Plant based food Archives - Page 2 of 4

Aaloo – Gobhi ki sabzi

Aaloo-Gobhi ki sabzi (potato and cauliflower) is loved by almost all my family members on all occasions. This sabzi is part of our regular food menu. If we have some guests at home, then aaloo-gobhi ki sabzi will be part of the spread. You will also find this in any elaborate wedding feast!

Generally, all age groups like this. I remember that whenever during winter season we used to have sudden guests at my parents’ house, my mother used to prepare this sabzi with little extra oil and spices. We were instructed that this sabzi is only for the guests as quantity used to be less due to their unexpected arrival. The taste of the dish prepared by her used to be so out-of-the-world that my siblings and I always wished that guests shouldn’t be very hungry so that we will get to enjoy in sufficient quantity once they have eaten😀.

Children can think of anything, isn’t it!!!😇

Sometimes, if cauliflower is sufficient in quantity, I don’t add potatoes. It tastes equally good. But kids are fond of potatoes so you can add them…

There are a few more vegetables dishes in the blog. If interested, can take a look…Vegetables (Curries)

Ingredients :

Cauliflower 500 gms
Potatoes 2 medium size
Oil 5 tbsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) 1/2 tsp
Small mustard seeds(rai) 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder (hing) 1/8 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Salt as per your taste
Green chillies chopped 2 – 3
Grated ginger 1/4 tsp
Dry mango powder (amchur) 1tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp

Water 1/8 cup, if later sabzi is not cooked and yet sticking to the bottom add 1/8 cup more.
Chopped green coriander leaves for garnishing

Process :

Cut cauliflower florets in small to medium size along with potatoes and wash them nicely.

Heat oil in a wok and add rai, hing and jeera.

Add cut cauliflower and potatoes along with chopped green chilies and grated ginger.

Add red chilly powder, coriander powder, salt and turmeric powder.

Mix everything and add 1/8th or 1/4th cup of water and cover the wok. Reduce the heat to sim and let it cook till cauliflower and potatoes turn soft. In between, stir 2-3 times.

When it is nearly cooked, add garam masala and dry mango powder, mix it well and again cover and cook it for 2-3 minutes. If you don’t want to use dry mango powder, add chopped tomatoes.

Sabzi is ready.

Add chopped green coriander leaves just before serving.

September 5, 2020September 5, 2020

Deeksha Pathak47 Comments

Vrat ke aaloo – methi

Vrat ke aaloo – methi ki sabzi is very easy to cook. As the spices added are mild, this vrat ke aaloo – methi (sabzi with potatoes and fenugreek leavesfor fasting days) is ideal for kids and those who are sensitive to spices. I don’t use white salt in food during some specific days of fasting. Sendha namak/pink salt/ rock salt is used to prepare savoury items. So, for this sabzi also I used sendha namak along with Homemade Kasuri Methi(dry fenugreek leaves) which gave such nice flavour to this that I didn’t miss hot spices.

If you don’t have dry kasuri methi leaves, use fresh fenugreek leaves by adding along with potatoes. As homemade kasuri methi leaves have strong flavour, use them wisely.

But in case if you are don’t like the taste of fenugreek leaves, omit them and continue the whole process with potatoes only. Dry crisp potatoes will be wonderful for your kiddo’s lunch box or else have them with hot pooris for lazy Sunday brunch!!! Your parents or grandparents would be happy to have this less spicy sabzi in their plate😊

Ingredients:

Boiled potatoes 3

Kasuri methi 1 tbsp

Green chillies 2

Oil 2 tbsp

Jeera (cumin seeds) 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder 1+1/2 tsp

Sendha namak as per your taste

Amchur (dry mango powder) 1/4 tsp

Fresh coriander leaves 1 tsp

Process:

Boil and peel potatoes and heat oil in a pan and splatter jeera.

Mash potatoes in small pieces and add it the pan along with all spices and chopped green chillies. Cover it and let it cook for 10 minutes on sim flame.

Keep stirring potatoes from time-to-time. Potatoes will start becoming crisp from the bottom and their colour will change. After 10 minutes, add kasuri methi, mix it well and again cook for a few more minutes. Just before serving, add finely chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Continue reading “Vrat ke aaloo – methi” →

September 4, 2020

Deeksha Pathak69 Comments

Stir Fry Cabbage

Stir Fry Cabbage is the best way to feed this nutritious vegetable to all those fussy kids and husband who make faces seeing cabbage on the dinning table. This recipe was a big success in my house. Though I didn’t follow the authentic ingredients commonly used in stir fry dishes, I retained the healthy elements and still this stir fry cabbage came out really tasty!

