Currently, I am obsessed with this Baked Spiced Rice Casserole aka. Tawa Pulao! Such an easy recipe that uses mostly pantry staples and can be made with frozen veggies, canned veggies or fresh ones. Use whatever you like and have available.

As for the spices – I know – the list is long but if you don’t have some of them, you can just use more of the others. Curry powder would be a great substitute for garam masala and paprika or cayenne pepper can be used intead of chili powder.

Feel free to serve this as a side alongside your favorite vegan protein or make it a main. Or just add some chickpeas or lentils to up the protein.

Why this will become a favorite!

• 1 Step 1 pan recipe
• Dump and bake!
• perfect rice texture
• low active time in the kitchen
• allergy friendly

More Rice Casseroles

• Tex Mex Rice Casserole
• Baked Vegan Mushroom Rice
• Baked Kitchari Casserole (Spiced Lentil Rice Casserole)
• Chana Pulao- Baked chickpea rice casserole

Continue reading: Baked Tawa Pulao – Indian Spiced Rice Bake

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Malabar eggplant — crispy eggplant in a shredded coconut red chili curry sauce — is a delicious introduction to the deep flavors of South Indian Malabar cuisine. Serve it with naan or flatbread and some dal for a veggie-packed meal that’s also packed with flavor!

Some veggies can be difficult to like when made simply. Eggplant is one of those. This Malabar eggplant is packed with flavor and texture and is very versatile. You can bake the eggplant or pan fry it. And you can even use other veggies instead, like cauliflower.

South Indian Malabar cuisine is a mix of multiple regional cuisines in Southern India. It’s heavily influenced by coastal and Kerala cuisine along with the many other nearby areas, because of the region being a major trade route. Kerala was considered “the spice garden of the ancient world,” because it produced flavorful spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, and pepper.

Trade, migration, and invasion brought influences from Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Malaysian, and other cuisines to Malabar region(north kerala region).

If you want to explore Malabar cuisine further, also check out my Malabar veggie curry

But back to this eggplant.

The other day I had lots of eggplant on hand, so I decided to make a Malabar-style eggplant , the sauce of which is inspired from crisp and spiced Malabar Chikin recipes. Usually I use cauliflower in this recipe, but you can basically use whichever vegetable you have handy. All of the flavor is in the batter, and that batter is super delicious. After battering and baking or frying the veggies, you toss them in this easy sauce and serve with some tofu curry or dal. You can also replace half the eggplant with tofu to ale this into a meal!

The sauce for Malabar eggplant is on the dry side. If you want to make the dish saucier, you can add in some coconut milk. The sauce can also be rather hot, so adjust as needed based on your heat preference.

🍆 Why You’ll Love Malabar Eggplant

• melt-in-your-mouth eggplant coated in a flavorful, crispy-crunchy batter
• incredibly shredded coconut curry sauce with option to make it even saucier!
• versatile! Make it with eggplant or cauliflower or protein like tofu or seitan or soycurls and adjust flavors and textures to taste.
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Malabar Eggplant (Crispy Eggplant with Spiced Coconut sauce. gluten-free)

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South Indian Crispy cauliflower pepper fry stars cauliflower covered in a flavor-packed peppery batter, that is baked and tossed in a delicious onion curry leaf chili sauce with even more black pepper! It’s an amazing appetizer or side dish, and I have tips for how to make it a meal, too! Gluten-free Soyfree nutfree

This is another pepper fry from South Indian cuisine. It’s a simple veggie pepper fry recipe with cauliflower. We are making the dry version of this, which you serve as an appetizer, like my potato pepper fry.

Usually, the cauliflower is deep fried and then tossed with this onion, black pepper sauce mixture. For this version, I am baking the cauliflower. I’m coating it in this simple, flavorful batter and then baking it so that it gets nice and crispy. Then, you toss it with the pepper fry sauce.

You can bake the pepper fry sauce in the same pan with the cauliflower or cook it in a pan on the stovetop while the cauliflower bakes in the oven.

Cauliflower pepper fry is a side dish or and appetizer, but if you want to make it into a whole meal you can add some cooked chickpeas in the end or some crisped up tofu along with the cauliflower and serve it with rice or flatbread of choice.

