetarian dishes that features the main ingredient.

corn salad

This sweet corn salad, maaki chaat, looks appealing and is healthy, light and full of flavour. The spices and the corn work well together.