Three chefs share regional recipes and memories that celebrate the warmth, wisdom, and seasonal magic of green garlic
In Bhendi Bazaar, green garlic is more than a seasonal vegetable — it’s winter’s arrival made visible, bringing with it comfort, tradition, and the quiet assurance of slow, nourishing meals ahead. PIC/NASRIN MODAK Siddiqi
On a leisurely Sunday stroll through Bhendi Bazaar, the air is thick with the sharp, fresh scent of winter. Rows of vendors line the streets, their carts overflowing with vibrant green garlic — bundles stacked high, roots still dusty, leaves glistening in the sun. Some vendors chop the shoots on the spot, rhythmic knives moving swiftly as they pack the fragrant greens into plastic containers, ready for eager enthusiasts like us who toss it into everything, from eggs to parathas to salads. For more seasoned cooks, green garlic isn’t just produce; it’s a signal that winter — though short lived in the city — has arrived, and it’s time for slow-cooked, nourishing meals.
For chef Natasha Gandhi Grover, green garlic is winter in its truest form. “As a child, I was always puzzled — why did this ‘garlic’ have long white hair?” she laughs. It appeared unfailingly in winter meals. Friends brought undhiyu in their tiffins, and one bite was enough to announce the season, that mild, fresh green-garlic flavour running through every spoonful.
At home, her grandmother and mother bought it in generous bunches, folding it into parathas, tadkas, and sabzis. But her strongest memory is of waking up to her mother’s makai roti for breakfast, kneaded with winter greens — bathua, green garlic, a touch of radish, and ajwain. Some days it was bajra, other days wheat mixed with leftover dal, always served with dahi, saag, achaar, and a little white butter. “That meal,” she says, “felt like warmth, home, and being cared for before you even asked.”
Her mother’s advice still guides her cooking: “Eat what the season gives you.” Green garlic, she notes, is at its sweetest and most tender in winter; lighter than regular garlic, easier to digest, and rich in vitamin C, antioxidants, and gut-friendly compounds the body needs during colder months. Seasonal eating, she believes, keeps flavours at their peak while supporting the body as nature intended. “Green garlic has two distinct parts. The white bulb is bolder and more garlicky, while the green stalks are fresher and milder. Used together, they create layers of flavour,” she adds.
Kheema lasan beda
Ingredients
4 - 5 eggs
250 gm green garlic, finely chopped
300 gm cooked minced meat (Cooked kheema can be of your choice, either dry green kheema or popular red masala kheema)
2 tbsp ghee
Salt and pepper powder for seasoning
Roasted cumin powder for flavouring
1/2 to 1 cup ghee (for tempering)
Method
Heat one tablespoon of ghee in a pan. Spread the cooked kheema and let it warm through for a minute. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside. Layer all the finely chopped green garlic over it. Once the garlic is layered, make small wells to place the eggs in. Season with salt and pepper powder to taste. Sprinkle jeera powder generously over it to give an earthy flavour. Once done, break the eggs over it, placing the yolk in the well and letting the egg whites flow. Season the eggs. Heat the ghee to smoking point.
Pour the smoking hot ghee over it, but generously, so that the top of the eggs is cooked. Serve and enjoy, immediately with bajra roti, bread or chapati or any millet-based flatbread. It also tastes great with fresh pav if you want a softer bite.
Chef’s note: For the first bite, gently mix the egg yolk, garlic, and kheema in hot ghee to experience all three flavours together. When reheating, use a low flame — green garlic cooks quickly, and gentle heat helps prevent bitterness.
Born in Devlali and shaped by Mumbai’s vibrant food culture, Chef Juzer Baldiwala discovered his love for cooking at a young age in his mother’s kitchen. Trained by the legendary bhatyaras and khansamas of the 1970s and refined through years in India and Dubai, his work today is rooted in preserving Bohra culinary heritage — celebrating the thaal, balanced flavours, and the spirit of Jamjo ane Jamarjo (eat and enjoy).
In Bohri cuisine, green garlic signals winter —warming, gentle, and deeply comforting. It shines in dishes like lasan beda, lasan nu kachu, and khichdi, bringing both flavour and nourishment to the thaal
For Baldiwala too, green garlic carries the warmth of winter mornings and family kitchens — of gajar ka achaar, khichdi gently tempered, and lasan beda made before sunrise. He recalls being woken while his mother and grandmother cooked quietly, believing the garlic, ghee, and eggs in kheema lasan beda would keep the body warm, nourished, and energised through cold days.
Juzer Baldiwala
Today, that same ingredient feels just as comforting to him — green garlic slipping easily from home cooking to thoughtful plates, finding its place in undhiyu, quick achaars, salads, or as a soft, fragrant tempering over dals and khichdi.
