Vegetarian mains, not sides
Vegetarian is the library's seventh largest category, but a lot of it is sides. These eight are full dinners, chosen because each recipe gives real quantities and a method that explains itself. Four are vegan as written. The notes say what the protein or bulk is, where the time goes, and what each dish is served with.
Mesir Wat (Spicy Ethiopian Lentil Stew)
1 of 8
Two cups of red lentils simmered twenty minutes, folded into onion and garlic fried with two tablespoons of berbere, tomato paste, cumin and turmeric, then twenty minutes more. Vegan, one spice blend doing the work, served with injera or bread. About forty-five minutes.
Chickpea Curry (Masaledaar Chole)
2 of 8
Dried chickpeas soaked overnight and pressure cooked, then ten minutes in a gravy of browned onion, turmeric, chilli, garam masala, curry powder, tomato and ginger-garlic paste. The soaking is the only planning. Vegan, with chapattis or paratha.
Rice and Lentils (Mejadra)
3 of 8
Lentils and rice each fried dry in oil until they start to catch, seasoned with baharat, cumin and cardamom, then cooked separately and combined. The onion, sliced thin and fried until deep brown, is the slow part and the recipe says it is where most of the flavour comes from. Vegan.
Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani)
4 of 8
Fried paneer, a golden onion and capsicum base, and a separate pan of ghee, hing, cardamom, garam masala and chilli with half a kilo of yoghurt stirred in. Everything meets for fifteen minutes on low. The yoghurt makes it tangier than the restaurant cream version, and the recipe says how to loosen it with milk if you want gravy.
Tofu Saltado
5 of 8
A vegan lomo saltado. Tofu marinated in soy and crispy chilli oil, fried, then tossed with red onion, peppers, tomatoes, cumin, coriander and vinegar, and served over cubed potatoes fried for fifteen to twenty minutes. Sixty grams of fresh mint and coriander go in at the end. Several pans, under an hour.
Risotto ai Funghi (Mushroom Risotto)
6 of 8
Porcini, dried or fresh, with the soaking water strained into the stock. Rice coated in butter, a cup of white wine cooked off, then stock a ladle at a time for fifteen to twenty minutes with a stir every couple of minutes. The recipe's test: creamy, still with bite, and it spreads on the plate. Uses chicken stock, so swap it to keep this vegetarian.
Stuffed Squash
7 of 8
Winter squash roasted hollow for thirty to forty-five minutes while a pilaf of toasted almonds, onion, garlic and rice cooks in a pot. The rice goes into the squash, gruyere over the top, and a few minutes under the broiler. Serves as many as you have squashes.
Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana) II
8 of 8
Two kilos of eggplant salted for an hour, fried in half an inch of olive oil in batches, then layered with a twenty-minute tomato and basil sauce and a kilo of sliced mozzarella, Parmesan on top, forty minutes in the oven. The recipe says leftovers are better the next day, and it is right. This is the long one.