Mixed Vegetable Curry

The other day I had tried this mixed veg curry for roti which I liked very much but Kundan only kind of liked it. It is slightly creamy and bland as though it is a tweaked version of avail (A famous kerala mixed veg dish cooked in coconut milk). Best thing about this recipe is we can make it with different combination of vegetables like carrot, capsicum, bush beans, potato, cauliflower, green peas, beetroot and so apart from tomato and onion that are added as base. It is quite healthy; however, may not go as well with rice varieties.

Serves:  2

Preparation Time:  10 minutes

Cooking Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Carrot - 1

2.    Beans – 5-8

3.    Capsicum - 1

4.    Onion – 1

5.     Tomato – 1

6.    Green chili – 1

7.     Oil – 1 tbsp

8.    Salt to taste

9.    Turmeric powder – 2 pinches

10.   Chili powder – ½ tsp

11.   Coriander powder – 1 tsp

12. Cumin powder – ¼ tsp

13. Chopped coriander – 2 tbsp

14. Milk – ½ cup

Method:

Step 1: Cut the vegetables into small cubes and roughly chop chili, tomato and onion.

Step 2: Add ½ tbsp of oil in a heated tawa and sauté onion, tomato and chili in it until soft by adding a pinch of salt.

Step 3: Cool the sautéed mixture and grind into fine paste.

Step 4: Heat few drops of oil in the same tawa and sauté the vegetables with required salt, one by one preferably to retain their crisp & colours (each vegetable requires different amount of time depending on their nature and cut size).

Step 5: Now add the tomato-onion paste to the tawa and sauté for a minute and then add salt, turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder to sauté for another 2 minutes.

Step 6: Pour a cup of water and add the vegetables to it. Adjust salt and spices if necessary and cook covered.

Step 7: Once vegetables are soft and the gravy becomes thick add the milk and stir in slow heat until it starts boiling and then turn off heat. (Skip milk if you don't want)

Step 8: Transfer to the serving dish and garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with roti/ phulka.

Butter Naan

Naan is a typical tandoori flatbread but I’ve made it in gas stove. I see tandoor cooking in Asian countries as an equivalent to barbeque in western nations.  There are mainly three things that make tandoor or barbeque cooking distinct; they heat the food directly without any medium, help cook at high temperatures and leave food with smoky/ charred flavour.  

Okay coming to my Naan making, it is another fantasy dish for me that I thought was almost impossible in a normal kitchen especially for a beginner; and I proved myself wrong by trying this last week. If I’ve made it that implies, making naan isn’t rocket science at all. I had paired it with lauki koftas that I had shared in the last post and they came out neat. 

Serves:  4

Preparation Time:  15 minutes

Resting Time: 3 hours

Cooking Time:  15 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Maida – 5 cups

2.    Dry active yeast – 1 tsp

3.    Warm water – ½ cup

4.    Sugar – 1 tsp

5.     Kalonji – 1 tsp

6.    Salt to taste

7.     Butter  as required

Method:

Step 1: Take half a cup of warm water, mix yeast to it and sprinkle sugar for the yeast to improve for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Sieve maida, add required salt, 1 tbsp of soft butter, kalonji and add 

the dissolved yeast.  Mix well and add more water to make a soft dough. Cover and rest it for at least 3 hours.

Step 3: Make the dough into balls of 3 “ diameter and roll into circles or oblong shapes. Tawa fry on both sides for a minutes on both sides in medium heat. Alternatively use a roti maker for easier handling of dough; I prefer that as the dough is relatively stickier than phulka dough.

Step 4: Then either on a perforated papad roaster or directly on the stove roast both sides of the naan to puff it and get that tandoori feel and flavour. Puffing is not necessary.

 

Step 5: Serve greased with butter or topped with a blob of butter.

Lauki Kofta Gravy or Bottlegourd Dumpling Curry

Bottle gourd is such a healthy vegetable: it helps digestion, it cools the body, it is beneficial to skin and is mainly sought-after for weight loss.  But I have never heard anyone call it a favourite veggie; in my mom-in-law’s home they don’t even include it in anyway. When we had Kundan’s cousin for lunch, I wanted to try this lauki kofta curry as I thought that’s a cheering way to feed bottle gourd to people who abhor it on plate. I’m not sure how far my guests or Kundan liked it but our maid appreciated it pretty much.

Serves:  4

Preparation Time:  15 minutes

Cooking Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients:

1.      Bottle gourd – 1 small

2.    Gram flour – 3 tbsp

3.    Red chili powder – 2 tsp

4.    Salt to taste

5.     Lemon – 1

6.    Oil as required

7.     Cinnamon – 2 “ piece

8.    Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp

9.    Onion – 1 large

10.  Tomato – 4

11.   Coriander powder – 1 tsp

12. Cumin powder – ¼ tsp

13. Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

14. Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp

15.  Almonds – 6-10 no.

16. Coriander – 2 tbsp chopped

Method:

Step 1: Soak almonds in hot water.

Step 2: Peel and grate the bottle gourd into fine shreds [I did a mistake by making thick shreds; it made the kofta chewy even after cooking]. Add 2 pinches of salt and leave aside for 30 minutes after which you need to squeeze out the juice (save it for gravy) and take it in a mixing bowl.

Step 3: To the grated bottled gourd, add gram flour, ½ tsp of chili powder, juice of half a lemon, salt and mix well. Add more flour if required, roll into 2” balls and deep fry them until golden brown.

Step 4: For tomato gravy: grind the tomato and soaked almonds into smooth paste.

Step 5: Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan, splutter cumin seeds, add cinnamon and sauté finely chopped onion & ginger garlic paste in it until translucent.

Step 6: Add tomato puree to it and sauté until the oil starts coming out. Add remaining chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, required salt and sauté further for 2 minutes until the raw smell goes off.

Step 7: Add 3 cups of water and let it boil in simmered heat and form thick gravy. It takes around 15 minutes.

Step 8: Transfer the gravy to a serving dish and drop in the crisp koftas; some people like the koftas crisp and some like them soaked in gravy, serve as per preference.

Step 9: Serve garnished with fresh coriander along with roti/ naan.

TIPS:

* Substitute cashew nuts for almonds if you wish the gravy to be creamy.