However you serve it, cauliflower pepper fry is insanely delicious! You do want to serve it immediately after mixing it with the sauce, as the sauce has a bit of moisture and it’ll take away from the crunch of the cauliflower. But even if it has gone a bit soft, it is still very very tasty! so don’t have to worry about that if you have leftovers. If any is left, Just store in the fridge, reheat on a skillet or oven or microwave, and serve it as a side.

Why You’ll Love Cauliflower Pepper Fry

• crispy cauliflower in peppery spicy pepper fry sauce
• delicious appetizer or side dish with options to make it a meal
• sauce uses so many kinds of fresh and dried peppers!
• baked not fried for a lighter dish than the original
• soy-free, nut-free, and gluten-free

Continue reading: Cauliflower Pepper Fry (soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free)

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Change up your overnight oats game with these Spiced chili Oil Overnight Oats inspired by South Indian Curd rice!! This raita dip oats with shredded veggies finished with curry leaf spiced oil!

This is an overnight oats version of curd rice or yogurt rice, which is a popular South Indian rice dish where cooked rice is mixed with yogurt and finished with spiced chili oil that is tempered with whole spices, like mustard seeds, curry leaves, and chilies.

Curd rice is a popular dish served as is with some chutneys or pickles or as a side with South Indian dishes. It is a simple but super flavorful side dish that is perfect for hot days. I took that concept to make this veggie-full creamy savory spicy overnight oats version.

These Indian spiced overnight oats are a great for a change in breakfast or snack if you want some savory oats instead of sweet.

I know it’s kind of out there for a lot of you to make savory oats, and especially savory overnight oats. But, believe me, these are so refreshing and amazing. Think Indian raita dip with oats!

I have lots of baked oats which are sweet (banana bread oats, apple pie baked oats, snickers oatmeal, PB&J oats!), and then there are the savory versions, like my pizza baked oats and veggie baked oats (which are kind of a veggie fritters).

For these savory oats, we use plenty of crunchy veggies, some non-dairy yogurt as the base and level it up with indian spiced oil spiced with mustard seeds, green chili and curry leaves! Look at that gorgeousness!

Why You’ll Love Indian Spiced Savory Oats

• creamy oats with crunchy veggies
• Indian-spiced chili oil brings tons of flavor!
• easy to make in 25 minutes
• gluten-free, options for nut-free, and soy-free

More Savory Oats Recipes

• Savory Oat Hash – Oats Poha
• Sundried Tomato Herb Cheese Oats
• Spicy Granola
• Veggie Baked Oats

Continue reading: Indian Spiced Yogurt Overnight Oats (Curd Rice Oats, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free)

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Indian Saag aloo — crispy chunks of spiced potato over a bed of absolutely flavorful spinach curry — is just a fabulous combination! This restaurant style version is deeply seasoned with incredible flavors and textures.

The other day, I was wondering why some vegetable-based Indian dishes use fewer spices than meat-based ones. There are several reasons for this. Veggie dishes, like saag aloo, are more homestyle recipes meant to celebrate the flavors of the veggies. Others like Chana masala also are often homestyle recipes. But why shouldn’t veggies be packed with flavor?

What is Saag Aloo?

Saag Aloo is spiced Greens with Potato. It can be a wet curry style dish or a simple stir fry kind of dish. Greens can be spinach, mustard, amaranth or other local greens. The homestyle aloo saag is usually dryish. This is a restaurant style saag aloo that uses all of the incredible spices from chicken saag style recipes, but without the meat. To make this into a meal, you can add cooked chickpeas into the saag or serve it along with my Punjabi chole chickpea curry, dal, or tofu curry on the side. You can also substitute half of the potatoes with some crispy tofu to make it into a tofu and potato spinach curry. 

To make a restaurant-style version, we add a lot more spices and some more fat added to the saag for a more flavorful, creamier experience. For a better texture of the spinach, I like to pulse the frozen spinach in a food processor for a fine chop like texture instead of too leafy or all pureed. I prefer that texture in saag aloo. If using fresh spinach, then finely chop and use. You can also use a combination of greens for this saag like mustard greens, chard, amaranth greens and other seasonal greens.

I also bake the potatoes ti so they are crispy and golden and serve them just lightly mixed in. Homestyle palak aloo has the potatoes cooked with the spinach for a softer potato dish. For a homestyle less spiced version try this palak aloo.

