Jain food may be vegetarian, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bland. There are plenty of recipes that will excite your taste buds. Jain food can be mixed with a variety of cuisines, and you’ll often find a few Jain dishes as part of many home-cooked meals. Even the more complicated Jain recipes are easy to make if you have the right instructions and ingredients.
11 Wonderful Jain Dishes for Lunch and Dinner:
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Bajri Na Dhebra:
Bajri na dhebra is a deep-fried dish that is typically served on special occasions or on cold, rainy evenings. It is made with a variety of spices and sesame seeds, which give it a unique flavor and crunchy texture. If you’re looking for an exotic eating experience, bajri na dhebra is the perfect dish to try!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of bajra flour
- ½ cup of atta (whole wheat flour)
- 1 cup of curd
- Methi (Fenugreek leaves)
- Green Chillies (chopped)
- White Sesame Seeds
- Red Chilli Powder
- Turmeric
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
How to Make:
- To make the dough, add bajra, atta, fenugreek leaves, sesame seeds, turmeric and red chilli powder to a bowl and knead until it forms a ball.
- Divide the dough into smaller.
- To make the rotis, take one ball of dough and flatten it into a disc. Then, using a rolling pin, roll it out until it is a medium-sized roti.
- Repeat this process with the rest of the dough.
- To cook the rotis, heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Place the rotis in the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Serve hot with curd and ghee.
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Jain Mixed Vegetable Handvo:
Jain recipes are not only healthy, but they’re also delicious! One such recipe is the Jain Mixed Handvo. As the name suggests, it is a recipe with a good mix of veggies, including sweet corn and bottle gourd. Yes! The rich mixture of these exclusive veggies makes this dish taste so good. With yogurt and sesame seeds also added in, the recipe is just a healthy choice! Try it the next time you wish to make an exclusive dish alongside rotis.
Ingredients:
- Green Peas: 1/2 cup
- Yogurt
- Green Capsicum: chopped
- Sweet Corn
- Handvo Flour
- Green Chillies
- Bottle Gourd
- Turmeric
- Red Chilli Powder: 1 teaspoon
- Sugar: 1 teaspoon
- Oil: to cook
- Salt: to taste
- Fruit Salt
- Mustard Seeds
- Sesame Seeds
Preparation:
To make handvo, mix the flour with yogurt to form a thick batter. Then add green peas, grated bottle gourd, capsicum, corn, sugar, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and a little oil. Mix well.
On a pan, heat some oil. Then add fruit salt to the batter and mix again. Add mustard seeds and sesame seeds. When the seeds begin to splutter, pour one ladle of batter onto the pan to make it at least 1 inch thick.
Cook each side for 5-10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.
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Dhokla:
Dhokla is a delicious Gujarati dish that is perfect for breakfast. It is spongy in texture and has a unique flavor that comes from the combination of pepper, green chili, and salt. The dish is made with gram flour, which gives it its unique spongy texture. Dhokla is very popular across the world, and most people tend to like it for its unique flavor and texture. Try it today!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup besan (gram flour)
- 1 tbsp citric acid
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Salt to taste
- Turmeric
- Water as required
- For tempering:
- Oil
- Mustard seeds
- Red Chilli dried
- Curry leaves.
Preparation:
- In a bowl, mix together gram flour, citric acid, salt, sugar and turmeric to make a batter of medium consistency.
- In another bowl, mix the fruit salt or baking soda with water and add it to the batter.
- Grease the tins with oil and pour the batter into the tins.
- Steam for 15-20 minutes until it is cooked.
- Now temper in a pan, add oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chilli and let it splutter.
- Pour the tempering over the steamed dhokla.
- Cut into pieces and your dhokla is ready to be served.
- You can vary this dish by using green dal powder as well.
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Dal Makhani:
Dal Makhani is one of the most popular main course dishes in North India, and it’s also a firm favorite among roti fans across the globe. What’s not to love about this dish? It’s packed with protein and it tastes absolutely amazing, thanks to the aromatic flavours of the roasted dal. So what are you waiting for? Pick up the recipe and give it a try!
Ingredients:
- Soak the Urad Dal, Rajma, or Kidney Beans before cooking.
- In a pot or pan, heat up some oil on medium heat and add a Bay Leaf or two.
- Once the leaves start to sizzle, add in Cumin Seeds.
- After a minute or so, add in the soaked and drained beans.
- Stir everything around and let it cook for a bit before adding Sour Cream and Green Chillies (these can be fresh, frozen, or canned).
- Season with Salt to taste and serve hot.
Preparation:
- Before you begin, soak Urad dal and Rajma or kidney beans in water the night before.
- Then, the next morning drain the water and overcook them so that you can mash them into a powdery form.
- The consistency should be that of a paste or powder.
- Now, in a pan add oil and bay leaf and cumin.
- Add the dal mixture with sour cream, green chili, and salt. Cook until it’s done.
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Banana Chutney:
Banana is a popular fruit that is available all year round. You may have heard of banana chips, banana curry, and mostly custards or sweets that contain banana. But have you heard of banana chutney? It sounds new and interesting, right? Making banana chutney is super simple, and it tastes really yummy! Quickly note the recipe and try your hand at it now to surprise your family with this new exotic dish that goes great alongside rice or rotis.
Ingredients:
- Bananas
- Bay leaves
- Chili powder
- Cumin
Banana chutney is used as a side dish and goes great with curries or rice. Here’s how to make this delicious and easy recipe:
Start by peeling the bananas and mashing them together. Now, in a pan slightly toss them along with bay leaves. Sprinkle chili powder and then cumin and mix everything together. Serve hot and enjoy!
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Vegetable Pulao:
Vegetable pulao is a flavor-packed rice dish made with veggies that is very popular in India. It is usually served as a one-dish meal with either salan (a curry) or raita (a yogurt-based dish). Pulao is one of the easiest Indian rice recipes to make and it tastes great! If you’re mouth is watering just reading this, take a look at the ingredients and cooking instructions below to try it for yourself!
Ingredients:
This list of ingredients is everything you need to make a delicious and healthy Indian-style rice dish! Rice is the foundation, and from there we add saffron for flavor and color, turmeric for its health benefits, ghee for a touch of richness, onions for sweetness, fresh beans for crunch, capsicum for a bit of heat, grated or diced carrot for sweetness and color, cardamom for a hint of spice, and basil for freshness.
How to Make:
To make this simple and flavorful saffron rice dish, start by boiling the rice with saffron and turmeric. This will give the rice a nice, slight color.
In a separate pan, add ghee and some onions, fresh beans, capsicum, grated or diced carrot and sear it for some time. Add cardamom in the pan too along with basil.
Then mix in this pan of veggies with the rice as a topping. You’ll have a delicious and healthy meal that’s packed with flavor!
Jain religion food has several restrictions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy great cuisine. These recipes have been chosen specifically with those restrictions in mind. Jain food doesn’t include onions, potatoes or ginger, and also excludes all root vegetables. But that shouldn’t stop you from indulging in some amazing Jain foods.
We’ve put together a selection of main course and snacks recipes that are some of the best Jain food recipes around. So bring out the foodie in you and enjoy some delicious Jain cuisine.