Mixed Vegetable Recipe

Mixed Vegetable Recipe

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Since this is the season of various festivals, here's a recipe for including vegetables deliciously to one's table, à l'indienne bien sûr!

'Mixed vegetable' is used as a principal dish along with a 'curry' or 'daal' (lentils) accompanied by basmati rice and Indian breads (chapati/ naan/ paratha/ poori etc.).

 
What will you need:

• 3 cups chopped seasonal Vegetables (carrots, potatoes, green beans, capsicum, cabbage etc.) 
• 1 cup blanched Green peas
• 2 medium sized Onions (chopped)
• 2 medium Tomatoes (chopped)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic and a few slices of fresh ginger (Ginger-Garlic paste)
• Spices (cumin seeds, coriander powder, 'garam masala' powder & turmeric powder) 1 teaspoon each
• Clarified butter 2 tablespoons
• Vegetable Oil for frying
• Salt (2 teaspoons or according to taste)
• Fresh coriander leaves to garnish (optional)

Directions to follow:

• Heat ghee (clarified butter) in a heavy bottom pan/ skillet/ wok.
• Add chopped onions. Shallow fry till golden brown.
• Add ginger and garlic and turn in for about a minute.
• Add chopped tomatoes. Leave for about 2 minutes or till the ghee starts to leave the side of the pan.
• Keep aside the mixture.
• Fry the potatoes and steam other vegetables.
• Add a tablespoon of 'Ghee' to a pan. Add cumin seeds when hot. After a minute, add vegetables, onion-tomato mixture and green peas. Sprinkle the salt and dry spices.
• Add a 2-3 tablespoons of water. Stir. Cover and let simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
• Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Trivia:

• Mixed vegetable is a dynamic dish. It is also one of the perennial dishes at Indian feasts. One can use any seasonal vegetable available. Vegetables like Okra (lady finger), spinach may not be suited as they will change the 'texture' of the dish. Local vegetables like 'courgette' (zuchini), yam, celery might be added.
• Different versions of the dish can be obtained by adding some garnish eg. grated coconut, dry fruits (like cashewnuts, raisins, almonds etc.). In order to make the dish with gravy- 'Mixed Vegetable Stew'- one can add about 500ml of coconut milk instead of water in the last step.
• Spices are best added before the end as most of the ground spices have essential, volatile oils (cloves and black pepper for example). Adding them at the beginning might lead to a loss of these oils before they marinate the vegetables. One may add chopped green chillies, red chilli powder or amchoor powder as per taste, to up the spicy content.
• Clarified butter (ghee) is a healthier source of fat compared to butter. However, it is not essential to preparation. One may make this dish according to one's dietary preferences for certain sources of fat (margarine, sunflower oil, groundnut oil etc.). Olive oil, however, is not recommended because of its distinct taste. 

For parisians, all the ingredients (Ghee, spices etc.) are available in Indian Quarter. Look up the article for addresses of some grocery stores.

French Equivalents:

Bon Appetit!