Looking for a taste of home? Being a South Asian college student away from home is so difficult considering we have limited time to cook, and the options for eating out just aren’t the same as home. This week is also Navratri, a week in which we only eat vegetarian food, which makes life as a student a little bit harder.

Here are some of our favorite recipes that are completely vegetarian and quick and easy to make!

Cheesy Naan
With a total cook time of just 6 minutes, this cheesy naan is a perfect snack or starter to a party. The following recipe makes four servings.
Ingredients

200 grams self-raising flour
180 grams greek yogurt
12 pieces La Vache Qui Rit cheese

Directions, as per Myriad Recipes

In a large mixing bowl, combine your self-raising flour and yogurt. Mix and then knead for a few minutes until you get a soft dough. If the dough is sticky, add more self-raising flour. Cover and set aside.
While your dough is resting, combine your cheese in a little bowl using a fork. Feel free to add in any other fillings at this point if you'd like to.
Once the dough has rested for 5 minutes, slice it into 4 equal parts. Form the dough into little balls. Grab a piece of the dough and pat it down into a small circle. Place a quarter of the cheese mixture into the center of the dough and fold up the dough around the cheese, pinching to seal it in. Flatten out the ball with your hands into a medium-sized oval/circle shape, around 4-5 inches in diameter. Repeat this for the other balls of dough.
Grab a pan and place it on high heat. Gently place one of the naans into the dry frying pan. Fry on each side for 3 minutes or until golden and coloured. Repeat this with all the naans. Remove from the pan and serve up with coriander and chili oil! Enjoy!

2. Jeera Rice

With a prep time and cook time total of 17 minutes, jeera rice is a delicious addition to any curry, stir fry, or even can be eaten plain, if that’s your style. This recipe makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Optional one bay leaf, four cardamom pods, and four whole cloves

Directions as per 30 Seconds Food

Heat the oil in a skillet with a lid. Add the cumin seeds and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add any of the other optional spices you are using. Stir.
Add the rice and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes.
Pour in the vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Garnish with chopped parsley.
If you have an electric rice cooker, you can also do all of the above in the cooker.

3. Mango Lassi

Personally, I’m a huge fan of mango and mango lassi; I mean, who isn’t. The fact that lassi is always vegetarian makes it easy to make whenever. This recipe also only takes five minutes to make and makes four servings!

Ingredients

Mango Pulp - 2 cups

Yogurt - 2 cups

Sugar - ¼ cup (adjust based on your sweetness level)

*If you prefer a thinner consistency, you can also add milk. Per personal preference, you can also add ice cubes.

Directions as per My Cooking Journey

Measure the mango pulp in a blender jar and add the sugar and the yogurt.
Blend until smooth and frothy. Add ice or milk if preferred.
I usually add a little milk to adjust the consistency.
Serve cold!

4. Aloo Curry

A full meal in 25 minutes with just 3 or so ingredients? Yes, please. This aloo curry is a classic and can go with any breads or the jeera rice we talked about earlier!

Ingredients

2 potatoes, diced

1/2 tsp kalonji

1 tbsp refined oil

Sugar and green chillies (optional)

*Don’t forget to add salt to your taste

Directions as per Food NDTV

Heat oil in a pan and add kalonji.
Let the spice splutter.
Add potatoes and saute for a minute.
Add 2-3 cups water and salt
Close the lid and cook on low flame.
For the ones who want to add green chili, add it after pouring water.
You can also add a tsp of sugar for some sweetness.
Once the potatoes are boiled, mash some to make a thicker gravy.
Check the salt and switch off the flame. Serve hot.

5. Mysore Pak

Looking for a dessert to complement your meal? Mysore Pak is your best bet. This takes about half an hour to make, but is completely worth it in the end. Though it takes an extra ingredient to make, we don’t really count water since we all have tap what available, so you might have to go out to buy ghee and chickpea flour, but the rest is easy to acquire. This recipe makes 12 large pieces, so be sure to share with your friends.

Ingredients

Kadalai Maavu / Besan / Chickpea flour - ½ cup
Sugar - 1 ¼ cup
Nei / Ghee - 1 cup
Water - ½ cup

Directions as per My Cooking Journey

Measure the kadalai maavu / besan into a bowl. This step ensures that there are no lumps in the Mysore Pak and the besan incorporates easily into the sugar syrup.
Grease a metal pan with ghee and keep it ready. Make sure that the pan is slightly tall as when we pour the Mysore Pak, it will be very foamy and bubbling. I used a 8 x 5 loaf pan.
In a sauce pan, heat the nei / ghee until it is melted. Now lower the flame and simmer the ghee. The ghee should be very hot but not smoking. So adjust the temperature in such a way that the ghee is constantly hot. We will be pouring hot ghee into the besan mixture to make the Mysore Pak.
In a wide pan, add the sugar along with ½ cup of water. Heat the sugar mixture until the sugar melts and starts to boil. Keep stirring the sugar mixture until we reach the one string consistency. This happens quite quickly, so keep an constant eye on the syrup and keep stirring.
Once the sugar syrup reaches, one string consistency, add the sifted besan in batches and mix well using a whisk. The whisk helps in making the mixture smooth without forming any lumps.
Once all the besan is added and the mixture starts bubbling, start adding ladle full of hot ghee into the mixture and stir it to incorporate. Place the ghee and the besan mixture in adjacent flames, so it is easy to pour and mix. Keep mixing the mixture with one hand. You will notice that the ghee will be absorbed by the besan mixture right away.