40 Indian Curry Recipes - My Dainty Kitchen (2024)

Here is a collection of 40 best Indian vegetarian curry recipes. These include some vegan curries and vegetarian curries. Curry is the main course item and a quintessential part of Indian cuisine. These Indian Indian curry recipes are simple, easy, and quick recipes.

Best Indian Curry for Everyday Menu

Indian Cuisine it's a broad term. Because in India everything is Indian cuisine But with a big difference in the dish and preparation with a strong influence of regional culture and taste. North Indian have their specialty food and South India have their own culture and food. Same case with East and West.

North India is very popular in terms of its cuisine. North Indian Foods are a real joy to eat, rich and satisfying though they are not very difficult or tricky ones. Some of them are more creamy in texture and some are simply stir-fried or sauteed veggies, greens, etc. But both types are delicious in flavor.

Indian vegetarian curries are normally flavorful with the perfect blend of spices. These are simple and easy but when you will taste them you can feel the unique flavor of all spices. Even if you are new to cooking, you can prepare them with equal ease.

Check out Indian Flatbreads also. These will go with any of the curry recipes here.

Indian Curry Recipes

Potatoes play important role in maximum Indian cuisine, especially in everyday food. They are the hero ingredient in many curries. Potatoes are stuffed inside flatbreads (aloo paratha), inside bread (bread rolls/ bread pakora), inside pooris (aloo kachori), added in curd as raita (aloo raita), or even its cooked as many sweet dishes (aloo halwa).

Similarly to keep our diet balanced, we add lots of vegetables to the menu. My typical plate contains Indian dahl/ dal, fried/sauteed vegetables or with gravies, some accompaniments like raita, salads, papad/ papadam, pickles along with a one-grain portion.

Basic Indian Curry Paste/ Indian Curry Sauce

This is the basic curry paste used in almost every Indian curry recipes that we use everyday. I do make them in advance and refrigerate for the week. This saves a lot of time.

Also to this basic curry paste, you can also add other spices specific for that recipe. For example, for chole masala, add chole spices or chana curry spice mix to this basic curry paste. This speeds up the cooking.

So the list is vast in fact. I may keep adding a few more in future posts.

List of Indian Curry for Everyday Cooking

I will divide them into two categories here. Dry sautéed or stir-fried vegetables & curry with gravy.

I. Dry Sautéed Vegetables

Aloo gobi is the most common yet most loved dish in North India. This is a dry sauteed dish. Potatoes and cauliflower florets are cooked and sauteed dry with aromatic Indian Spices. This goes well with roti, poori or paratha, and even with dal rice.

Aloo baingan fry is another common everyday dish. You can make this dry sauteed vegetable as the main course or even as a side dish. It tastes excellent with paratha. This can be made either in the cooker or in the pan. After all the magic comes when we use all spices for this recipe.

3. Bhindi Do Pyaza Masala (Spiced Dry Lady finger Fry)

Bhindi do pyaza is different from that of the bhindi fry. In this recipe, onion is used twice the quantity of bhindi or okra. Hence this is named Bhindi Do Pyaza. To make this do pyaza, stir-fry the okra first and then add this to the cooked onion paste. This is a Punjabi dish and serves best with roti paratha etc.

4. Baingan Bharta (Mashed Brinjal)

Baingan bharta is one of the easy dishes. there are 3 steps to make yummy baingan bharta, 1. roasting brinjal in the direct fire, 2. preparing the masala paste (along with added spices), 3. then, in the end, mixing both roasted eggplants with spiced onion tomato paste. Add some green peas for better taste. This was my favorite recipe during my college days. This is an easy and quick recipe.

This is a winter special recipe. Methi Aloo is a quick and easy dry sauteed vegetable. In this dish, fenugreek greens or methi and potatoes are cooked with Indian spices.

To save cooking time use boiled potatoes for the dish. Similarly, replace methi with spinach leaves or palak to make aloo palak. Garlic plays an important role in adding flavor to aloo methi or aloo palak fry.

6. Bhindi Fry (Okra Fry)

This is an everyday dish that is easy and quick. There are fried with carom seeds. Add some chopped potatoes to make aloo bhindi.

