Meatless Monday Recipe Roundup: Happy Navratri!
We’re in the thick of Navratri (it happens twice a year), a Hindu festival that literally translates to nine nights, and spends the duration honoring Shakti, or the feminie form of the divine. In older times, Navratri was associated with the fertility of Mother Earth who feeds us as her children. So, while many engage in special ceremonies, rituals, fasts and festivities throughout India and beyond, we thought we’d dedicate this Meatless Monday to Indian cooking. From goddesses in the kitchen, enjoy this sacred fare. Give thanks.
Over at the Bookcooker, you’ll get this delectable recipe for Straight Edge Samosas with a good dose of reading companionship. Whether or not you read Ten Thousand Saints, these vegetarian samosas are perfectly spiced and paired with a dipping sauce that makes for a flavor firework in your mouth.
Another covetable appetizer from Indian cooking, eCurry brings us Niramish Dum Aloo, or spice coated baby potatoes. It’s really quite simple — that is once you’ve gathered the proper spices — and puts a potato chip to shame.
Pair either of the above with this salad from Hobby & More for Beet and Carrot Koshimbir. Grated beets and carrots spiced up with mustard seeds and chili tadka make for a side salad that is truly out of the ordinary.
This recipe for Vendakkaya Puli Pachadi from Tongue Ticklers is as hard to pronounce as it is unique. From what I gather, it’s a sweet and sour soup that pairs okra with tamarind, and several other exotic ingredients. As a lover of new, exotic tastes, this recipe is going onto my ‘must try’ list while soups are still in high cold-weather demand.
Thank goddess for all this wonderful fare.
image: bookcooker
