4 Indian Recipes For An Authentic 3 Course Indian Meal - Travelling Foodie (2024)

If you’re looking for an authentic Indian meal to make at home, you’ll want to try these 4 Indian recipes for a delicious 3 course meal.

Learn how to make four dishes: Dal Palak (soup), Beans Poriyal (salad), Jeera rice and Era Varuval (main entree).

Travel to India at home with this meal. Enjoy!

Authentic Indian 3 Course Dinner using 4 Indian Dishes & Recipes

When I went on my first trip to India, one of the places I stayed at during the Travel XS South India tour was the Grande Bay Resort on the seaside town of Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, an hour from Chennai.

A luxury resort located on the Mahabalipuram beach, Grande Bay Resort has an on-site restaurant and deck, L’Attitude 49, which is ones of the best restaurants in Mamallapuram.

The driver behind L’Attitude 49’s success is Chef Chindi Varadarajulu with her specialties in global cuisine from her travels while still keeping the passion for her Indian roots.

In fact, it was in Vancouver where I first met Chef Chindi back in 2017 for the BC Seafood Festival. She was one of the invited international chefs, representing L’Attitude 49 and India, while I was there for media. We became friends there, and she was one of the reasons I wanted to visit India.

As part of the Travel XS tour, during my stay at Grande Bay Resort, I had the opportunity to watch a cooking demonstration by Chef Manoj where he made me a three course meal featuring 4 popular Indian recipes: Dal Palak, Beans Poriyal, Era Varuval and Jeera Rice.

I obviously tried them all after and, let me just say, you have to try them! And if you can’t travel to India right now, you can make them at home because they provided me the recipes to share and enjoy some of the best Indian foods.

Note that some of these dishes have North Indian and South Indian versions. Since I was in South India, these would be South Indian style recipe.

Also, while you’re there, be sure to check out the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with intricate monuments and Hindu temples.

Check availability and pricing of Grande Bay Resort on
Booking.com / Agoda

Grande Bay Resort
Website / Address: ECR, Kovalam Road, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India 603 104

Indian Soup & Salad Recipes

Dal Palak Recipe

What is Dal Palak (पालक दाल)?

Lentils are a staple ingredient among savoury Indian foods. Almost all Indian families will have lentils in their pantry.

Dal Palak is one of the popular palak dishes in India and it uses lentils (dahl). Also known as Spinach Dal, this healthy vegetarian Indian soup recipe is a spinach dish where spinach and boiled lentil are tempered with Indian spices.

Dal Palak Recipe Ingredients

• Boiled Dhal – 1 cup
• Oil or Ghee (Clarified Butter) – 20 milliliters
• Jeera (Cumin) – 1 pinch
• Red Chilli, whole – 2 pieces
• Garlic, chopped – 1/2 teaspoon
• Ginger, chopped – 1/4 teaspoon
• Onion, chopped – 1 piece, medium size
• Turmeric Powder – 1 pinch
• Chili Powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Jeera Powder – 1 pinch
• Coriander Powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Tomato, chopped – 1 piece, medium size
• Spinach, shredded – 1 tablespoon
• Coriander, chopped – 1 teaspoon
• (Optional) Green Chili, chopped – a little

How To Make Dal Palak (Spinach Dal)

• Heat oil.
• Add jeera, whole red chillies, chopped ginger, garlic, green chillies (optional).
• After a few seconds, add chopped onion and sauté until translucent.
• Now add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, then sauté for a few minutes.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and shredded spinach.
• After a few seconds, add the boiled dhal and bring to boil.
• Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

You can watch the Dal Palak Recipe cooking demonstration on YouTube here.

Also Read: Indian Street Food Guide

Beans Poriyal Recipe

What is Beans Poriyal (பீன்ஸ் பொரியல்)?

Poriyal is a popular South Indian recipe for coconut stir fry, also known as Thoran in Kerala. Poriyal comes in different variation based on the chopped vegetables.

This Indian salad recipe uses green beans – hence the name Beans Poriyal. It’s a very healthy dish that is typically found in most restaurants in South India.

