Mix Veg (Restaurant Style)

While dining out, a typical north Indian vegetarian would pick one Paneer curry, a Dal and then more often than not it would be Mix-veg! 😀
Just a general observation!!

How about replicating the same style mix-veg that you’d order in a restaurant? 🙂
Sounds like a good idea?
Let’s do it then.

What’s the best part about a mix-veg!!
It lets a picky eater eat ample veggies in one dish. I like adding a variety to mine. So shall we head to the recipe without much ado. 🙂

Recipe:
Serves – 4

Ingredients:

Veggies-
15-18 medium sized cauliflower florets
1/2 cup french beans (diagonally cut, lengthwise)
1/2 cup carrot (cut into roundels)
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 medium sized potato (cut into wedges)
1 cup paneer (small cubes)
2 green chillies slit
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 medium sized tomatoes (finely chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 inch ginger grated
handful of fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Spices-
Salt to taste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp kitchen king masala
1/4 tsp vegetable masala
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp amchur powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tbsp kasuri methi (crush it in your palms)
3 tbsp oil

Method:
Take a heavy bottom wok.
Heat oil in it, add hing and cumin seeds
Add garlic, onion and ginger. Saute them on high flame till they brown.
Add all the dry spices. Make sure you add salt only a little bit for now.
Roast all the spices well for about 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
Add tomatoes and green chillies. Saute till the oil leaves the sides of the wok.
Now add in all the other veggies and add salt , give them a quick stir.
Cover the wok with a lid and put it to low-medium flame.
Let the veggies cook till tender, keep checking in between.
When you see all the veggies have softened and are well cooked, uncover the wok and set the flame to high.
Saute all the veggies for about 2-3 minutes on high.
Turn off the flame, transfer them to your serving bowl/platter and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve with a bread of your choice.
🙂




Do try out this recipe and keep me posted.
Happy Cooking ya’ll! :))

xoxo

Khatta Meetha Karela (Sweet and Tangy Bitter Gourd)

Like I mentioned in the last blog post, I love anything and everything from the gourd family. So here I am with another though ‘not-so-very- liked-by-many’; “Bitter Gourd”.
Maybe as a child I wasn’t too fond of it either and didn’t really like eating it. But I remember once during summer vacations, when I must have been 5 or 6 years old, my nani (Maternal Grandma) told me to atleast give it a try. From that day on, I guess this has been on my list of favourite veggies. 😀
As the name suggets, it is certainly bitter in taste but then looking at the nutritional benefits of this vegetable, one can totally let go off that! If you are not a keen eater of this one, try out the way i made it and maybe you will start liking it too. 🙂

A little about the ‘Nutrional Benefits’ of Bitter Gourd
Bitter Gourd is an extremely rich source of Vitamin C which helps in boosting immunity and keeps a check on your regular health. It is essentially a store house of dietary fibre that aid in proper digestion and good bowel movement.
Also it has as less as only 17 calories per 100 gms which makes it a good food to be included in your weight loss diet. And an extremely diabetic friendly vegetable, it is advisable to have a glass of Bitter gourd juice every morning on an empty stomach.
So have I given you enough reasons to incoroporate Karela in your diet.  🙂

While Karela is cooked in a number of ways, here I made a khatta meetha karela, i.e. sweet and tangy and yet not losing on the healt aspects! Check out the recipe and make it soonest.

Recipe for Khatta Meetha Karela
Serves : 4

Ingredients :

250 gms Bitter Gourd/ Karela
4 tbsp oil
2 tsp + 1 &1/4 tsp salt
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
1 tsp red chilli powder
3/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi powder)
2 & 1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhaniya powder)
1 tsp coarsely ground fennel powder (saunf powder)
1 small raw mango, grated
2-3 tbsp grated jaggery (Gur)
Enough water to wash the vegetable

Preparation :
Firstly wash the karela well in running water so that it is all clean.
Take a bowl, put your vegetable in here and sprinkle 2 tsp salt over it. Cover with a lid and give it a topsy-turvey shake so that salt mixes with all the karelas.
Keep them like this for an hour and a half.
Now wash them again twice and drain all the water.
Salt is completely washed. This method of first putting them in salt is done to remove the bitterness of the vegetable. Now cut them into slices just as given in the second picture above. 🙂
There is no need to peel it.

Method :
1.Take a wok, heat oil and add hing, jeera and rai and let them crackle.
2.Add sliced karela and stir. Cover with a lid and cook till they are soft for about 8-10 minutes. Give a stir or two in between so that they do not stick to the bottom.
3.Uncover the lid, check that they’re cooked and add all the spices, salt,red chilli powder, dhaniya powder, saunf powder,haldi powder and stir.
4. Add grated raw mango and grated jaggery and stir well again.
5. Cook for another 2 minutes and your khatta meetha style karela is ready to eat.

Best eaten with phulka/roti/chappati or mixed with dal and rice. 🙂

Notes :
Bitter gourd uses more oil for cooking lest it’ll be too dry.
If raw mango is not available, you may use 1/2 tsp dry mango powder (amchur) and there won’t be any difference in the taste.
Also sugar can be substituted for jaggery but I personally prefer Jaggery.

