Vegan

You need medium-sized egglants for this. I use the purple kind, 5 of them, each weighing about 5 ounces, and then cut them, unskinned, into 2” × 1” chunks, each chunk with skin on at least one side. Normally, eggplant chunks require frying first to give them their unctuous, satiny texture, after which they may be folded into a variety of sauces—here it is a tomato sauce. But I have found a less oily way around that; I broil them instead. You serve this dish hot with a lamb or chicken curry or cold, as a salad, with cold meats, Indian (such as Tandoori-Style Chicken with Mint) or Western.

Here is an everyday carrot dish. In India it is served hot, but I often serve it cold in the summer, almost like a carrot salad.

South Indian vegetables can be very simply prepared. Here green beans are blanched and then quickly stir-fried with spices. These can be served with any meat, poultry, or fish dish, South Asian or Western.

You need the patties from the preceding recipe and the same pan used for browning them with its leftover oil. This is in fact a continuation of the last recipe and makes for a quick curry, good with rice, bread, and also with fried eggs and toast! So, make the preceding recipe, remove the patties from the frying pan with a slotted spatula, put them on a plate, and proceed immediately to make the curry sauce. For a simple meal, serve with a rice dish and Corn with Aromatic Seasonings.

Pronounced “eshtew” by the locals, this aromatic, soul-satisfying stew is a much-loved dish, often eaten by the Syrian Christians of the southwestern state of Kerala at Easter. It has all the spices that grow in the backyards of Kerala homes—cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and peppercorns. It also has the Kerala staple, coconut milk. While it is generally served with the rice pancakes known as appams (“appam and stew” being somewhat akin to “meatloaf and mashed potatoes” or “rice and beans” or “ham and eggs”), plain jasmine rice is just as good.

Gujaratis in western India do not actually drink soups as such. They do have many soupy dishes, which are meant to be eaten with flatbreads, rice, or spongy, savory, steamed cakes known as dhoklas. Here is one such dish. It makes for a gorgeous soup. I serve it with a little dollop of cream and a light sprinkling of ground roasted cumin (page 284), though these are not at all essential. In the summer months, I make my own tomato puree and use that to make the soup. Store-bought puree is perfectly good too. In Gujarat a similar dish is served with homemade noodles in it. It is known as dal dhokli. I sometimes throw small quantities of cooked pasta bow ties or even macaroni into the soup.

Here is a dish that, as far as I know, was only served in India by my own family. My mother made it; my grandmother made it. It was made only when peas were young and fresh. Even Indians (from other families and from other parts of India) who have dined with us in the pea season are surprised by it. It requires whole, fresh peas in their pods. I grow my own peas, and this is the first dish I make with them when they are ready for picking. You have to eat the peas rather like artichoke leaves: you put the whole pea pod in your mouth, holding on to it by its stem end, clench your teeth, and pull. What you get to eat are not just the peas themselves but also the softened outsides of the shells. You discard the fibrous bits after getting all the goodness out of them. We ate this as a snack or at teatime, but I have taken to serving it as a first course.

Although Indians do not eat appetizer courses as such, there are many Indian dishes that can be served as a first course. This eggplant dish is one of them. I often serve it that way, with a slice of French bread on the side and some Pinot Grigio to polish it off. You can, of course, also serve it as the vegetable dish with the main course. (I love it with the Tandoori-Style Duck Breasts, page 103.)

I often offer these as an appetizer. I serve them just the way they are, but you could also serve them on toasted slices of Italian bread or just buttered toast.

There is nothing like sitting down for an evening drink with these chickpeas by one’s side. Since they come out of a can, no hard work is involved. I like to use organic canned chickpeas, but any kind will do. If you have access to an Indian grocer, do sprinkle the chickpeas with some chaat masala at the end. It gives them an extra spiciness. But this is not essential. These are best eaten the day they are made.

You can make this with store-bought popcorn (you will need about 4 1/2 quarts), but it is much more fun to pop the corn and season it yourself. If you have your own method of popping corn, do use it. My method is given below.

Almonds are considered brain food in India. They were always given to us in the morning, especially before exams, after they had been soaked overnight and then peeled. Each one of us got seven almonds—don’t ask me why. So here is a delicious, lightly perfumed morning dose for two people. The soaking makes them taste a bit like green almonds. The perfume is an added bonus. You may serve them with drinks. I often offer dinner guests a few of these almonds just before I serve dessert and coffee.

Black pepper is native to India. Long before India had red chilies to make foods hot, it relied on black pepper. This recipe harks back to a period that is still part of India’s present.

I love these radishes and cannot stop eating them. I like to serve them with drinks, but you may serve them with grilled meats or as a relish with a meal.

Walking along the corniche or waterfront in Alexandria, one is irresistibly lured by the smell of corn grilled over charcoal. Vendors sit behind little braziers filled with glowing coals, fanning the flames furiously, or letting the sea breeze do it for them.