A melting pot of culture and tradition, India is a paradise where every state offers its unique dishes that you will find nowhere else. Festivals in India are about two things- gifts and food. And with the festivals comes a treat for everyone. After all, in these food festivals, every kind of food is served throughout the year.
Food and family are possibly India’s two biggest obsessions. Sitting down for a meal with the family is one of the prime activities of the day. And while you sit with your family to endure the food on your table, Indian food serves a variety of dishes without onion and garlic to have lavish dining during the festivals. Here is a list of 25 delicious Indian dishes with no onion and garlic to give them a try during these festivals.
1. POTATO CURRY
Spiced and tasty potato dish from the Uttar Pradesh cuisine made with tomatoes, ginger, spices, and of course, potatoes, has a tangy taste. It is an onion-garlic-free vegan curry usually served with pooris, but also makes for comfort food with chapatis.
2. ALOO PARATHA
Aloo Paratha, a Punjabi cuisine, is the most popular Indian breakfast with spiced potato stuffed in flatbread. This recipe gives a unique taste without onion that is generally roasted with lots of ghee and served with dollops of white butter.
3. PEANUT RICE
Peanut rice is one of the tasty South Indian rice varieties, that is made with roasted peanut powder and spices and served with raita, vegetable salad, or sliced carrots and cucumbers.
4. DAHI BHINDI
The delicious recipe of Dahi Bhindi has a smooth, creamy, lightly spiced, and tangy sauce. There lies a sweetness due to cashew and cream too. This dish is well served with naan or chapatis, but the best combination lies with jeera rice.
5. DALMA
Dalma is a Chickpea Dal cooked with vegetables and raw papaya, cuisine from the state of Odisha. The vegetables mainly include brinjals, pumpkin, raw banana, and green papaya with flavored spices.
6. POTOL POSTO
A typical Bengali vegetarian dish made with pointed gourd and potato tossed in a spicy sesame seed paste. The masala mainly consists of sesame seeds, grated coconut, dry green chilies, cloves, cardamom, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, and methi seeds, all giving a good aroma.
7. KHAMAN DHOKLA
The Khaman Dhokla recipe makes a wonderfully soft, fluffy, light-weight, sweet, and savory type of steamed cake. It is paired with any spicy or sweet Indian chutney. This recipe is a popular delicacy from Gujarat.
8. BHARWA BHINDI
Bharwa Bhindi is a delicious and flavorful Punjabi recipe of bhindi (okra) stuffed with a flavourful mix of ground spices. This North-Indian style bhindi is a vegan recipe made without onion and garlic. This dish is mainly served with chapati, naan, or as a side dish with dal and rice.
9. BESAR
Besar is a mixed vegetable curry cooked in a mustard paste. It forms one of the 56 dishes offered as Mahaprasad or Chappan Bhog to the main deity of the Puri Shri Jagannath Temple in Odisha.
10. MIXED VEGETABLE
Mix Veg is one of the 56 dishes offered to Lord Jagannath. This dish consists of lots of vegetables, coconut, ghee, and spiced paste. It goes well with steamed rice or ghee rice.
11. TAPIOCA PEARL VADA
Tapioca Pearl Vada is a traditional Maharashtrian snack and is crisped, fried. This dish is made with tapioca pearl, roasted peanuts and herbs, and boiled potatoes. This vegan food is immensely popular as a fasting food and it is served as a snack with tea.
12. LEMON RICE
Lemon rice is a famous dish in most South Indian houses. This popular Indian rice recipe is made with cooked rice, spices, curry leaves and, peanuts. It has a delicate flavor of fresh lemon juice along with the aroma of the tempering ingredients like mustard seeds, ginger, lentils, curry leaves and, green chilies.
13. KALA CHANA
Kala Chana Masala or black chickpeas curry is a popular dish from North Indian cuisine. These are mixed tomato-based sauce and some aromatic Indian spices. This spicy Kala chana is served with plain rice, chapati, or even naan.
14. METHI MUTHIA
This is a must Gujarati dish to try during festivals. These are either steamed or fried dumplings made from chickpea flour methi (fenugreek leaves). These go well with any sweet or spicy chutney or even tomato ketchup.
15. YELLOW PEAS CURRY
Yellow Peas Curry is a popular side dish in Odisha and Bengal mostly. The main ingredient for this gravy dish is dried yellow peas with potatoes and masala. This dish is served with a wide variety of other items like- chapatis, vada, aloo chap, dosa, thick porridge, etc.
16. PODI IDLI
Podi Idli is a mixture of ground dry spices that usually contains urad dal, dried red chilies, chickpeas, salt, and sesame seeds. This South Indian Cuisine is a delicious breakfast to start your morning.
17. AVAREKALU SAGU
Avarekalu Sagu, also known as Mochai Kurma, is a delicious gravy recipe made from Avarekalu (Hyacinth Beans) with potatoes and cooked in spicy coconut gravy. It is a creamy, delicious gravy made with fresh butter beans from Karnataka cuisine.
18. RAJMA SUNDAL
Rajma Sundal is a kind of quick stir-fry salad dish. Boiled red kidney beans are sauteed with few whole spices and lastly garnished with fresh coconut. This dish is prepared during Janmashtami Puja of Navratri in the south part of India.
19. PINEAPPLE PICKLE CURRY
Pineapple pickle curry is a sweet-sour dish made with pineapple, coconut, mustard seeds, and curd. This is a recipe from Kerala cuisine. The taste and flavor of pineapple curry are very different from the regular Pineapple raita.
20. DAHI BAINGAN
Dahi Bengan is a unique way of preparing eggplant curry with deep-fried brinjal and spiced and cooked yogurt curry. This curry comes from the Bengali and Odia cuisine, but a similar curry is prepared in Kashmir too. It is served with chapati.
21. VENDHAYA MOR KUZHAMBU
Vendhaya Mor Kuzhambu is a comforting, delicious, traditional South-Indian recipe. A variety of other vegetables like pumpkin, ladyfinger, brinjal, green peas, etc is used to make this recipe. This dish is served with white rice along with spicy dry red chilies.
22. KATACHI AMTI
Katachi Amti is a thin, tangy-tempered spicy dal from Maharashtrian cuisine and a vegan dish. The unique point in this curry is that tamarind is not present in the dish. The slight tang comes from the tomatoes.
23. SAFFRON RICE
Saffron Rice or Yellow Rice is a flavorful side dish that pairs well with any type of curry. The taste is slightly earthly and spiced. This North Indian-style Saffron rice is a pure vegan dish.
24 THAKKALI THOKKU
Thakkali Thokku is a South Indian dish and tastes delicious with dal khichdi. This dish has a spicy, tangy tomato-based pickle served with idli, dosa, or even plain rice or chapati.
25. BHUTTE KA KEES
Bhutte ka kees is popular, as well as delicious street food snacks from Indore. For this, a coarse paste of desi corn is made, which is prepared with ginger and masala. It is mostly served with tea or cookies.
