I’m flabbergasted to tell you that this month marks my seventh year of writing the New Vegan column. That’s a total of 348 recipes (or just 17 short of one for every day of the year). It’s taken a lot of vegetable peelings, sweat and tears to get here, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that plant-based cooking has been anything but a limit on my creativity, and that the fire in my belly for writing new recipes has often been sparked by your support. As a “thank you” for coming along for the ride, here are eight exclusive recipes from my new book, Dinner, which is published on 1 August.
Simple tomato dal (pictured top)
A noble use of summer tomatoes. Note: curry leaves can be found in most larger supermarkets and south Asian supermarkets. Freeze what you don’t use for another day. You’ll need a blender.
Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4
300g split red lentils
600g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
10 fresh curry leaves
5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2cm x 2cm piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 green finger chillies, finely chopped, or 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
Scant ½ tsp ground black pepper
1¾ tsp salt
Cooked basmati rice, to serve
Wash the lentils in a sieve under the cold tap until the water runs clear, then leave to drain. Put the chopped tomatoes in a blender, blitz smooth, then set aside.
Put the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves, let them crackle and pop for a few seconds (if they don’t, move on with the next step immediately, because they’ll quickly turn bitter), then stir in the garlic, ginger and chillies, and cook for two minutes, until the smell of the garlic goes from raw to cooked.
Add the cumin, turmeric, pepper and salt, and stir to mix. Add the fresh tomato paste, mix again, then partially put a lid over the top and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the lentils and a litre of water, stir, cock the lid over the top again and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, until the lentils and water have come together – you don’t want them to be merged completely, but to a level of uniformity that you understand to be dal, rather than lentils in broth, for example.
Serve with steamed basmati rice.
18-carat laksa
The only thing I know of to be more successful than this recipe in dispatching a whole bag of carrots is a horse. Roasted, the carrots’ natural sweetness counters the intensity of the aromatics and spices in the curried laksa and, along with the coconut milk, balances it perfectly. On a separate note, it’s taken me 10 years finally to write a recipe that uses a kilo of carrots for a main course. I’m so proud of it that I may just frame it and put it up next to my grade 1 piano certificate in the downstairs bathroom.
Note: most of the ingredients go straight into a blender to create the laksa paste. You can buy tofu puffs in Chinese supermarkets and online. Laksa noodles (medium rice vermicelli) are difficult to source; when I can’t find them, I use wheat ramen noodles or rice sticks instead.
Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 4
For the quick pickled beansprouts
100g beansprouts
2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
Salt
For the laksa
1kg carrots, peeled
8 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 brown onion, peeled and chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3cm x 3cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 sticks lemongrass, outer leaves and top third discarded, the rest chopped
15 fresh curry leaves
4 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp mild curry powder
1 tbsp caster sugar
2½ tbsp light soy sauce
400ml tin coconut milk
240g (or 16) tofu puffs
320g medium rice vermicelli noodles
20g fresh Thai basil, picked, to serve
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. To make the pickle, pop the beansprouts, vinegar, two teaspoons of salt and 150ml freshly boiled water in a small heatproof bowl, leave to one side for 10 minutes, then drain.
Meanwhile, halve the carrots lengthways and chop them into 3cm chunks. Put in a single layer on a large roasting tray or two, drizzle with two tablespoons of oil and sprinkle over half a teaspoon of salt in total. Mix with your hands, then roast for 40 minutes.
While the carrots are roasting, make the laksa paste. Put six tablespoons of oil in a small blender with the onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, curry leaves, a teaspoon and a quarter of salt, the chilli powder, curry powder and sugar, then blend to a smooth paste. Scrape every last bit of the paste into a large saucepan, then rinse out the blender and put to one side – you’ll need it again later. Heat the pasteon a medium heat, stirring regularly, for 12 minutes, then add the soy sauce, coconut milk, roast carrots, tofu puffs and 850ml water.
Bring to a boil, simmer for eight minutes, then take a heaped ladleful of the carrots with some of the liquid and pop it into the blender. Blitz smooth, then stir back into the pot. Turn off the heat and cover with a lid while you cook and drain the noodles according to the packet instructions.
Distribute the noodles across four bowls, then ladle the laksa and carrots between the bowls. Put a small pile of pickled bean sprouts on top, along with a few Thai basil leaves, and serve.
