This post includes popular restaurant/take-out favorites from Paneer makhani, Palak paneer, Dal makhani, and Vegetable biryani, to homestyle recipes like Kala chana curry, Moong khichdi, and many more! Here is a roundup of 40+ easy Indian dinner recipes, including curries, lentils, and rice dishes that you can try. A lot of recipes use a pressure cooker that is easy and takes very less time to prepare. You can also make them on the stovetop.
What is a Typical Indian Dinner Meal?
A typical Indian Vegetarian dinner consists of one main dish. The main dish can be a curry (or dal), stir fry, or rice.
If the main dish is a curry or lentil dish like dal, or chickpea curry, you can serve it with flatbread or basmati rice, or jeera rice. If the main dish is a vegetable stir-fry, you can serve them with Indian flatbread, such as roti, chapati, paratha, or naan. If the main dish itself is a rice dish like veg biryani, pulao, or khichdi, you can serve it along with yogurt or raita.
You can also serve with accompaniments such as salad, raita (or yogurt), pickle (achar), papad, and chutney or chutney powder along with the dinner. Note: If you are looking for low-carb or keto options, substitute rice with cauliflower rice and use low-carb flatbread.
Indian Dinner Cooking Tips
Kitchen Gadgets: It is good to invest in 2 kitchen staples. A pressure cooker and mixer-grinder, with a food processor. You can cook dried lentils, chickpeas, beans, rice, and potatoes in a traditional pressure cooker or Instant pot quickly; otherwise, it can take hours. A mixer-grinder is essential for making curry paste, chutney, or spice powder for North and South Indian cooking. Using a food processor, you can quickly knead the dough, slice, and grate veggies.
Spices: Spices are the heart and soul of Indian cooking. They add flavor, and fragrance, and elevate the taste of Indian dals, curries, and rice dishes. Here is a small list of basic and everyday spices (both whole & ground spices).
Turmeric Powder Red Chili Powder (or Cayenne Pepper) Cumin Powder Coriander Powder Garam Masala Asafoetida (Hing) Black Mustard Seeds Whole Cumin Seeds Bay Leaves Whole Cinnamon Sticks Cloves Cardamoms Pepper Corns
Ginger and Garlic: Ginger and garlic are the essentials of North Indian cooking. You can make ahead the homemade ginger paste and garlic paste in large quantities and store them in the fridge. Or you can freeze it into single-use portions. You can also use readymade ginger garlic paste. This saves some prep time.
Onion Tomato Masala: Make a big batch of onion tomato base (bhuna masala) and freeze. You can use this base sauce for a busy weeknight dinner.
Make Extra: You can make a large quantity of curry and use it for another meal or freeze it.
Vegetarian Indian Dinner Recipes
Curries & Stir Fries
Beans, Lentils
Rice Recipes
More Indian Recipe Collections
15+ Indian Salad Recipes 20+ Best Indian Dal Recipes 40+ Indian Side Dishes 30+ Instant Pot Indian Rice Recipes 20+ Indian Air Fryer Recipes 60+ Best Gluten-Free Indian Recipes
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