Mix Vegetable cooked in Coconut Milk

HE is a big fan of Punjabi curries and I just do not like that typical taste of spices in onion and tomato gravy. So I thought to use generous quantity of fresh veggies and coconut milk to lower down the spiciness of the curry. I made this first time for guests and they loved it. You can keep the same gravy and try out different veggies.

Serves 6

Preparation Time: 30 Minute

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

Cut veggies,

2 cup cauliflower

1 cup beans

1 cup corn

½ cup green pepper

½ cup peas

2.5 cup thinly sliced onions

2 tsp oil

Whole garam masala (A baly leaf, 2 pc cardamom, 1” cinnamon stick, 2-3 pc clove, 8-10 whole black pepper)

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp green chili paste

½ tsp ginger paste

¼ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp kitchen king masala

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp dhaniya powder

½ cup coconut milk

2 cup tomato sauce

1 small can evaporated milk (5 oz)

Salt

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Note: quantity of sliced onions should be half of all veggies.

Procedure

1. Steam green beans in microwave and keep them aside

2. Heat oil in skillet, add whole garam masala, cumin seeds, sliced onions, ginger and chili paste

3. When onions turn golden brown, add kitchen king, salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder and dhaniya powder

4. Stir it for a while and add all the veggies

5. Cook them covered on low flame and preferably without adding water

6. When veggies are almost cooked, add tomato sauce, coconut milk and evaporated milk

7. Mix well and bring it to boil uncovered, stirring occasionally

8. Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander leaves

Dal Fry

I have never been much into Dal. I would have typical Gujarati Dal (Which is there for lunch at least 5 days a week) only if mom has prepared it. And later on, I also learnt to make it to get the exact taste. Still, I avoid having this dal in any function or at somebody’s place. Similarly, I avoid Dal Fry as well. Generally when people go out at restaurants, they order Dal Fry or Dal Tadka with Jeera Rice/Pulao. But I would still prefer rice with sabzi gravy. But HE loves dal fry like anything (or any dal for the fact), so I had no choice but to make it more often :(

Serves 2-4

Preparation Time: 10 Minute + soaking time

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

½ sup toor dal

½ cup moong dal

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped tomato

1 tsp cumin seeds

4-6 whole pepper

½ tsp green chili paste

½ tsp garlic paste

¼ tsp ginger paste

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chili powder

½ tsp dhaniya powder

¼ tsp kitchen king

¼ tsp garam masala

¼ tsp aamchur

1 tbsp tomato paste

Salt

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Procedure

1. Soak both dals for couple of hours and pressure cook them together

2. Stir it with hand blender while it is still hot. Avoid using electric blender

3. Add salt and bring dal to boil on low flame. Add desired quantity of water at this time only

4. In a separate skillet heat oil. Add cumin seeds, pepper, onion, chili paste, garlic paste and ginger paste

5. When onions turn golden brown, add tomato and kitchen king masala

6. Stir it until tomatoes turn soft and add remaining spices

7. Mix well and add this mixture to boiling dal

8. Add tomato paste, mix well and turn off the heat (When you add onion-tomato mixture to dal, it should be boiling. Once you mix them, do not cook for long)

9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot

PS Same recipe can be used with only toor dal too.

Potato in creamy spinach

Here at Indian Restaurants, we get limited varieties in Punjabi/ North Indian Curries. Sometimes, more or less they taste same due to the fact that same gravy is used as a base for several dishes. I am not very much fond of using fried onion and tomato in gravy. On experimental level, I reduce tomato/onion quantity and used spinach instead in gravy. And it worked fine!

Serves 3-4

Preparation Time: 20 Minute

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

4 cup chopped spinach

1 cup diced potato

¼ cup dice green pepper

Whole garam masala (a bay leaf, a cardamom, 2 pc clove, 1” cinnamon stick, 6-8 whole pepper)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1.5 cup finely chopped onion (3 medium pc)

1 tsp green chili paste

½ tsp ginger paste

½ tsp kitchen king masala

1 cup tomato sauce

½ cup evaporated milk

Pinch of sugar

Salt

Procedure

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add whole garam masala and cumin seeds

2. Add chopped onions and stir until they turn golden brown

3. Now add potato, green pepper and spinach

4. Add salt and stir well. Do not add water

5. Cook it covered on low-medium flame until potatoes are cooked and spinach starts leaving oil on the edge

6. Add kitchen king masala, tomato sauce and evaporated milk

7. Add sugar and mix well

8. Bring it to boil until it forms thick consistent gravy

9. Serve hot with naan or rice

PS: Alternatively, you can keep the same gravy and try different veggies like peas or corn.

Spinach Rice/ Palak Pulao

Long back I used spinach as a main ingredient in Pulao. That time I just wanted to use leftover spinach in some experimental way. Pulao came out good, more than taste I fell in love with lush green texture. I suddenly remembered this dish and thought to make it again. This time I searched for recipe online. I did find a few but all of them were saying to use chopped spinach. I did not find this method very appealing since chopped spinach will not change color of rice grain and also it will not be evenly distributed. Instead I decided to use spinach in a puree form. And here I am with another delicious pulao recipe.

Serves 2-4

Preparation Time: 10 Minute + soaking time

Cooking Time: 45 Minute

Ingredients

1.5 cup rice

Couple of handfuls of spinach

1 cup corn kernels

1 cup sliced onions

2 pc of clove

1” cinnamon stick

6-8 pc whole pepper

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp oil

¼ cup cheddar cheese (Optional)

Salt

Procedure

1. Soak rice for 1-2 hrs and cook it covered on low flame with salt and 1.5 cup of water

2. Boil the spinach, once cool down grind into a thick puree

3. Heat oil in a skillet. Add clove, cinnamon, pepper and cumin seeds

4. Add onions, when turn golden brown add spinach puree, corn, salt and lemon juice

5. Stir it for a while and turn off the heat

6. Now in a large oven safe bowl, mix rice and spinach mixture

7. Cover this bowl with aluminum foil and put it in oven for 25-25 minute at 350 F

8. Sprinkle cheese as soon as you take it out from oven and serve hot

Veggie Stuffed Vada

My mom shared this recipe a few days ago. She told me if I was tired of having Idli in a traditional way; try an alternative use of Idli flour to make this Vada. Due to soda bi-carb in store bought idli flour, it swells and looks like stuffed vada. These crispy vadas are somewhere between Alu-Vada and Cutlets. Ideally it should have a ball like shape and deep fried. Instead, I made flat patties and shallow fried them. They are quite filling and easy to prepare.

Makes 16-18 vadas

Preparation Time: 20 Minute

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

2 cup potato, boiled and mashed (About 3 medium pc)

1 cup idli flour

½ cup green beans, finely chopped

½ cup carrot, finely chopped

½ cup peas, coarsely crushed

1 tsp oil

½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp aamchur

¼ tsp garam masala

¼ tsp clove-cinnamon powder

½ tsp green chili paste

¼ tsp ginger paste

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add cumin seeds, sesame seeds, beans, peas and carrots

2. Stir it on low flame until it becomes dry

3. Turn off the heat and let mixture cool down

4. Now mix these veggies with mashed potatoes and add remaining ingredients

5. Mix well and form small flat patties

6. In a separate bowl, mix idli flour with water so it forms thick, consistent batter without any lumps

7. Heat oil in skillet. Deep each pattie in batter and shallow fry on both side until brown and crispy

8. Serve hot with green chutney and tomato ketchup