This is a dry dish and different from bhindi masala and bhindi do pyaza. You may make this as the main course with roti or paratha or as a side dish with your dal rice. This is a simple yet tasty dish in your everyday menu card.

7. Kashifal ki Sabzi (Pumpkin fry)

Kashifal ki sabzi or it's often known as Khatta mitha kaddu. Pumpkin has a natural sweetness. Also, you can add some more jaggery to bring in extra sweetness. If you don't like sweetness then skip jaggery. I don't add it normally. Add dry mango or raw mango to bring in that sourness in flavor if you are not very fond of sweet pumpkins. This tastes great with the combination of spicy, sweet, and sour flavours.

8. Bombay Potatoes

This is a quick recipe that is close to my heart. You can have it with whole baby potatoes or cubes of larger potatoes. Boil potatoes and saute with magical spices. Garnish with coriander leaves. There is a similar recipe without spices. Simple yet delicious Aloo Jeera.

9. Gajar Aloo Matar (Sauteed carrots, potatoes, green peas)

This is one of my favorite winter special recipes. I make this in same way as aloo gobi sauteed. Since we get fresh red carrots in winters in India, this I make only in winters. You can also use other variety of carrots that are available on the market in all seasons. Also, green peas are specialty of the winter season. So this is a perfect everyday dish in winters. However, you can also use frozen peas. You can also add cauliflower to the dish. These veggies are sauteed with onion, ginger, garlic and mixed with other spices.

10. Stir-fried Cabbage and green peas

This is also the main course dry sauteed vegetable. I have taken cabbage, green peas, carrots, and potatoes. This is an easy and healthy dish. This goes well with roti or paratha. You can add beetroot to this.

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This is stir-fried potatoes and capsicum. It's an easy and quick dish. This goes well with roti, poori, paratha, etc. This easy recipe doesn't take more than 20 minutes.

12. Lauki Bhujia (Grated Bottle Gourd)

This is an awesome low-carb dish. Lauki bhujia is perfect if you are following a weight loss diet or keto diet. Lauki or bottle gourd is grated and sauteed with onion, tomato, and other spices. This tastes delicious and at the same time, it's healthy as well.

13. Bharwa Karela (Stuffed Bittergourd)

Karela or bitter gourd is known for its bitter taste. This bharwa karela is stuffed with pickle spice mix and onion paste cooked with other spices. This can be a main course item with roti or paratha or goes well with dal rice as a side dish. I love the bitter taste of karela. Well, you can store this for about a week or 10 days in the refrigerator.

14. Bharwa Baingan

This bharwa baingan is made with the same spices as bharwa karela. these are extremely delicious and perfect as a side dish or main course. You can dip the shallow-fried stuffed eggplants in gravy also.

15. Torai Sabzi (Ridge Gourd Curry)

Torai again is a low-carb vegetable. This is prepared with regular spices and is perfect for the everyday menu. It's one of the quick vegetable dishes. Torai is rich in water content. Hence it helps in weight management and weight loss. Even if you are following the keto diet, you can consume this as this is one of the best low-carb dishes.

II. Indian Vegetarian Curry and Gravy

1. Aloo Matar Curry (Potato and Green Peas Curry)

Aloo matar curry is the most common and easy main course curry which takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. To make this recipe, potatoes and green peas are cooked with aromatic spices. This is an easy and quick recipe. You can make this in a pressure cooker (manual or instant pot) or even in a pan/ Dutch oven. However, if you are using pre-boiled potatoes, it will save lots of your time.

2. Aloo Tomato Curry

This potato curry in tomato base gravy is very simple and one of my favorite curry. Normally we make this as with only cumin seeds and other spices. I use boiled potatoes in this recipe. You can also dice potatoes and cook directly. But mash potatoes lightly. This makes the gravy a little thicker and tasty.

3. Matar Paneer

Matar Paneer is a popular dish in North India and loved all over India. This is a delicious recipe yet easy to prepare. This takes hardly 30 minutes to prepare this dish. For regular preparation, I make this curry with onion tomato gravy. But if you want to make it richer then add cashew paste to the gravy. Paneer or cottage cheese and green peas are the hero ingredient in this curry.

