A medley of vegetables

“Fill your plate with the colours of the rainbow.”

Mixed veg is usually seen as the ‘cleaning out the leftovers’ kind of a dish, atleast in my home considering we think of cooking it only whenever we have odds and ends of the week’s vegetables left out. Forlorn and forgotten at the bottom of the fridge. But that’s what makes this recipe even special I feel as it revives the unwanted vegetables into something exceptional. Add some fluffy white rice or buttered brown roti and you are good to go!

RECIPE
For 4 sumptuous suppers

INGREDIENTS

For gravy base

• 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 tablespoon oil (any neutral tasting oil)
• 1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon garam masala

• 1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped
• 2 medium sized tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon, ginger-garlic paste
• 1-2 medium sized green chillies, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon stalks of coriander, roughly chopped

For rest of the recipe

• 3 cups of mixed vegetables of your choice ( I used potatoes, cauliflower, baby corn, French beans, capsicum, green peas and carrots)
  
• 1 ½ cups water or as required
  
• 1 cup milk, or cream
  
• 2 tablespoon coriander, chopped
  
• Salt to taste
  

METHOD

1. In a pan, boil water and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the chopped vegetables and boil till soft.
   
2. Put all the ingredients for masala paste in a mixer and blender until a smooth paste forms.
   
3. In a shallow pan, fry the ghee and oil, and add the ingredients for the gravy base. Once the garlic starts turning light golden brown, ass the masala paste.
   
4. Fry the paste and powders for at least 15-20mins or till the oil start separating. Then add in the milk and stir till combined.
   
5. Once a creamy consistency is reached, add in the vegetables and salt. Put a lid and simmer for another 15 mins till the vegetables have absorbed the gravy. You can add water as per your liking to loosen the gravy.
   
6. Finally, add a sprinkling of kasuri methi, a swirl of cream or milk and a topping of coriander to garnish.
   
7. Enjoy with hot phulkas!
   

Additional Notes

1. You can replace ghee with oil and milk with any nut milk/leave it out to make it completely vegan.
   
2. You can leave out the onion and ginger-garlic paste and replace the minced garlic with ginger to make a Jain version.
   
3. Add more red chilli powder or green chillies or additional red chillies in the gravy base to make the curry spicier.