Kadhi pakodi with green garlic tadka
Ingredients
1 cup thick curd
2 tbsp besan
A pinch of turmeric
For tempering
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp kasuri methi, soaked in a little water
2–3 whole dry Kashmiri red chillies
Jaggery powder, to taste
For the green garlic pakodas
1 cup green garlic greens
2 onions, sliced
Besan as required
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
Red chilli powder to taste
1/4 tsp ajwain
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
For tempering
2 tbsp ghee
Green garlic shoots and garlic, finely chopped
Red chilli powder to taste
Method
In a bowl, whisk curd and besan until smooth. Add water gradually to achieve a pouring consistency. Season with salt and turmeric, whisk and keep aside.
Chef Natasha Gandhi with her signature dish, green Garlic pakoda kadhi. PIC/SHADAB KHAN
Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add crushed coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and fenugreek seeds; let them splutter. Add dry Kashmiri red chillies. Mix Kashmiri chilli powder and kasuri methi with a little water and add. Sauté briefly on low heat. Pour in the prepared curd mixture. Cook on a low flame, stirring continuously, until the kadhi thickens and loses its raw besan taste. Add jaggery powder to balance the flavours.
For the pakodas, combine green garlic greens, onions, spices, ajwain, and salt. Add besan and mix. Add little water to form a thick pakoda batter. Heat oil and deep-fry spoonfuls of the mixture until golden and crisp. Drain and keep aside.
Gently drop the fried pakodas into the simmering kadhi. Cook for 5–7 minutes. Heat the ghee in a small pan. Add green garlic shoots and garlic; sauté until aromatic. Add chilli powder and immediately pour the hot tadka over the kadhi.
Makki ki roti
Ingredients
1 cup makki ka atta
1/4 cup water, approx
1/4 tsp ajwain
2 tbsp shredded mooli
2 tbsp chopped green garlic shoots
Salt to taste
Makhan, for finishing
Method
Mix makki atta, salt, ajwain, mooli, and green garlic. Add water gradually and knead into a soft dough. Rest the dough for 10 minutes. Flatten carefully and cook on a hot tawa until both sides are cooked through. Finish with a dollop of makhan.
Quick ideas
>> Turn it into a pickle or thecha for an ideal winter condiment
>> Mix into paratha or thepla dough, or any sabzi, tadka, dal, kadhi
>> Add to non-vegetarian dishes — chicken, fish, marinades, gravies for a pungent punch
>> Stir into egg ghotala or scrambled eggs, breakfast becomes instantly brighter
>> Stuff chicken breast or fish with green garlic, add cheese and bake
Chef Neha Deepak Shah brings a thoughtful, ingredient-led approach to her cooking, rooted in seasonality and home-style wisdom. Shah too says green garlic instantly takes her back to winter kitchens — slow mornings, gentle sunlight, and that soft garlicky aroma lingering in the air. It recalls simple, seasonal meals made with care: theplas, dhebras, comforting dals, and her favourite lasan nu kachu. “It’s not just a condiment,” she says, “it’s an experience.” A small serving along with bhakhri, rotlo, or thepla, and the meal feels complete.
Neha Deepak Shah with her signature dish — green garlic pakoda
Rooted in Gujarati food wisdom, green garlic is seasonal, warming, and easy on digestion. In Gujarati homes, eating with the seasons has always been instinctive — green garlic arrives in winter for good reason. Lighter than regular garlic, it adds warmth, supports digestion, and blends beautifully into winter cooking without overpowering the dish, often starring in lasan nu kachu and undhiyu, kneaded into thepla, bhakhri, and rotla, folded into khichdi and dals, mixed into batters for handvo or muthiya, crushed raw with oil and chilli, or lightly tempered for simple shaaks. I make this green garlic oil that I use for drizzling over soups, pasta, dal or eggs. Whether subtle or bold, raw or cooked, green garlic enhances food gently — never demanding attention, always adding comfort,” she adds.
Sizzling green garlic oil
Ingredients
Handful of green garlic
3 to 4 spring onion stalks, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger, chopped
1 tbsp ginger, grated
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander stem, finely chopped
1/2 cup hot oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Salt and black pepper, to taste
(You can also add Sichuan pepper corns to this)
Neha Deepak Shah
Method
Wash the green garlic and finely chop the white and green parts, separately. Now, in a bowl, add in the green portion of green garlic, spring onions, coriander stems, ginger and chillies. Add the white part of green garlic, some sizzling hot oil and then salt, pepper and soy sauce. Mix well and add the remaining sizzling hot oil. Transfer to a sterilised glass jar. Use as you like and enjoy!
Pro tip
Add oil in two batches to get the maximum flavour.
Keep the white garlic portion on top of the bowl.
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