Vegetarian Punjabi Thali (Indian Regional Thali)

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Today we are travelling to the state of Punjab to showcase another delicious, rich, lip-smacking thali.  Like Punjabi’s full of life, the Vegetarian Punjabi thali has a range of rich buttery and milk-based colourful and yummy dishes.

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Punjabi Cuisine & Style of cooking

Punjab is a major producer of wheat, rice and dairy products. The cuisine is heavily influenced by agriculture and farming lifestyles. Punjabi cooking uses both the traditional and modern methods of cooking. Tandoori style of cooking is traditionally associated with Punjab. Tandoor or underground oven is very common along the dhabas (roadside restaurants) in India. 

Punjabi Recipes

Non-vegetarian food of Punjabi like Tandoori Chicken, Butter Chicken, Amritsari Macchi is more famous. But equally, its vegetarian dishes are. Paneer based dishes like Matar Paneer, Paneer Tikka,  Dal Makhani , Chole, Jeera Rice,  different types of bread like naan, kulcha, Paneer Paratha, Makki di Roti, Sweets like Gajar Halwa, Lassi, Karha Prasad are a few of the famous dishes.

Punjabi Breakfast Thali

Punjabi’s have a hearty meal for breakfast and lunch. I remember eating hot garam garam aloo paratha with a big glass of lassi in Punjab. Punjabi Mooli Paratha and gobi paratha are other famous paratha recipes from this cuisine. And who does not know the famous Chole Bhature?

Have you tried my Bhatura recipe which is without any leavening agent, i.e. without baking powder or soda. Do give it a try with this chole (Indian Chickpeas Curry), and let me know if it turned out good.

I have chosen this Punjabi Thali after yesterday’s Gujarati Thali. This is another cuisine from which I cook a lot. Being a North Indian, some similar varieties and styles of cooking exist. I thought it is best to showcase a regional thali which you know more about.

I made this thali last December and hence you will see that my thali features winters special vegetables and sweets.

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So my today’s Vegetarian Punjabi Thali has

• Gajar Aloo Matar (Carrot, Peas and Potato Vegetable) – A simple and easy preparation of vegetables in some everyday spices. Perfect for winters.

• Dal Palak – Everyday Toor Dal or any dal cooked with fresh green spinach/palak. The dal comes out rich and creamy with the tadka from ghee (clarified butter)

• Palak Paneer – Another yummy and delicious preparation with paneer and spinach. Loaded with iron and proteins, this is a winter favourite recipe.

• Matar Paneer – My kids favourite paneer based dish. We love this matar paneer , i..e cheese and peas curry with some Whole Wheat naan or Jeera Rice. I do make the no onion no garlic version too if you want to check the recipe.

• Makki di Roti – A gluten free roti made using cornmeal. This goes perfect with sarson ka saag. But as sarson (mustard leaves) is not available here, I made it with palak paneer.

• Gajar Halwa – A delicious and rich sweet made using winter special carrots, loaded with ghee and nuts. Though I go a bit easy here and make it without ghee and mawa. Check the recipe for Gajar halwa without milk and ghee.

• Chaas/Buttermilk – A digestive drink made using curd and water. Few spices like cumin powder, chaat masala and salt are added to taste.

• Samosa with Chutneys – A Punjabi thali for me would be incomplete without samosa. So I have here Homemade Aloo Samosa, with Green Coriander chutney and Imli and Gud (Tamarind & Jaggery) chutney.

• Jeera Rice & Homemade Sabudana Papad- Simple steamed rice sauteed with some Jeera. Goes well with any dal or curries.

• Salad, Pickle & Salt

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#116

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