Awaiting your feedback. 🙂
Thank for stopping by, Happy Cooking. ❤

Bharwan Tinde (Stuffed Apple Gourd)

How can you not love greens?? They look gorgeous, don’t they! 🙂 Well, i love everything from the “gourd” famliy. Be it bottle gourd (Lauki), Bitter gourd (Karela), Ridge gourd (Taurai), Sponge gourd (gilki), apple gourd (Tinda) to name a few!! The list is endless.
In india, usually all these are summer vegetables however today you get everything throughout the year. But I am still a firm believer of eating seasonal and fresh produce, nothing beats that! Right? 🙂

I might just do different post on all these vegetables belonging to the gourd family and in what variations are these eaten in my family. So thought why not start with an ever favourite “Bharwan Tinde”.
Bharwan tinde ki sabji is nothing but apple gourds stuffed with an indian spice filling and cooked till tender and flavourful! You ought to make this, if you haven’t yet.

Here’s the recipe you are looking for.

Bharwan Tinde ki Sabji :
Serves  : 4-6

Ingredients :

500 gms Apple Gourd/Tinda
2-3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1/2 tsp rai (Mustard seeds)
a generous pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1 & 1/2 tsp salt (Adjust as per taste)
1 & 1/4 tsp red chilli powder (Adjust as per taste)
1/2 tsp haldi powder (Turmeric powder)
2 & 1/2 tsp dhaniya powder (Coriander powder)
1 tsp saunf (fennel seeds)
1/4 tsp amchur (Dry mango Powder)
7-8 garlic cloves
a bunch of  fresh coriander leaves (washed and chopped)

Method :
Wash and peel the apple gourds. Put a cross slit in between ensuring that it does not cut the end, so as to fill it nicely.
Take your spices, salt, red chilli powder, haldi powder, dhaniya powder, saunf, amchur and chopped coriander leaves. Mix them well (Filling is ready).
Now stuff each tinda.

Take a wok, heat oil and add hing, jeera and rai till they spultter.
Put the stuffed tindas one by one into the wok so that the stuffing doesn’t spill out.
Cover the wok with a plate and pour some water on top of it so that it cooks well and softens nicely. Let it cook on low-medium flame and stir twice or thrice in between.
Add 2-3 tsp water and cook for another 5-7 minutes till they are moist and soft.
Add all the remaining masala mix. Give it a stir.
Now dig in the center of the wok, add minced garlic cloves and saute. Now stir again and cook for 2 more minutes.

Bharwan tinda is ready to eat! Best enjoyed with garma garam fulka/roti.

So now that you have the perfect recipe for it, go make it in your kitchen and don’t forget to keep me posted with the feedback. I bet you’ll love it. 😀

Khatti Meethi Kaddu ki Sabji ( Sweet & Tangy Pumpkin Veggie)

I have a special love for Kaddu ki Sabji 🙂 And I love the one Mom makes the most, full of flavours!!
A little sweet to the palate and then a little citrus, to have it with plain fulka (whole wheat Indian Flat Bread) or mix it along with Dal (Lentils) and rice!
We cooked mixed herbs with potato veggie, kaddu ki sabji and Boondi Raita along with fulkas for lunch the previous day, posting the Pumpkin veggie here. There’s no much gushing about it, i’ll just straight away come to the recipe now.

Ingredients :
250 gms Pumpkin with green peel (Do not Peel it)
2 green chillies (chopped)
few curry leaves
1 & 1/2 tbsp oil
1/4th tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1/4th tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4th tsp Cumin Seeds
1/8th tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp corriander Powder
1/4th tsp Dry Mango Powder
Sugar 1 tsp
1 tbsp lemon juice
Corriander Leaves (washed and Chopped)

Method :
Cut the Pumpkin into long cubes, do not remove the peel. Wash and keep.
Take a wok and heat the oil.
Add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them crackle.
Add curry leaves and chillies.
Add the cut pumpkin and cook till soft and nicely done.
Add all the spices now, stir and cook for 1-2 mins.
Add lemon juice and sugar and give a stir and cook for another 2 mins.
Lastly garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy 🙂

Mixed Herbs And Potato Veggie

Potatoes are a delight! 😀 Aren’t they?? Probably that one vegetable you can play with in ample ways and never be disappointed. Thank you Potatoes for making life a little simpler ;)!! We take respite in you whenever there is nothing else to cook around and you always amaze us with your simplicity and flavorsome attitude. Lol! I’m talking like potatoes are listening, i wish they did!  However potatoes don’t essentially have a taste of their own but the very quality of adapting into any flavour that you infuse in, is what marvels me.
Today mom and i were just wondering what to cook for lunch and somehow we ended up with having potatoes and eventually wanting to make something out of it. It just clicked me to think about all the other herbs and leafy veggies we had and i decided i’m going to put them to good use.
So we have here Mixed herbs and Potatoes together.

Recipe :
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4-5 medium sized potatoes
handful of Spinach Leaves
few dill leaves
few sprigs of mint
10-15 curry leaves
handful of cilantro
1 tsp Dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
2-3 tbsp oil
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tsp mustard seeds (Rayi)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/3 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust as per taste)
1-2 tsp dry coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
1 tsp gram flour ( Besan)
1/2 tsp dry mango powder (Amchur)
1 tbsp lime juice
Salt to taste

Method :
Peel and cut the potatoes into small cubes, wash and strain them. Wash and chop all the herbs and leafy vegetables together.
Take a wok, heat the oil, add asafeotida, cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let them splutter. Also add turmeric powder.
Now put all the potatoes in there and cover and cook for 5-8 minutes till they become soft and are properly cooked.
Add all the cut herbs and give it a stir.
Add all the other spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Lastly add lime juice and garnish with more cilantro.

Mixed Herbs and Potato Veggie is ready to be enjoyed; either with Parantha, Fulka, Lucchi, Puri, rice or plain like an appetizer. 🙂

Note ; I used dried fenugreek leaves, however if you have the fresh ones, dont hestitate to use them.
Also you may add parsley, thyme, basil or any such other herb, it would taste equally good.