Meat Free Mowgli: Simple & Delicious Plant-Based Indian Meals

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Organized by ingredient to be as useful as possible, Nisha weaves her magic once again by conjuring up incredible flavors with just a handful of carefully paired and easily sourced ingredients. This is a vegetarian take on the classic Parsi dish of meat (usually mutton) cooked in a lentil and vegetable base, known as dhansak. Barely pausing for breath, she goes on to explain how widows were instrumental in the evolution of vegetarianism because men were traditionally barred from the kitchen, as were women who were menstruating or breastfeeding. Once again, Nisha weaves her magic, conjuring up incredible flavours with just a handful of carefully paired ingredients. Meat Free Mowgli was published at the end of last year, and I thought January the perfect time to tell you about it, as so many of us are trying to cut down on our meat consumption – and quite a few are vegetarian already and/or perhaps following Veganuary.

Alongside promoting the book and running the Mowgli business, Katona is shooting Great British Menu, which means she rarely gets to bed before half one in the morning (“If my restaurants are open, I will not sleep”), but this eager entreprenueur isn’t fazed by her jam-packed schedule. And one of the best ways to be liked is through your food, being able to cook for people, bring them around a table. Add the paneer and cook for 3–4 minutes, or until starting to colour all over, then add the diced mango, cashews, coconut cream and measured water.On 10 August 2021, Katona appeared as a guest chef on BBC 1's Masterchef, challenging four celebrities to cook an Indian recipe from her menu.

At Mowgli, if you get a dog, you get “pupternity leave”, a full week of completely flexible working. The book is organised by ingredient to be as useful as possible, and all the ingredients are easy to source. Meat Free Mowgli was published at the end of last year, but I thought January the perfect time to tell you about it, as so many of us are trying to cut down on our meat consumption – and quite a few are vegetarian already and/or perhaps following Veganuary.Meanwhile, in a separate dry frying pan/skillet, toast the remaining panch phoron for 3–4 minutes, or until fragrant. It was made on the basis of a mother sauce of onion, ginger, garlic, potent spices, because you can reheat that and it lasts for days.

Either way, it is the perfect dessert for entertaining as it can be made ahead of time and is super easy. We bring a selection of exciting competition opportunities to our readers online and hope you enjoy getting involved. We nearly lost the house,” Katona says, having remortgaged the home she shares with musician husband Zoltan and daughters Tia and India to get a loan. The affordability of Indian street food is another key factor, a theme that’s prevalent in her latest cookbook.In classic Mowgli style, founder of the restaurant chain Nisha Katona MBE, shows us how to make simple yet delicious meat-free meals packed with colour, excitement and oomph. On 16 March 2021, she was a guest judge in the semi-final of Interior Design Masters, in which the designers made over a pair of restaurants in Hebden Bridge. Once the chillies have really softened, remove from the heat, stir in the ground panch phoron and transfer to a sterilized jar. If you wanted to make this an even more hearty dish, you could serve it on a bed of warm whole grains.

Having first opened in Liverpool in 2014, Mowgli has gone on to enjoy incredible success and critical acclaim and has now grown to 15 restaurants in 8 years, with more to follow. On a basic level, they are filled flatbreads and fillings come in many shapes and forms, but I like this simple spiced chickpea/garbanzo bean topping wrapped up with some herbs, salad and plenty of piquant sauces. While thousands of pubs and eateries were forced to close during the pandemic, the Mowgli chain remained intact, which Katona puts down to the regional locations of her restaurants – all but one of which are situated outside the capital.It is brilliant for when you have friends over – kids in particular love it (you can adjust the chilli level). Giving up “earning good money, and a great life” working as a child protection barrister for two decades to pursue her dream of bringing authentic Indian to the British foodie scene, she opened the first Mowgli Street Food restaurant in Liverpool in 2014. And thus, the idea for Meat Free Mowgli was born – a collection of simple, plant-based meals in the Mowgli style we know and love. Cover and simmer for a further 10–15 minutes, or until the lentils and vegetables are cooked and soft.