Veggie Foodie

Undhiyu

Ingredients:

Vegetables

• 10 baby potatoes OR 3 medium sized potatoes
• 5 mini brinjals (eggplant)
• 1 plantain (raw banana)
• 1 medium size sweet potato
• 150g fresh or frozen (half of 340g / 12oz packet) kand (Indian purple yam)
• 150g fresh or frozen (half of 340g / 12oz packet) suran (elephant foot yam)
• 340g fresh or frozen (340g / 12oz packet) vaal papdi fresh
• 1 cup fresh or frozen (340g / 12oz packet) tuvar lilva (pigeon pea). If hard to find, use edamame
• 1 cup green peas or vaal beans fresh or frozen (optional)

Note: Do NOT use frozen Surti papdi. It’s very hard to cook and very fibrous!

Leafy greens

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen tightly packed methi leaves
• 1 cup fresh or frozen green garlic

Optional

• Methi Muthia (see recipe here)

Paste

• 2 serrano chili, seeded
• 2 inches ginger (equivalent of 2 tbsp ginger paste)
• 3-4 large garlic cloves (equivalent of 2 tbsp garlic paste)

Masalo (stuffing)

• 8 tbsp (½ cup) fresh or frozen (half of 340g / 12oz packet) grated coconut
• 1 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp coriander powder
• 2 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp asafetida
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp lime / lemon juice
• Chili-ginger-garlic paste made earlier

For cooking

• 4-5 tbsp peanut oil
• 1/2 tsp ajwain seeds (carom seed)
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Method:

Partially cook all the hard-to-cook vegetables

• Raw banana – Peel, chop into 1 inch pieces and pressure cook
• Tuvar lilva – Cook in boiling water for 5 minutes
• Vaal papdi – Cook in boiling water with ½ tsp soda bicarb for 3 minutes

Prepare the chili-ginger-garlic paste

Prepare the masalo by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl

Prepare vegetables

• Potatoes – peel, make cuts and stuff with the prepared masalo
• Eggplant – make cuts and stuff with the prepared masalo
• Sweet potato – peel and cut into 1 inch pieces

Prepare masalo-mix by combining the remaining masalo with the leafy greens and semi-cooked tuvar lilva

Cooking

• Heat oil in a large pan
• Add 1/2 tsp ajwain seeds 
• Add 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• After the seeds crackle (1-2 minutes), layer with the stuffed potatoes and eggplants
• Gently turn the vegetables so that they are covered in oil and seeds. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes till they are halfway cooked. At regular intervals, gently turn them so that they don’t burn
• Layer with sweet potato, kand, suran, partially cooked raw banana
• Sprinkle 1 tsp salt and half of the masalo-mix on this layer
• Add a layer of vaal papdi, ½ tsp salt  and all the remaining masalo-mix
• Evenly layer with the methi muthia
• Gently add 1 cup of water along the sides of the pot
• Cover and cook for 30 minutes on medium heat till all the vegetables are fully cooked

Enjoy with puri or fulka rotli

Serves: 8-10