A Vegetarian Week for a Mixed-Diet Household

Two people eat meat, one doesn't, and a fourth is "trying to eat less". Cooking two separate dinners every night is how a household ends up ordering in by Thursday. A vegetarian week for a mixed-diet household works better when the vegetarian dish is the main meal, and the meat is a side pan that sits next to it. The glue is one base gravy.

What the base gravy is, and what goes in it

An onion-tomato masala base is the starting point for most North Indian and Pakistani curries. For this plan, make about 4 cups (1 litre) on Sunday.

• 4 tbsp oil or ghee
• 4 medium onions, finely chopped (about 600 g or 1.3 lb)
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste. Skip it for the no-garlic days and see the note below.
• 6 ripe tomatoes, chopped (about 700 g or 1.5 lb), or one 800 g (28 oz) can
• 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 to 2 tsp chilli powder

Fry the onions until deep golden, which takes around 15 minutes. Add the paste for a minute, then the tomatoes and spices, and cook until the oil separates from the mass. Blend or mash it down. Cool quickly and divide into containers. It keeps in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days and in the freezer for a couple of months. For the fuller technique read our make-ahead onion tomato masala guide.

Keep the base plain on purpose. No cream, no whole spices, no garam masala yet. Those are added per dinner.

Monday: chana masala

Stir 1 cup (240 ml) of base into two cans of chickpeas (800 g or 28 oz, drained) with half a cup of water. Simmer 15 minutes, mash a few chickpeas to thicken, finish with garam masala and lemon. Our chana masala recipe gives full amounts if you want to go from scratch.

Tuesday: palak paneer

Blanch and blend 500 g (1 lb) spinach, add 1 cup of base and 200 g (7 oz) paneer cubes, simmer until just heated through. The colour keeps better if the spinach goes in cold water after blanching. Palak paneer is the one dish here that actually looks like a restaurant meal, so it makes a good midweek anchor.

Wednesday: aloo gobi

Dry vegetables use less base, about half a cup for 1 kg (2.2 lb) of potato and cauliflower. Aloo gobi is meant to be dry-ish and coated, not saucy. Give it a lid for the first 10 minutes, then take the lid off so moisture goes away.

Thursday: matar paneer

Peas and paneer in 1.5 cups of base thinned with water. Matar paneer is mild enough for children and uses the freezer peas you probably already have. If the paneer turns grainy, our paneer fixes guide explains why.

Friday: bhindi masala

Okra does not need much base: about 3 tbsp for 500 g (1 lb) okra, fried first until the slime is gone. Bhindi masala works with whatever base is left. If the base is finished, a quick onion-tomato fry does the same job.

The meat side pan

Here is the mixed-diet trick. Each night, take 1/2 cup of the base into a small pan and cook 250 g (about 9 oz) of boneless chicken pieces in it, until the chicken reaches 74 C / 165 F inside. That is one extra pan, 20 minutes, and everyone eats at the same table with the same side dishes. Or make a single bigger batch on Wednesday using the chicken handi method, enough for two nights.

Meat and vegetarian dishes should never share a spoon. Use separate serving spoons and keep the vegetarian dishes served first.

When someone avoids onion and garlic

Some households skip them on certain days, for religious or personal reasons. Do not put the paste into the whole base. Make a smaller no-onion no-garlic batch with tomatoes, ginger and a pinch of asafoetida in oil, or split the base before the paste goes in. The post on one menu for guests with different rules covers that case in more detail.

Sunday: restock and reset

The shopping list for the week, roughly:

The pantry checker on the home page can mark which of these you already have.

Making the week feel less repetitive

The risk with one base is that Thursday tastes like Monday. Change the finishing step, not the base. Monday gets lemon and garam masala. Tuesday gets spinach and a little cream or yogurt. Wednesday is dry and gets roasted cumin. Thursday gets sweet peas and a touch of kasuri methi. Friday gets amchur or a squeeze of lime. Serve a different bread or rice each night too: roti, jeera rice, plain rice, paratha, and a raita on the side.

If the family still grumbles, split the base in two on Sunday and add a spoon of cashew paste or tomato puree to half, so one batch is creamy and the other sharp. It costs five extra minutes and changes the week.