Chilli braised aubergine and celery, AKA Ben Benton strikes again
On any given day, I want to know what my friend the cook and writer Ben Benton is eating, because it’s guaranteed to be great. I’ve never met a more naturally talented cook who has the ability to transform the most basic ingredients into pure magic. He has many fans of his ben ben noodles (which featured in my book East), and here he strikes again with a braised aubergine and celery dish that he likes to make for friends when they come for dinner. It does not disappoint: elegant and simple, it’s greater than the sum of its parts.
Note: you’ll need a specific type of Lao Gan Ma chilli oil to make this, called “kohlrabi, peanuts and tofu in chilli oil”. If you use another type, add it a tablespoon at a time until it tastes just right to you.
Prep 10 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
3 medium aubergines (900g)
Rapeseed oil, for frying
2 celery sticks (300g), cut at a steep angle into 2cm pieces, any leaves reserved
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp Lao Gan Ma kohlrabi, peanuts and tofu in chilli oil, or other chilli oil
Cooked jasmine rice, to serve
Lightly bash the peppercorns in a mortar – or skip this step if you’re happy (as I am) to encounter a feisty little crunch in the finished dish. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, then cut each half into four long wedges. You’ll be frying them in batches, so get a plate and a pair of tongs ready to move them around.
Put two tablespoons of oil in a wide, nonstick pan or pot for which you have a lid and set it over a medium to high heat. When the oil is shimmering hot, place the wedges of aubergine cut side down in the pan – as many as will fit next to each other – and cook for two to three minutes, until golden. Turn them over, add another tablespoon of oil, fry the aubergine wedges for another two minutes, then transfer to the plate. Fry the remaining aubergines, adding a little oil each time you add or turn them. Don’t worry if they’re not fully cooked through: they’ll be braised to softness shortly.
Put two more tablespoons of oil in the pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the celery and pop on the lid. Cook for five minutes, tossing occasionally, then stir in the fennel seeds and pop on the lid again for another five minutes.
Put the aubergines back in the pan, add the soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil, then gently stir to coat everything in the sauce. Add five tablespoons of water, pop on the lid, turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away for 15 minutes, so the flavours mingle. Top with the reserved celery leaves, if you have any, and serve with fresh, hot jasmine rice.
Sunday kitchari
Kitchari is traditionally what the women in my family cook when they’re tired or convalescing, but there’s Deliveroo for that now. So this is a slightly embellished variation of an everyday meal made from a mixture of rice and lentils. I like to make this on a Sunday, when I want to cook and would like some comfort food, but want the oven to do most of the work.
Note: there are two types of kitchari, wet and dry. I prefer mine more like rice than risotto, but feel free to add more water if you prefer it looser. You’ll need a casserole dish with a lid that’s suitable for both oven and hob. Mung dal is the dehusked yellow split lentil of the whole green mung bean; it’s available in south Asian supermarkets and online.
Prep 10 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4
200g basmati rice
200g mung dal
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 large handful cashew nuts (50g)
2cm x 2cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes (150g), chopped
2 green finger chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1¾ tsp salt
To serve
Dairy-free yoghurt
Lime pickle, or other Indian pickles
1 handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Put the rice and mung dal in a bowl, cover with cold water, then agitate with your hand. Drain and repeat until the water is clear. Drain again, then cover with fresh cold water and leave to soak while you prepare the other ingredients.
Put the oil in a casserole pot on a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, let them sizzle for 30 seconds, then add the onion and cashews, and cook for six to eight minutes, until the onion starts to bronze around the edges.
Add the ginger, tomatoes, chillies, turmeric and salt, cook for three minutes, then stir in the drained rice and lentil mix. Add 700ml water, pop on the lid and bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove and leave to rest with the lid on for 10 minutes.
To serve, pile the kitchari into bowls, dollop over the yoghurt, add a spoonful of your favourite pickle, scatter over the coriander and serve with lemon wedges alongside.
Turnip cake
This is based on a classic dim sum. Sometimes called radish cake, it is confusingly made with daikon, more commonly known as mooli. It’s one of my favourites, and ticks a lot of my boxes: it’s sweet and savoury, near custardy in the middle, but crisp on the outside. You can serve it with drinks as a starter (I have), but it makes for a lavish side; try it alonside Ben Benton strikes again above, for instance.
Note: to make this, you’ll need Thai rice flour (not the glutinous variety), which is much finer than supermarket rice flour. You’ll also need a one-litre ovenproof dish (ceramic, glass, or even a foil takeaway container), and a bigger ovenproof dish to put it in . To get ahead, make this the day before and fry before serving.
Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Cool 1 hr +
Serves 6 as a side
For the turnip cake
Rapeseed oil
140g Thai rice flour (non-glutinous)
1 tbsp cornflour
1½ tsp caster sugar
1¼ tsp salt
200g banana shallots, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
125g fresh shiitake mushrooms, diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 large mooli (400g), coarsely grated
For the sauce
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light agave syrup
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced, to serve
First, lightly oil the ovenproof dish you’re going to use for the turnip cake and heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9.
Next, make the batter. Put the flour, cornflour, sugar and salt in a bowl, pour in 225ml water, stir and put to one side.
Put two and a half tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the shallots and mushrooms, and cook for eight minutes, until soft and threatening to caramelise. Add the garlic, cook for two minutes, then add the grated mooli and cook, stirring regularly, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the water has evaporated and the mixture is looking quite dry. Scoop the lot into the batter, mix well, then pour into the oiled dish.
Fill and boil the kettle. Tightly cover the mooli mix dish with foil, sealing it around the edges so no air can escape. Put the bigger oven dish in the hot oven, then put the smaller one (with its foil lid) inside it. Carefully pour the water from the kettle into the bigger dish, so it comes about halfway up the sides of the smaller dish, then bake for 40 minutes. Carefully lift out the turnip cake dish and leave to cool (leave the water in the bigger oven dish to cool before you pour it away).
Peel off the foil lid from the turnip cake, leave the cake to cool, then cover and transfer to the fridge for an hour, or overnight, until cold.
Just before serving, put the soy sauce, agave syrup, sesame oil and vinegar in a small bowl and mix.
Cut the turnip cake into 12 equal slices. Put a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan, add half the turnip cakes, and fry for three minutes on each side, until golden brown. Transfer to a serving plate and repeat with the remaining slices of turnip cake.
Spoon a little of the sauce over the turnip cakes on the platter, sprinkle on the sliced spring onions, and serve with the rest of the sauce on the side.
Dinner at Shuko’s
Shuko Oda’s restaurant, Koya in Soho, London, is one of my and my husband Hugh’s favourite places to eat out. We love sitting knee to knee at the bar, while the chefs quietly proffer up plate after bowl of simple, beautiful food. I especially like the hiya-atsu, or cold udon and hot broth, on which this recipe is based. There are three components to it: broth, cold noodles and a salted peanut miso, and with them you get a great interplay between the heat of the broth, the cold, chewy noodles and the sweet, fatty saltiness from the miso.
Note: kombu is a type of dehydrated edible seaweed that makes a fantastic stock. It’s available in east Asian supermarkets and online. You’ll need a blender for the peanut miso.
Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4
100g salted peanuts
½ tbsp red miso
½ tbsp white miso
2½ tbsp oat or rice syrup
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
10cm x 15cm piece kombu
5cm x 4cm piece ginger (40g), peeled and grated
600g (4 x 150g bags) “straight to wok” udon noodles
150g fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced, or left whole if very small
⅓ sweetheart cabbage (150g), cut into wedges of 2cm at the widest point
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
½ tsp salt
To make the salted peanut miso, put the peanuts in a blender and pulverise to a powder, taking care not to turn them into peanut butter. Pour into a small bowl, add both the misos and the syrup, and mix really well. Roll the mix into four balls and put to one side.
To make the broth, put the dried mushrooms in a large pot. Make cuts in the kombu at 4cm intervals, but don’t slice it up entirely (this is to make it easy to remove later). Pour over a litre and a half of boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes. Add the ginger to the pot, bring to a rolling boil, then strain through a sieve. Discard the mushrooms, ginger and kombu, and set the broth aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the udon noodles and boil for two minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water until cold, then put to one side.
Put the broth back on the heat, add the fresh mushrooms, cabbage, soy, mirin and salt, bring back to a boil and take off the heat.
To serve, divide the noodles and peanut miso balls between four plates and ladle the broth into four bowls. To eat, sip a little of the broth, dip a noodle or two in the broth and chase it down with a piece of salted peanut miso, using chopsticks to cut off a little at a time.
Sesame noodles with spicy fried soya mince
I ate something similar at my friend Ben Adamo’s and loved it. You can make all the elements ahead of time without too much fuss (with the exception of boiling the noodles), making this a great cook-ahead meal for friends.
Note: both Chinkiang black rice vinegar and crispy chilli in oil (I like the Lao Gan Ma brand) can be bought in your nearest east Asian supermarket or online. You don’t need to soak the dried soya mince before using. You’ll need a pestle and mortar to grind the peppercorns.
Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4
For the sesame sauce
⅓ vegetable stock cube
150g tahini
3½ tbsp crispy chilli in oil
2½ tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp rice vinegar
4 tsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
¼ tsp Sichuan peppercorns, ground in a mortar
For the spicy fried soya
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2cm x 2cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
100g dried soya mince
1½ tbsp light soy sauce
2½ tbsp hoisin sauce
1½ tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
1 tbsp crispy chilli in oil
For the noodles
340g ramen noodles
250g baby spinach
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
First make the sesame sauce. Crumble the stock cube into a small saucepan, pour over 150ml freshly boiled water and stir to dissolve. Stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients and put to one side.
To make the mince, put the oil in a large, nonstick frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the garlic and ginger, and fry for a minute. Add the dried mince, stir to mix, then cook, stirring frequently (it may catch otherwise), for four minutes, or until the mince turns a roasted almond colour. Add 200ml water, the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Chinkiang vinegar and crispy chilli in oil, then cook for a further five minutes, until the water has evaporated and the mince is dry. Take off the heat, cover with a lid and put to one side.
Just before serving, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked noodles to a colander. Add the spinach to the boiling water, stir to cover the leaves and wilt them, then drain into the colander with the noodles.
Put the pan of sesame sauce on a medium heat, stir, bring to a brief boil, then take off the heat.
To assemble, divide the noodles between four bowls (a fancy way to do this is to take a fork, twizzle the noodles around it to make a neat little nest, then gently place the nest in the bowl and pull out the fork). Top with a quarter of the spinach, the sauce and a few spoonfuls of the mince, and decorate with the spring onions.
Sweet potato summer rolls
No one knows their way around rice or rolls better than the Vietnamese. The fact that rice papers – those dried sheets that transform into thin, silky wrappers – exist is a feat of incredible human innovation and ingenuity.
Note: these make for a light summer meal. Summer rolls are a bit like pancakes: the first one is always rubbish and you get the hang of them as you go along. Not all vegan fish sauces are equal – Thai Taste makes an excellent one.
Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hr
Makes 16, to serve 4
For the summer rolls
4 sweet potatoes (750g)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tbsp teriyaki marinade
150g rice vermicelli noodles
130g crunchy peanut butter
30g fresh mint, leaves picked
30g fresh coriander, leaves picked
100g baby-leaf spinach
16 22cm-diameter rice paper rolls
For the dipping sauce
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 bird’s-eye chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp vegan fish sauce
1½ tbsp lime juice (ie, from 1 lime)
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Wash the sweet potatoes, then cut them lengthways into ½cm-¾cm-thick slices (no need to peel them). Put these in a bowl, pour over the oil and teriyaki marinade, then rub to coat. Tip on to two large baking trays, then roast for 20 minutes, until golden and blackening in spots.
Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and two tablespoons of water in a small bowl, and stir to mix. Split into two small bowls (or even four; double the recipe quantities, if need be) for easy access, then put to one side.
Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain, rinse under cold water and drain again. Snip with a pair of kitchen scissors to make them easier to handle.
Once the sweet potato slices are out of the oven, prepare a rolling station: you’ll need a large chopping board, a large bowl of hand-hot water and the filling ingredients – that is, the peanut butter, herbs, spinach, sweet potato slices and noodles.
Dip one rice paper into the bowl of water, rotating it like a wheel to get it wet all over. Be brave and brief – it should still be firm-ish. Put the rice paper on the chopping board. Place two sweet potato slices on the lower third of the paper, then dollop on a heaped teaspoon of peanut butter and use the back of the spoon to spread it over the sweet potato. Top with a big pinch of spinach (about 10 leaves) followed by a big pinch of noodles (around 30g), then roll once. Place a few mint leaves and coriander leaves on the paper next to the rolled bit, then roll again, folding in the sides as you go. Put the summer roll to one side and repeat with the remaining rice papers and filling. You may need to top up the soaking water with hot water from the kettle as you go along.
The rolls are best eaten shortly after they’re made, but you can keep them fresh by covering them with a clean, damp tea towel. Serve on a large platter with the bowls of dipping sauce alongside.
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These recipes are edited extracts from Meera Sodha’s new book, Dinner: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes for the Most Important Meal of the Day, published by Fig Tree at £27. To order a copy for £23.76, go to guardianbookshop.com
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