Despite being part of an extremely carnivorous family (hear them roar!) immediate and extended, I’ve always been a secret veggie-sympathiser. Some of my best friends are vegetarians. There’re the spiritually inclined ones — with the glow and litheness of flesh nourished largely by chlorophyll. The ascetic ones — slightly bent, naturally averse to even the more meaty vegetarian offerings (‘please not baingan, I hate baingan’).

And then there’s my favourite type of vegetarian — the ‘stealth’ veggie — like my friend Shefali, a proper veggie but you’d never know. Her husband does recall the one time she protested about something that was staring back at her from the freezer (two pomfrets), but she will joyfully introduce you to frog-porridge, discuss pork-floss and when in Tokyo bravely try (and fail) to eat sashimi (“I was in Tokyo! How could I not?”).
Married to a man whose cuisine of choice, in a perfect world, would be ‘steak, very rare please’ Shefali can dream up incredible meat-feasts, but has introduced us to the often hidden vegetarian gems in otherwise very meat-inclined cuisines, notably Japanese.
On a washed-out evening in Singapore recently, she saved the day with a Moroccan- inspired dinner conjured up out of bits, bobs and thin air. It reminded me of these recipes — earthy, vegetarian fare from a meat eating culture. The next time she’s in town, I’m making this for her.

Root Vegetable and Apricot Tagine
This is a tried and tested recipe many times over. It’s layered, hearty, complex and satisfying. I do a ‘meat’ version of this using cooked Goan sausage (instead of merguez) and cubed lamb or chicken but the root vegetable version is as beautiful, if not better. Because it’s fairly easy — a stew plus couscous — it works well for an informal gathering of friends or family. Keep in mind just one thing: as with all simple food, a little patience and love in the kitchen while making this peasanty tagine is the absolutely most important secret ingredient to its success.

Ingredient
2 large red onions
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsps grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp chopped celery
1 cup chopped coriander leaves and stalks
1 cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp fresh thyme
2/3 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp jeera powder
2 tsp paprika
1 vegetable stock cube
10 stoned dried apricots
2 tbsps black or golden raisins
Olive oil
Salt to taste

Root Vegetables: Cut into large, 1.5 inch thick, pieces: 2 large carrots, 2 medium sweet potatoes, 250 gms red pumpkin, 250 gms aubergine, 250 gms yam, 1 cup cooked chickpeas

Method:
Finely chop (or hand blend) the onions, garlic and ginger. In a heavy bottomed pan (with a close-fitting lid), sauté cinnamon, celery, onions, garlic, ginger, coriander, parsley and thyme until the onions begin to brown and the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Lower heat momentarily, add jeera powder and paprika and stir. Now add about 2 cups of hot water and the stock cube and stir. Throw in apricots and raisins, cover and leave on simmer for about 15 minutes. Open, taste for salt and throw in your root vegetables according to order of tenderness (sweet potatoes first, aubergines last). Simmer on very low until cooked. Garnish with fresh parsley and eat with couscous dressed with toasted almonds and lemon juice.

CousCous Salad
This is a pretty, colourful, multi-textured salad that is super simple and works brilliantly as a home-made add-on to ordering-in. When we’re too lazy to cook for our guests, we get falafels, pita and kebabs home-delivered and serve with this salad, moutabbal, hummous and hung yoghurt.

Ingredients
1 cup of prepared couscous*
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
2 tbsps toasted pine nuts
2 tbsps slivered and toasted almonds
½ cup chopped parsley
½ cup chopped mint
½ cup black olives
1 orange segmented
2 tbsps chopped celery
Juice of 1 lime
1 garlic clove, minced and warmed with 4 tbsps olive oil in the microwave for 1 minute

*Couscous for dummies: Put dried couscous in a bowl and fill the bowl with warm salted water or stock upto 1 cm above the couscous. Let stand for two minutes to absorb the liquid and then microwave for 4 minutes. Fork through. The grains should be cooked through but not damp.
Method:

Combine all the dressing ingredients. They will look jeweled. Stir into prepared couscous. Leave to stand for 10 mins and serve.

Smoky, sexy, adaptable — moutabbal or baba ghanouj is maximum joy for minimum effort. Add a little hung yoghurt or even double cream and you get a light, moussey aubergine dip, add a little more garlic and powdered sesame seeds and you get a spread that holds its own. Trade the aubergine puree for cooked chickpea puree and you get hummous.

Ingredients
Two medium sized ‘bharta’ aubergines (or about 4 cups of roast aubergine puree)
4 cloves of garlic
½ cup of good quality e.v. olive oil
½ cup of commercial tahina
(or toast and grind white sesame seeds and stir in with til oil)
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste

Method
Fire roast the aubergines until the skin is charred, crisp and splitting. Empty the cooked flesh (and the delicious juices running out of the aubergine) into a bowl. I don’t discard the seeds and have been known to throw in just a few slivers (about 1 tbsp worth) of the charred skin to enhance the smokiness of the moutabal. Crush the garlic. Now puree everything together and taste for salt, garlic and lemon. If it’s too thin for your liking, toast some white sesame seeds, grind them in a spice grinder and add, one tablespoon at a time. Garnish with parsley, green or black olives, mint and some more olive oil.

Harissa is a ubiquitous condiment across Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia etc. Its consistency varies according to what it’s used for — drier to spice up grilled meat or spread on pita and saucier to add to couscous, roast vegetables or as a dip. This is the basic recipe — if you’re up to it, you can add thyme or oregano and use it as a quick marinade as well.

Ingredients:
4 tbsps red chili powder
1 tsp jeera powder
½ cup apple cider vinegar (or any mild white vinegar)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Salt to taste (about 1 tsp)

Method:

Puree all the ingredients together and refrigerate for about 1 hour for the flavours to combine. This sauce will keep for ages, so make a big quantity if it’s a hit. Add a little more olive oil if you’re making a bigger batch.