Weekly veg menu for North Indian homes (Mon–Sat, lunch and dinner)

The menu, Monday to Saturday

Lunch is the bigger meal here, with rice. Dinner is lighter, with roti. Swap lunch and dinner on any day if that suits your home.

Day	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Dal tadka (toor), bhindi masala, rice, roti	Aloo gobi, roti, boondi raita
Tuesday	Rajma chawal, kachumber salad	Lauki chana dal, roti
Wednesday	Kadhi pakora, rice, jeera aloo	Palak paneer, roti
Thursday	Chole, jeera rice, onion salad	Turai or tinda sabzi, moong dal, roti
Friday	Dal makhani, roti, cucumber raita	Vegetable pulao, curd
Saturday	Aloo paratha, curd, pickle	Moong dal khichdi, ghee, papad

Every day has a different protein source: toor dal, rajma and chana dal, besan, chole and moong, whole urad, and moong again in Saturday's khichdi. Paneer appears once, and Saturday is deliberately easy.

The soaking plan (the part that usually goes wrong)

Three dishes on this menu need an overnight soak. Rajma and chole should soak for 8 to 12 hours, and whole urad for dal makhani does best overnight too. The trick is to let your cook soak them at the end of the visit before:

Soak at the end of…	What	For
Monday dinner	Rajma	Tuesday lunch
Wednesday dinner	Kabuli chana	Thursday lunch
Thursday dinner	Whole urad and a handful of rajma	Friday lunch

This is also why rajma isn't on Monday. If your cook doesn't come on Sunday, nobody is there to soak it the night before. See our guide on how long to soak rajma for times and cooker whistles.

Groceries: split it into two small buys

Leafy greens and soft vegetables don't last six days, so buy fresh produce in two rounds and keep staples stocked.

Fresh, for Monday to Wednesday: bhindi, gobi, lauki, palak, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, ginger, green chillies, coriander, curd, paneer.

Fresh, for Thursday to Saturday: turai or tinda, cucumber, mixed vegetables for the pulao (beans, carrot, peas), more tomatoes and coriander, curd.

Staples to check before Monday: atta, rice, toor dal, chana dal, moong dal (yellow), rajma, kabuli chana, whole urad, besan, ghee, oil, and the basic spices (haldi, jeera, dhaniya, red chilli, garam masala, kasuri methi, hing).

Order the staples once and they'll cover the whole menu. Only the fresh list repeats.

Adjusting it for your home

• Jain: skip onion, garlic and root vegetables. Use cabbage matar instead of aloo gobi, methi or paneer paratha instead of aloo paratha, and make the dals and kadhi without onion and garlic.
• Lighter dinners: replace roti with a bowl of dal and a sabzi, or move khichdi to a weekday.
• Fasting days: keep a simple sabudana khichdi or a fruit-and-curd plate ready, and tell your cook the day before.
• Kids: keep a mild portion aside before the tadka goes in, and add a plain roti or rice option at every meal.
• More protein: add a bowl of curd or a besan chilla at breakfast, or double the dal portion.

Handing the menu to your cook

A menu only works if your cook can follow it without asking each morning. Three habits help:

1. Say quantities, not just dishes. "3 log, 4 roti each" is clearer than "make rotis".
2. Use the names your cook uses. If they call it "lauki chana", don't call it "dudhi dal".
3. Confirm the soak and the run-outs at the end of each visit, not first thing in the morning.

For the morning routine itself, see what to tell your cook every morning.

Questions people ask

How we wrote this: Built from everyday North Indian home dishes, with soaking and grocery timing planned around a cook who comes Monday to Saturday.