Veggie Foodie

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 head cauliflower (medium)
• ¼ cup slivered almonds
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• Small pinch of turmeric
• 1 tsp cayenne powder
• 1 tsp lemon pepper powder

• 1 onion (large), thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 5-6 mint leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tsp lime / lemon juice
• Salt to taste

• Mint leaves and dried red chili for garnishing

Method:

1. Cut cauliflower in small / medium florets
2. In a large bowl, coat the cauliflower florets with 1 tbsp olive oil, cumin, coriander, cayenne, lemon pepper, turmeric powder, 1 tsp (or to taste) salt
3. Stir in the almond slivers
4. Bake the spice coated cauliflower florets in a baking dish at 400 degree F for 25-30 minutes till cooked (not too soft)
5. In a bowl, mix well yogurt, ½ tsp salt (or to taste), lime / lemon juice and chopped mint leaves and keep aside
6. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a pan and heat on high heat for 1-2 minutes.
7. Add chopped onions and stir fry till light brown.
8. Add chopped garlic and stir fry for another minute or so
9. Transfer baked cauliflower florets to the pan and gently mix with the fried onions and spread the yogurt over it
10. Garnish with red chili powder and mint leaves and serve with any Indian bread

Serves: 2

Inspiration source:

Recipe contributed by Vidya Prashan in India Current’s July 2012 issue, page 30

Remarks:

• If you don’t want to go through the trouble of baking cauliflower, you can saute / stir fry it
• If Greek yogurt is not easily available, you can use strained yogurt

Ingredients:

To cook the vegetables:

• 1 small cauliflower, processed into medium size florets
• 4-5 medium size potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces. I used redskin potatoes and keep the skin
• 1 cup green peas, boiled
• 1 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste

For the paste:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 inch long ginger, coarsely chopped
• 3-4 dry kashmiri chili
• 1/2 cup cashew pieces
• 2 tbsp melon seeds
• 1 tsp kasuri methi
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp Badshah Kitchen King masala
• Salt to taste

For putting together:

• cumin seeds, 1 tsp
• onions, 1 small, chopped
• green chili, 1, thinly sliced
• tomato, 1, chopped
• 1 tbsp oil

Method:

Cook the vegetables

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan
2. Once the oil is hot, add cauliflower and potatoes, add 1 tsp salt (or to taste) and sauté for a few minutes
3. Cover the pan and cook the vegetables on medium heat till cooked to desired level of softness. Add minimum water to make sure the vegetables don’t get burnt
4. Keep the vegetables on the side
5. Wash the pan with 1 cup water and keep that water aside for later use

Make the paste

1. In a medium size pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté onions, garlic cloves, garlic pieces, cashew pieces and melon seeds for a few minutes
2. Add all the ingredients for the paste in a grinder and grind to fine smooth paste. Add the water that was used to clean the pan and some more, as necessary. All in all, you may need up to 2 cups of water

Put it all together

1.  In the pan that was used to cook the vegetables, heat 1 tbsp oil (high heat)
2. Add cumin seeds and when they start crackling, add the chopped onions and chili and sauté for a couple of minutes
3. Add chopped tomatoes and sauté for one more minute
4. Turn the heat to medium and add the paste. Wash the grinder with 1/2 cup of water and add that water to the pan
5. Cook the paste, constantly stirring, for 3-4 minutes
6. Add the cooked vegetables, green peas and gently mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes
7. Serve hot with paratha or steamed rice

Serves: 6

Inspiration source:

We had this curry at the hotel restaurant (Chitrakoot) in Saputara (a small place in the tribal hills in Western India) and we liked it so much that we paid visit to the kitchen and learnt how the Rajasthani cook made it. You would love it!

Remarks:

Ingredients:

Process the following vegetables and cut in 3/4 – 1 inch pieces

• 2 medium-size potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 Zucchini
• Several cabbage leaves
• Broccoli florets

Other ingredients:

•  200 g extra firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
•  1/2 can pineapple, drained
•  1/2 cup roasted peanuts
•  1 can thick coconut milk (400 ml)
•  1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp cumin-coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp curry powder (optional)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt or to taste

Method:

1. Steam / boil potatoes and carrot till cooked
2. Individually stir fry tofu and the other vegetables and keep aside
3. Heat the oil in a large pan
4. Sauté onions till light brown in color
5. Add ginger and garlic paste and sauté for 30 seconds
6. Add cumin-coriander powder, chili powder, turmeric powder and curry powder (optional) and sauté for 30 seconds
7. Add coconut milk, 1 cup water, salt, sugar and bring to boil and then let it simmer on medium heat
8. Add all the vegetables, pineapple and roasted peanuts and cook for 3-4 minutes on low heat
9. Serve hot with jasmine rice or flaky Malaysian prata (similar to India bread, paratha)

Serves: 4

Remarks:

You can substitute salt with 2 cubes of Knorr’s vegetable stock cubes (10 g each) for extra flavor