4. Rajma Masala (Kidney Beans Curry)

Rajma masala is one of the popular dishes of North Indian cuisine. It's more loved in Punjab. This is made with kidney beans and other aromatic spices. But whole spices play an important role in rajma masala. Rajma is best paired with rice and we all know this as Rajma Chawal. However, you can serve it with roti/ paratha/ naan/ kulcha also.

5. Paneer Tikka Masala

This super delicious restaurant-style Paneer tikka masala is a combination of grilled paneer tikka and a rich gravy of cashews, onion, tomato, and other aromatic spices. Serve this paneer tikka masala with tandoori roti. This recipe has three steps, i.e. marinating paneer cubes in tikka masala, grilling the marinated cubes, and then cooking the gravy. In conclusion, this is a must-try recipe for all foodies.

Lauki chana dal is a protein and fiber-rich dal recipe. It's perfect for your weight loss diet as well. You can have this with roti, paratha, and rice or as an individual lentil soup. Give it tempering of onion, tomato, and other Indian spices. However, this is an easy and quick dish.

7. Lauki Kofta Curry (Vegan Meatballs)

Lauki kofta curry is a delicious curry. In this recipe dumplings of lauki are cooked in onion and tomato based gravy. This goes well with roti, paratha, or even rice. The dumplings are spiced and also cooked in aromatic spices.

8. Dum Aloo

This dum aloo is a rich gravy as I have added cashew paste to the gravy. This North Indian style or restaurant-style dum aloo is slightly different from Kashmiri dum aloo in terms of spices used and method of preparation. Take baby potatoes for the dum aloo recipe. You can also take regular boiled potatoes for this dum aloo. Though the name is dum aloo there is no method of dum cooking in this curry.

9. Gatte ki Sabzi

Gatte ki sabzi authentically comes from Rajasthan. This is a curd based dish. To make this curry besan or gram flour logs are boiled/ steamed and cooked in curd and tomato gravy. This tastes excellent with rice or roti. But for strong flavor, I would say add thing (asafoetida) generously or use hing of good quality. Because hing adds that extra flavor and aroma to the gravy. Also curry leaves play an important role in adding flavor to the dish.

10. Dal Makhani

Dal makhani is one of the most popular dish. Traditionally dal makhani is made with black gram lentils (sabut urad dal) and kidney beans (rajma). But I do make with a little twist of lentils. Because this dish is made with whole masoor dal instead of whole urad dal. Rest all process is same.

11. Sarson Ka Saag

Sarson ka saag is a quintessential Punjabi dish. This green curry is made with sarson or mustard greens mixed and other green leafy vegetables. Easy to make and flavourful rich dish is my winter special food. This tastes excellent with makke ki roti and add an extra dose of desi ghee for taste.

12. Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is a delicious dish made with healthy palak greens and protein rich paneer. In this dish Paneer is cooked in palak or spinach gravy and other Indian aromatic spices. However this is one of the much loved dish. This goes well with tandoori roti or with rice.

13. Punjabi Dal Tadka

Dal Tadka is a staple food of North India. Normally it goes with chapati or roti and even with rice. This is a mixed dal made with arhar dal (Yellow pigeon pea lentils), moong dal (yellow split moong bean), and masoor dal (orange lentils). However double tempering is what makes the taste different and special. Finally add best quality hing (asafoetida) for that extra punch in flavour.

14. Kathal Ki Sabzi

Kathal ki sabzi or Indian Jack fruit curry is one of the popular dishes. I call this vegetarian meat as it resembles in texture and also tastes similar as well. This is a little sticky and tricky to cut the fresh jack fruit. But with a little greased palm and knife, you can chop them easily. These are cooked with aromatic whole spices and onion paste. This makes an amazing main course and an alternative to meat for vegetarians.

15. Chana Masala

Kala chana masala is made with brown chickpeas. I have made this without onion and garlic. But you can add onion and garlic to the dish if you want to. Kala chana is one of the healthy and fiber-rich pulses. Soak Kala chana overnight and then boil in pressure cooker (manual or electric). Then sautee them with tomato and other spices.

Chole Masala

Mushroom Tikka Masala

Bagara Baingan

Saag Aloo

The food list is so long that I can not decide which one to eliminate and which one to add-in the list. Well, I started writing this post with a thought to cover 10 best food but ended up adding 30 best.

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