No root vegetables. No brinjal. No onion or garlic. Every recipe on this page follows strict Jain principles — for a Jain family anywhere in the world who wants the taste of home.
No onion. No garlic. No ginger. No root vegetables. No brinjal. Every recipe on this page follows strict Jain principles — you do not need to check any ingredient list. Where a recipe benefits from ginger or garlic for non-Jain cooks, a clearly marked optional line tells you exactly where to add it. The recipe without that line is complete.
For a Jain family in Perth or Auckland or Leicester, this section exists for one reason — to bring back the taste and satisfaction of eating at your favourite restaurant back home.
Without onion, garlic and root vegetables, Jain cooking builds its flavour architecture on five foundations: Asafoetida (hing) for allium depth · Tomato and amchur for acidity · Cashew and coconut for body · Whole spices bloomed in ghee for aroma · Cabbage slow-cooked to golden for the sweetness onion normally provides.
Built on the Jain makhani base and Jain cashew gravy — the same two-base system used by Jain restaurants across Gujarat. Full restaurant flavour without a single prohibited ingredient.
Tomato curry with crispy chickpea noodles — the quintessential Jain comfort dish
Brinjal and potato — sequential cooking technique explained
Yogurt curry — besan ratio and anti-curdling science
Wheat dumplings in sweet-sour toor dal
Chickpea flour dumplings in yogurt gravy
Desert berry and pod curry — overnight soak essential
Stuffed brinjal — dry-roasted coconut masala
Chana dal with fried coconut and raisins — Bengali festive dal
Three-sourness pepper soup — tamarind, tomato, black pepper
Masoor dal blended smooth — lemon and cumin finish
Roasted tomato Mughal broth — strain for silkiness
Anglo-Indian pepper water — dal and coconut milk
Steamed besan sponge — CO₂ timing is the technique
The 2-minute rolling window — besan gelatinisation
Large green chilli — completely deseeded
Rice flour spiral — fat coating produces the crunch
Rajasthani flaky biscuit — high fat (moyan) is key
Bihar's Chhath Puja cookie — jaggery and fennel
130°C frying — the counter-intuitive temperature
40-minute reduction — Maillard needs time
20–25 min roasting — shape while warm
Pan-pull test for setting point
8–12 hour yogurt straining — no shortcuts
45 min reduction — stir skin back in
45-minute milk reduction — note: carrot is permitted for most Jain families