My go-to, easy-to-make recipes which happen to be gluten-free and vegan

Hi everyone! As the title suggests, I’m back with another couple of beginner-friendly recipes from Indian cuisine. This time, the added bonus is that they’re both naturally gluten-free (for you L 😀 ) and vegan recipes. I hope you enjoy them. 🙂

Poha

The first recipe is a delicious breakfast recipe popular in western and central India. It is made with flattened rice (called poha/paua), onion and potatoes and includes seasoning ingredients like some mild spices, curry leaves, peanuts and coriander/cilantro. While poha is a popular breakfast recipe, it’s perfectly acceptable to eat it for a mid-day snack or even for dinner (desperate times, you know!).

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

Steps:

1. Before you begin the actual cooking, let’s make sure that you’ll get a fluffy texture for your poha at the end. The best way to make this happen is to (1) use medium-thick poha for this recipe and (2) rinse your poha with water and let it sit in a colander on the side while you prep other things.
2. I’m unsure if this is a popular practice, but I also like to season my poha right at this stage and let them marinate for a few minutes before I toss them in the pan. I find it easier to mix the poha with the rest of my ingredients if they’re already evenly coated with the required seasoning.
   • As for the seasoning- I use ~75% of salt and turmeric noted in the ingredients for the poha and a pinch of sugar. Mix the poha well so each grain is well-coated. Now cover it and keep it aside.
3. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin. Heat some cooking oil in a pan and add some peanuts. Saute them well for a couple of minutes and take them out for later use. Obviously, feel free to skip this step if you dislike peanuts and/or are allergic to them.
4. Now, add the cumin and mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chilli into the pan. Wait until you hear the curry leaves splutter and then add your onions. Saute them for a couple of minutes until they turn translucent.
5. Add in the diced potatoes and saute them nicely. Now cover the pan and let the potatoes cook on a medium flame for 2-3 minutes. You’ll want the potatoes to be well-cooked before the next step.
6. Now, add the remaining salt and turmeric to the pan before mixing in your poha.
7. Mix the poha with the rest of your ingredients and cook them well at low flame for another 1-2 minutes. Remember to cook it on a low flame to prevent the poha from sticking to the bottom of your pan.
8. Now turn off the stove and add the lime/lemon juice.
9. Garnish your dish with some coriander, pomegranate seeds, and sev (if you have it). Simple and filling ‘bataka poha‘.

I must mention that traditionally poha is paired with Indian masala chai, so if you have that option available, you must give it a shot at least once haha!

vegetable pulao (an Indian fried rice)

This second recipe is probably my most preferred one-pot dinner recipe. All you need is some rice (people often choose basmati, but any kind is fine I guess), any vegetables of your liking and a few spices.

Here are the ingredients:

Steps:

1. Rinse your rice with water thoroughly and let it soak in some clean water until you need it.
2. Heat some oil or ghee (this isn’t vegan) if you have it in a pan and add all your whole spices like cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom etc.
3. Once they turn aromatic, add in your green chilli, garlic and ginger. Saute the ingredients well for a minute or so. (for a less spicy version, add the green chilli later)
4. Now add in your onions and saute them until they turn translucent.
5. Next, add in your potatoes and tomatoes. Let them cook for a minute or two.
6. Now, once the tomatoes have softened a little, add in the rest of your vegetables.
7. Next, add the other spice ingredients such as salt, black pepper, chilli powder and of course, don’t forget a pinch of garam masala. Once again, to keep it less spicy, add only a small amount of garam masala. Saute everything well.
8. Now mix in the soaked rice with everything else so that even the rice is well-coated with all the spices you added.
9. Now add some water to the pan, give everything a good stir and cover the pan with a lid. Let the rice cook on low-medium heat until all the access water evaporates.
10. And there you have it! Veg Pulao is ready. Turn off the stove, and fluff the rice gently. You can garnish it with some coriander if you like.

I like to pair veg pulao with some plain yoghurt but one can also pair it with other curries or eat it as is.

So, these are the recipes I personally cook pretty regularly. But, as some of you might know, Indian cuisine is quite famous for being naturally gluten-free. If you’d like to explore more such recipes, I highly recommend checking out this blog from Piping Pot Curry.

Until next time!