Why You’ll Love this Saag Aloo

• crispy, spiced potatoes over a creamy, super flavorful spinach curry
• easy to make into a meal by adding chickpeas or tofu!
• so versatile! Make with leafy greens of choice, like mustard greens, baby kale, amaranth greens, etc.
• restaurant-style meal at home in only 40 minutes
• gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Continue reading: Restaurant-Style Saag Aloo (Indian Potato Spinach curry)

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This is cranberry sauce chutney! And it’s baked in 1 pan so completely handsfree! Just add all ingredients including some green chili, cinnamon and Garam masala to a baking dish and bake! Stovetop option in notes

This cranberry chutney is also part of my Indianized Thanksgiving spread. This gets baked in the oven. In fact, the whole spread is pretty hands-free.

We bake many of the dishes for this spread in the oven, so that there’s much less standing around and sautéing things on the stove. Instead of cooking this cranberry chutney in a pan, I just add all of it to a baking dish, and bake it. It’s simple as that! 

After baking, you simply mash it a little bit to get an wonderful, jammy texture, and the cranberry chutney is ready. 

If you prefer to cook your chutney on the stovetop, see the notes in the recipe card for those cooking directions.

For the spread the chickpea loaf has Indian spices, and the gravy is a quick mix and boil butter chikin sauce that you’ll also use as the glaze for the meatloaf. The veggie side is spiced, glazed carrots, and the cranberry sauce is made into this quick dump and bake cranberry chutney with garam masala and green chili added to it. For the Spinach pastry, we are using spinach and vegan cream cheese, but the spinach is spiced like saag or palak tofu, so it has all those flavors going and is delicious and creamy.

Why You’ll Love Indian Cranberry Chutney

• easy oven recipe — no standing over the stove!
• sweet cranberry with spicy chilis and savory garam masala
• no chopping or slicing!
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, and oil-free

More Indian Chutnies

• Mint Chutney
• Spicy Mango Chutney
• Tomato Chutney
• Coconut Chutney
• Date Tamarind Chutney

Continue reading: Spicy Cranberry Chutney (easy oven recipe!)

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Another part of my Thanksgiving spread! These addictive and perfect glazed carrots! Maple syrup, salt, black pepper and Garam masala makes for amazingly flavorful and gorgeous roasted glazed carrots!. And they are baked in just 1 pan!

These spiced, maple glazed carrots are part of my Indianized vegan Thanksgiving spread, but they make an amazing side with almost any meal. They have an incredible texture and a sweet-spiced flavor that will have you asking for seconds.

You can change up the spices and herbs to pair them with a different menu, if you like. Add a bit of oregano or thyme for a more traditional Thanksgiving flavor, or change the seasonings to suit your tastes.

Like the rest of this Indian-inspired Thanksgiving spread, you make these carrots in the oven. We are leaning heavily on the oven for these recipes, so you have a lot less active cooking time. While things are baking, you can actually spend time with family and friends!

For the spread the chickpea loaf has Indian spices, and the gravy is a quick mix and boil butter chikin sauce that you’ll also use as the glaze for the meatloaf. The veggie side are these glazed carrots, and the cranberry sauce is made into a quick dump and bake Baked cranberry chutney with garam masala and green chili added to it. For the Spinach pastry, we are using spinach and vegan cream cheese, but the spinach is spiced like saag or palak tofu.

Why You’ll Love Spiced Glazed Carrots

• one dish, oven recipe
• 7 ingredients and full of FLAVOR!
• tender carrots in a sweet-spiced glaze
• naturally soy-free, nut-free, and gluten-free

More Easy Baked Side Dishes

• Aloo Gobi
• Mushroom Rice
• Garlic Fries with Tahini Sauce
• Chimichurri Smashed Potatoes
• Scalloped Potatoes and Cauliflower with Jamaican Curry Spices

Continue reading: Spiced Glazed Carrots (Festive Roasted carrots)

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Fragrant jackfruit biryani uses spiced jackfruit instead of meat to veganize this favorite dish! Baked means less active time of standing and sautéing. Everything baked in just 1 Pan, and needs just 2 steps.

Biryani is a deep flavored fragrant rice dish flavored with whole spices and sometimes a sauce, paired usually with meats. To make traditional biryani, you need to cook the rice, toast whole spices, and just generally do a lot of mixing and stirring on the stovetop. This jackfruit biryani recipe skips all of that! You make the entire dish in the oven, stirring only a few times to ensure even cooking. It’s just 2 Steps, add aromatics, spices and jackfruit and bake, then add the rice and broth and bake. Done!

