Madhur Jaffrey's Easy, Healthy Indian Recipes

Jake Stangel

We have a proposition for anyone seeking an exciting way to eat more vegetables: Try adding these classic Indian dishes to your repertoire. Each vibrant recipe comes courtesy of Delhi-born cookbook author and culinary legend Madhur Jaffrey. Our takeaway? If you have the right spices, and know how to chop, simmer, and stir-fry, Indian food doesn’t have to be labor-intensive or complicated. These recipes, some of which take less than 30 minutes, are the healthy, flavor-packed proof.

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Chicken with Roasted Coriander in Coconut-Curry Sauce

Jake Stangel

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Madhur Jaffrey

. Our takeaway? If you have the right

spices

, and know how to chop, simmer, and stir-fry, Indian food doesn’t have to be labor-intensive or complicated. These recipes, some of which take less than 30 minutes, are the healthy, flavor-packed proof.

/-->/Chicken with Roasted Coriander in Coconut-Curry Sauce

Flavored with roasted fenugreek and coriander seeds and coconut milk, this rich, succulent South Indian-style chicken dish is ideal for entertaining.

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Toovar Dal

Jake Stangel

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Spooned over rice, this brothy dal is a classic home-cooked dish among the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins, on India’s southwestern coast.

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Delhi-Style Green Beans

Jake Stangel

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Jaffrey cooks the beans until they are very tender, so they’ll better absorb the spices.

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Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes

Jake Stangel

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This light dish can be served at room temperature as a side or dip.

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Potatoes with Sesame Seeds

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Jaffrey recommends serving these cumin-spiked potatoes with roasted meat.

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Stir-Fried Carrots with Coconut

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Roasted urad dal gives the carrots a subtle, nutty flavor.

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Plain Basmati Rice

Martyna Szczesna

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Jaffrey takes the guesswork out of cooking basmati rice with her super simple (and reliable!) method.

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Yogurt with Cucumber and Mint

Martyna Szczesna

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Toast and grind your own cumin seeds to give this cooling cucumber raita a major flavor boost.

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Fresh Cilantro Chutney

Martyna Szczesna

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Fiery green chiles -- Jaffrey likes the bird's-eye variety -- give this bright condiment just the right amount of heat.

Chicken with Roasted Coriander and Potatoes with Sesame Seeds recipes excerpted from "
Indian Cooking
," by Madhur Jaffrey, copyright © 2002 Madhur Jaffrey, published by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All other recipes except Fresh Cilantro Chutney excerpted from "
Vegetarian India
," by Madhur Jaffrey, copyright © 2015 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Madhur Jaffrey's Easy, Healthy Indian Recipes

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Chicken with Roasted Coriander in Coconut-Curry Sauce

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