Colourful vegetables are considered very good for health. So, here I have used both green and purple cabbage. I used tomato to get red colour which also gave tangy taste. Purple cabbage is more pungent in taste compared to green cabbage. Also added onions for white colour. So, overall the taste of four vegetables along with spices gave this dish a very nice flavour.

I avoided using soy sauce here as it’s high in sodium. Usually, I never use garam masala and onions in cabbage. But for this stir fry, I added a pinch of garam masala in the end and the overall result with the pungent cabbages, sweet onions, acidity of tomatoes and spicy green-chilies along with Indian spices created fantastic Stir Fry Cabbage dish!!

Try this recipe, and trust me that this Indian style Stir Fry Cabbage will bring smile at the dinning table🙂.

For a few more vegetables and curries posts, you can take a look at this link too Vegetables (Curries)

Ingredients:

Chopped cabbage 250 gms
Medium size onion 2
Tomato 1 or 1 tsp lemon juice
Green chilies 2-3
Oil 3 tbsp
Rai (tiny mustard seeds) 1/4 tsp
Jeera (cumin seeds) 1/4 tsp
Hing (Asafoetida) 1/8 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt as per your taste
Coriander powder 1+1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder 1/4 tsp
Garam masala 1/8 tsp

Process:

Chop cabbages length-wise. Wash and keep them in the strainer till the water drains out.

Similarly, chop onions and green chilies too.

In a wok or a pan heat 1 tbsp oil and stir fry onions till they are brown. Keep onions in a separate bowl.

Once again heat 2 tbsp oil and crackle rai, hing and jeera. Keep the heat on medium flame and immediately add chopped cabbages and green chilies. Add salt and turmeric powder, mix it well and keep stirring.

Remember, cabbage should not turn completely soft. In stir fry dishes, vegetables remain crisp – that’s why they are cooked on slightly high flame. When you feel that cabbage is about to get cooked in the next 5 minutes, add coriander powder and chilly powder. Mix it well and keep stirring for 2-3 minutes. Add chopped tomato pieces, garam masala and onions. Stir for a minute and your Stir Fry Cabbage is ready to go with hot parathe or naan!!

August 30, 2020August 30, 2020

Deeksha Pathak66 Comments

Kaashifal ki sabzi (pumpkin veggie)

Kaashifal ki sabzi (pumpkin veggie) always reminds me about my father. He always used to prefer kaashifal ki sabzi or pumpkin veggie for dinner, so that all family members can sit together and enjoy it with hot poori, curd and pickle. This used to be my favorite dinner also!

Pumpkin is basically sweet in taste. So chirpy green chillies, tiny pieces of raw mangoes or lemon juice gives this sabzi a perfect mixed taste of sweet, chirpy and slight tangy flavours.

Unlike other North Indian sabzis, kaashifal is not seasoned with our regular ria, hing and jeera. It is seasoned with dana methi (fenugreek). So the moment fenugreek seeds are added in hot oil, the fragrance spreads in the whole house and everyone knows that kaashifal ki sabzi is coming at the dinning table!!

For preparing Kaashifal ki Sabzi I always prefer to buy pumpkin which has green skin. Green ones are very soft and we don’t have to remove the peel while chopping pumpkin. This variety of pumpkin has lots of water in it, that’s why it gets cooked very fast. Nowadays, we are ordering online vegetables, so we get all varieties of mix pumpkin pieces. Other varieties of pumpkin are a little dry so while cooking add little water.

One more thing, while preparing pumpkin vegetable, add slightly more oil than usual. Trust me, you will feel like having chatpata pickle! Probably, I like pumpkin a lot, so either it is kaashifal ki sabzi or Kaashifal ka raita (pumpkin raita) I can just brag on and on…

Try this sabzi once, who knows this might be a new regular entry in your menu!!

Ingrediants:

Chopped pumpkin 1/2 kg
Oil 5 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Chopped green chillies 3
Salt as per taste
Raw mango pieces(grated or chopped) /dry mango powder (amchur) /lemon juice
Water 1/8 cup (if pumpkin is dry)

Process:

Wash and chop pumpkin in small pieces along with skin (chilka).

Heat oil in a wok and splatter fenugreek seeds followed by chopped pumpkin pieces and green chillies.

Add salt, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt.

Mix everything and cover it. Let it cook on sim flame till pumpkin becomes soft. In between 2-3 times keep on turning pumpkin upside down for even cooking. When 90% pumpkin is cooked add tiny chopped pieces of raw mangoe or 1 tsp dry mango powder or 1/2 tbsp lemon juice.

Mix it well, cover it again and in 2-3 minuets Kaashifal ki sabzi will be ready! Serve hot with poori or parathas.