Beans Poriyal Recipe Ingredients

• Gingelly Oil or Sesame Oil – 5 milliliters
• Mustard Seeds – 2 grams
• Red Chilli, whole – 2 pieces
• Curry Leaves – 5-6 pieces
• Onions, chopped – 1 piece, medium size
• Beans, chopped – 100 grams
• Salt – to taste
• Coconut, grated – 1/4 of a coconut

How To Make Beans Poriyal (Beans Coconut Stir Fry)

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add the mustard seeds.
• When mustard seeds pop up, add the red chillies, curry leaves, chopped onions and sauté until onion becomes translucent
• Now add the salt and the chopped beans and stir fry until almost cooked.
• Add the grated coconut and stir fry for a few more minutes until the beans are fully cooked.

You can watch the Beans Poriyal Recipe cooking demonstration on YouTube here.

If you’re looking for another vegetarian Indian side dish, try this authentic Avial recipe!

Indian Main Dish Recipes: Era Varuval (Masala Fried Prawns) with Jeera Rice (Cumin Rice)

For the main course, we’re sticking with seafood and rice. We’re using shrimp for the seafood because it is the more common seafood in India. You can find a vegetarian variant for the recipe as well.

Jeera Rice Recipe

What is Jeera Rice (जीरा राइस)?

Jeera Rice (or Zeera Rice) is a simple and popular Indian and Pakistani rice recipe using rice and cumin seeds. It is also called Cumin Rice since Zeera means cumin seeds in Hindi.

An everyday rice dish for North Indians, Jeera Rice is a great accompaniment to Indian main course dishes because the taste of cumin enhances the flavour.

Jeera Rice Recipe Ingredients

• Ghee (Clarified Butter) – 1 tablespoon
• Jeera (Cumin) – 1/4 teaspoon
• Fried Onions – 1 tablespoon
• Coriander, chopped – 1 teaspoon
• Cooked Basmati Rice – 1 cup or 50 grams raw rice
• Salt – to taste
• Fried Split Cashew Nuts – 5 to 6 pieces

How To Make Jeera Rice (Cumin Rice)

• Heat ghee in a pan.
• When hot, add jeera, brown onions, chopped coriander then sauté.
• Now add the cooked rice and salt then sauté until well mixed.
• Garnish with fried cashew nuts.

You can watch the Jeera Rice recipe cooking demonstration on YouTube here.

Also Read: Instant Pot Beef Biryani

Era Varuval (Masala Fried Prawns) Recipe

What is Era Varuval (இறால் வறுவல்)?

Eral varuval(pronounced as Era in Tamil) is a kind of Jhinga fry (prawn fry),one of the most popular non-vegetarian dishes in South India. This spicy shrimp recipe is packed with flavour and goes very well with the Jeera Rice.

Era Varuval Recipe Ingredients

• Prawns – 6 pieces, medium size
• Salt – to taste
• Lime Juice – 1/2 a lime
• Ginger Garlic Paste – 10 grams
• Turmeric Powder – 1 pinch
• Chili Powder – 15 grams
• Egg – 1/2 an egg
• Rice Flour – 10 grams
• Maida (Refined Flour) – 25 grams
• Oil to Fry

How To Make Era Varuval (Masala Prawn Fry)

• Marinate the prawns with salt, lime juice, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder, egg, maida and rice flour and keep it for at least 15 minutes to an hour.
• Deep Fry and serve immediately.

Make It Vegetarian: Cauliflower Varuval Recipe

If you don’t eat meat, you can easily turn this main dish into a vegetarian dish, Cauliflower Varuval (Masala Fried Cauliflower).

Using the Era Varuval recipe, replace the prawns with about 10 florets of cauliflower. A few curry leaves may be added while marinating the cauliflower.

You can watch the Eral Varuval Recipe cooking demonstration on YouTube here.

Also Read:

I hope these Indian recipes give you an idea on dishes to try for a delicious 3 course meal. I’m always looking for more authentic Indian food to make at home so please let me know some of your favourites!

I would love to see how this recipe worked for you! Please share your creations with me on social media and tag me so I can check them out: @TravellingFoodie on Instagram & Facebook and @TravellinFoodie on Twitter.

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L’Attitude 49 at Grande Bay Resort
Website / Address: ECR, Kovalam Road, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India 603 104

Huge thanks to Travel XS Tours and Grande Bay Resort for providing the complimentary cooking demonstrations.