It’s been a gruelling past few weeks, what with the weather beckoning for a camping trip, a few outdoor BBQs, and not to mention a long lazy soak in the sun. Add to that a bunch of deadlines and tons of pending emails to take care of, and you’ll have me absconding from the face of this blog!

As much as I’ve away from posting anything on this site, I did however manage to rescue a few souls from the brink of disaster. Yes, thank you, and you’re most welcome. I’ll be looking out for my much deserved cheque in the mail! (Well, what can I say, I had to give it one last try!)

Here is an email I received a few weeks ago that got me thinking, testing and dreaming recipes. Until last night, when I finally saw the table clearly laid out in mind waiting for hungry mouths to dig in, I was seeing ginger, garlic and onions everywhere! I tell you people, the things I do for the love of cooking!

Dear Meena,

I have a co-worker from India who is Jain. I’d like to invite him and his wife to dinner one of these days. Now the problem is I have no idea how to make anything without onion, ginger, potato etc! They are very strict about their food. Help! I want to serve at least three entrees and rice and/or roti. Can you give me suggestions and/or recipes?

- Confused Cook

Dear Confused Cook,

Truth be told, I’ve never attempted to cook Jain food, much less ever had a chance to eat it. So the scary thought of creating a menu for you without any ginger, garlic and onions, without which my kitchen would seem barren and in need of a desperate makeover, turned me into a mad woman that surprised even sweet little Hubby Dear. Ever little thing I cooked and ate over the past few days was scrutinized in hopes of finding a way to recreate it without the bare essentials of my cooking. But as they say, prespiration gives way to perfection (I can swear I heard that somewhere!), and I’m happy to note that your very first Jain dinner party will soon take shape.

- Meena

The menu I designed for this dinner includes the classic favourites like Pulao, Dal, and Rotis. The vegetable dishes I’ve picked for this menu are either traditionally cooked without onions and garlic, or can easily be made without them, without comprimising much on flavour.

• Dal: Cook your choice of Dal in the normal way, omitting the addition of onions, ginger and garlic. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
• Kadhi-Pakodi: This wonderful dish, prepared from yoghurt and gram flour is a personal favourite of mine. While in most cases onions are used in the end as a tempering with dried chillies, it can easily be avoided to accomodate a Jain diet. Bring a mixture of 2 tbsp gram flour, I cup yoghurt and 2 cups water to a boil, stirring occasionally to avoid forming lumps. Season with salt, turmeric and chili powder. Add in pakodas made with vegetables of choice, and stir in a tempering of cumin seeds, dried red chillies and a pinch of dried fenugreek leaves for added flavour.
• Paneer Tak-a-tak: recipe follows
• Dahi Bhindi: Follow the recipe avoiding the addition of onions and ginger powder.
• Fried Baingan
• Peas Pulao: Again, omit the addition of onions.
• Plain Rotis and/or Puris

Add in a Raita, salad and Papad, and there you have it CC, a wonderful, Jain accomodated hearty meal! For dessert I suggest the usual favourites, kheer, gulab jamun or halwa.

Do you have any trouble planning a menu or fixing a meal? I’m only a few lines away…

PANEER TAK-A-TAK
SPICED CRUMBLED PANEER
Prep time: 10 min | Cooking time: 10 min | Serves: 4 

500 gms 1 small 1 1 1/2 tsp 1 1/2 tsp 1 1/2 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp 2 tbsp

paneer, cut into tiny cubes or crumpled tomato, finely chopped green bell pepper, diced into small cubes cumin seeds coriander seeds fennel seeds red chilli powder turmeric powder coriander powder garam masala powder light cooking oil salt, to taste

SAUTE cumin, fennel, and coriander seeds in hot oil till they start to sizzle. Add in spice powders and once fragrant stir in paneer coating it well with the spices.

ADD in tomatoes, green peppers, and salt and let cook covered for a few minutes. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Recipes: Vegetarian, What to Cook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.