August 9, 2020August 10, 2020

Deeksha Pathak70 Comments

Karele ki Sabzi (bitter gourd)

Karele ki sabzi or bitter gourd vegetable is rarely liked by family members. It is almost an impossible task to make kids eat this. I have hardly seen a family where all family members love to eat and they demand Karele ki Sabzi (bitter gourd) in their lunch or dinner menu.

Not boasting, but I was always an obedient daughter and used to eat whatever my mom used to cook. Probably that’s how I slowly developed taste for all vegetables. I remember till 5th or 6th class my daughter Apoorva also used to eat every thing. But slowly she also became fussy and I just couldn’t make her eat a few veggies, including bitter gourd.

I love karela in any form – whether it is prepared as sabzi or in stuffed form. It tastes really good if onions are also added, but it is not compulsory. I like bitter gourd with hot parathas or as a side dish with simple daal – chawal.

There are many ways to cook bitter gourd. To eliminate its bitter taste you can peel it and smear it with salt and keep it like this for 2 hours. Later wash it and cook it.

I don’t want to wash away all nutrients of bitter gourd this way. So I never peel it. I just wash it and chop in small pieces and cook it with onions. To reduce the bitterness you can add dry mango powder (amchoor), grated raw mango or lemon juice.

Try this extremely nutritious vegetable in my way, probably you might develop a taste for it …

I have a few more posts on vegetables in the blog. You can take a look…Vegetables (Curries)

Ingrediants:

Bitter gourd(karela) 200 gms

Onions 2 big size

Oil 3 tbsp

Rai (small mustard seeds ) 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds (jeera) 1/4 tsp

Asafotida (hing) 1/8 tsp

Coriander powder 1+1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Red chili powder 1 tsp

Coarsely grounded fennel seeds 2 tsp

Finely chopped green chilies 2

Salt as per your taste

Water 2 or 3 tbsp

Dry mango powder/grated raw mango/lemon juice

Process:

Peel, wash and chop onions.

In a wok heat 1 tbsp of oil and add chopped onions. Keep the heat on sim and let the onions turn light brown. Keep tossing them from time-to-time.

Wash and chop bitter gourd in round shape.

In another wok heat two tbsp oil and crackle rai, hing and jeera. Add chopped bitter gourd and rest of the spices, except dry mango powder. Mix everything nicely, cover it and let it cook on sim heat. In between keep turning them upside down a couple of times. If you feel that sabzi is sticking to the bottom of the wok, add little water and let it cook till it is tender.

Onions would be ready by now – so, switch off heat.

Once bitter gourd is cooked, add onions and 1 tsp dry mango powder or 1 tbsp grated raw mango or 1 tbsp lemon juice. Mix it well, cover it and on sim heat and let it cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Karele ki sabzi is ready to be served.

July 24, 2020July 25, 2020

Deeksha Pathak133 Comments

Mooli ki bhujiya (sabzi)

Mooli ki Bhujiya sounds as if we are talking about a snack recipe. But when we add leaves and roots of radish together and prepare vegetable (sabzi), it is called Mooli ki bhujiya (sabzi). In North India, radish is available only during winters. But, here in Bangalore, good quality radish is available during summers too.

Initially, around 16 years back when we shifted to Bangalore, it was really difficult to find radish with leaves. Leaves used to be cut and thrown away from radish by the vegetable shop owners. But now in front of my apartment a vegetable vendor sells radish with all the leaves. In fact, whenever I show interest to buy leaves too, the sellers are amused and give me plenty of leaves free of cost. Probably they are relieved that their garbage is being cleaned up by customers!!

This sabzi requires raw radish – so be careful while choosing. Radish will not remain tender when it starts ripening and will not taste good. Remove the stems if they are too thick and attached with the leaves. Use soft leaves and soft raw radish.

I have one more recipe with radish in the blog – if you are interested can take a look…Mooli ka paratha (wheat flour flat bread stuffed with spicy radish)

There are a few more posts on different vegetables in the blog. You can check this link to look at them Vegetables (Curries).

Ingredients

Radish with leaves

Oil 2 tbsp
Tiny mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida 1/8 tsp

Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1 +1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Green chillies chopped 2
Salt as per your taste

Process :

Take radish and leaves, wash them nicely in the running water and chop them separately.

Heat oil in a wok and crackle tiny mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida.

Add chopped radish and leaves along with all spices except salt – mix this nicely and cover for 5 minutes.

When we prepare leafy vegetables, their volume gives an impression of large quantity. But leaves shrink while cooking – so always add salt once the leaves settle down after 5 minutes of cooking.