While the biryani baked in the oven, you have plenty of time to prepare a quick curry dish (you can even do a baked curry!) and some simple raita to serve with it.

This vegan biryani may cut down on time and work, but it doesn’t sacrifice any of the amazing flavors you associate with a biryani! It’s scented with cumin, cloves, cardamom, ginger, garlic, and more to give it just an amazing flavor with a fraction of the work.

Why You’ll Love Jackfruit Biryani

• fragrant, plant-forward rice dish with flavors of ginger, garlic, cardamom, and garam masala
• bakes in one pan in the oven. No standing over the stove!
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

More Vegan Biryani

• Mushroom Biryani
• Chickpea Cauliflower Rice Biryani
• Quinoa Cauliflower Biryani
• Lentil Biryani

Continue reading: Baked Jackfruit Biryani (Kathal Biryani, soy-free, gluten-free)

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Crunchy veggies in a spicy, zesty Indian-spice vinaigrette, make this chaat masala salad a summer staple! The Indian spice blend “chaat masala” gives this salad an incredible flavor, while tofu and veggies make it a satisfying, light meal.

Let me introduce you to this amazing Indian spice blend called Chaat Masala. Chaat masala is an Indian spice blend which includes Indian sulfur salt (kala namak), cumin, cayenne, and other ingredients. It’s adds an amazing sour and spicy flavor!

This is a refreshing summer chaat masala salad inspired by a kachumber salad. I used onion, tomatoes, cucumbers, and radishes as a base and add some tofu for protein, lots of cilantro for the herbs, and lettuce for some extra crunch and to make it more of a filling meal. 

It has a simple dressing of lime juice, loads of black pepper, and chaat masala.

If you’re wondering why I would you would add eggy-smelling kala namak to the mix, well chaat masala has been used in Indian cuisine for various flavors. They are very popular and used in many snacks, street food, or over fruits and any which way in India. It might smell slightly eggy, but the taste is kind of spicy sour patch kind of flavor profile. And that flavor works wonderfully in this chopped salad. You definitely have to try it! 

Why You’ll Love Chaat Masala Salad

• lots of fresh, crunchy veggies
• sweet-and-spicy, tangy dressing
• ready in under 30 minutes
• naturally gluten-free, oil-free, and nut-free

More Vegan Summer Salads

• Summer Pasta Salad
• Chickpea Dill Salad
• Lentil Quinoa Salad
• Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad
• Mango Chickpea Zucchini Koshimbir Salad with Curry Leaves

Continue reading: Chaat Masala Salad (Chopped Salad with Indian-spice Vinaigrette, gluten-free, oil-free, and nut-free!)

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Fresh, flavorful Indian koshimbir inspired salad with crunchy zucchini, sweet mango, crisp peanuts and hearty chickpeas is flavored with curry leaf scented oil. It works as a side dish or as a meal on its own with pita or chips for dipping. It’s a satisfying vegan summer salad that’s naturally gluten-free and soy-free!

Koshimbir salad is an Indian salad that combines seasonal veggies with salt, pepper, coconut, peanuts and lime juice. The salad also is flavored with a tempering or tadka, which is spice-scented oil that is added on top, similar to chili oil, but with Indian spices. Some versions have non dairy yogurt added in as well based on the veggie used. This salad in inspired from Maharashtrian koshimbir. Maharashtra is a state in western India.

It’s served as a salad or a side. This loaded koshimbir has chickpeas in it, so you can serve it with pita bread or chips for a full meal. It has loads of flavors and textures from zucchini, mango, onion, chopped peanuts, shredded coconut and curry leaves! You guys have got to try this tadka salad! Every bit is a burst of flavors and textures.

If you like this zucchini koshimbir salad, try my beet and carrot koshimbir salad, too!

Why You’ll Love Zucchini Koshimbir Salad

• fresh salad full of crunchy veggies
• flavorful dressing and tempering
• easy to make in under 30 minutes
• gluten-free and soy-free

More Indian-Inspired Salads

• Kachumber Salad
• Sweet Potato Bhel
• Tikka Masala Pasta Salad
• Mustard Seed Chili Oil Tadka noodle salad

Continue reading: Mango Chickpea Zucchini Koshimbir Salad with Curry Leaves

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