Vegetables Archives - Dees Platter

Spicy Whole Potatoes

I can guarantee you one thing about this Spicy Whole Potatoes dish – that this dish would become your family’s favourite and it will be a part of your menu for special occasions. There are very few people who don’t like potatoes. Kids love potatoes, and they can have them daily in their lunch box and in dinner as well. I remember that whenever my mom used to boil potatoes for preparing stuffed paratha, or gravy based or dry sabzi, as kids my sister and I used to sneak in the kitchen to take away one or two boiled potatoes. We used to enjoy them simply with salt.

Usually cooking whole potatoes is not a regular trend. We always cut them into pieces or mash them for different dishes. We always avoid using them as a whole. Try this spicy whole potatoes dish once, and there will be constant push from your family members to cook them again and again.

You can call these Spicy Whole Potatoes as Stove Roasted Potatoes too. Roasted Potatoes sounds much more fashionable also 😉 – you can prepare this dish on your stovetop and with the title of ‘Spicy Roasted Potatoes’ can boast your cooking skills on Instagram! Just kidding😅 – but seriously, that’s what teens do nowadays! They cook and garnish the dish. Everyone is waiting eagerly to taste it. But no, wait… first have to be clicked for Instagram… and… done! OK, now come and taste everyone 🙋 honestly speaking – not much difference between them and food bloggers 😇.

So, if you have never tried any dish from whole potatoes till now, try these spicy whole potatoes. I hope if you like potatoes, you will be loving this dish with whole potatoes.

Ingredients:

400 gm potatoes
5 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp rai (small mustard seeds)
1/4 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing)
2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp amchoor /lemon juice
Green chilies sliced
Chopped green coriander leaves for garnishing

Points to remember:

Don’t over-boil potatoes that they crack or become too soft.
Try to take same sized small or medium potatoes. That way, they will get boiled with the same consistency.
If you have fresh small-sized potatoes, then you can prepare them without peeling also. Crisp potato skin tastes really good.
You can use spices of your choice also. Try dry oregano, crushed dry fennel seeds, long slices of raw mango, dry red chili, freshly grated coconut, fresh dill leaves, fresh mint leaves, fresh fennel leaves, dry fenugreek leaves (homemade Kasuri methi) … anything… till wherever your imagination and taste buds match!

If interested, you can check a few more posts based on potatoes in the blog:

Aaloo ki sookhi sabzi (boiled potatoes with Indian spices)

Dahi waale aaloo (Potatoes with buttermilk)

Aalu ki tikiya(potato patties stuffed with spicy peas)

Aaloo ki kachori

Crispy Potatoes

Process:

Wash and boil potatoes in the pressure cooker. If potatoes are small in size then one pressure (or whistle) is enough. If they are medium in size then not more than two quick pressures.

Once potatoes are boiled and steam of the pressure cooker settles down, shift potatoes to a sieve and immediately wash them with cold tap water. Potatoes will remain firm in cold water. Peel when the water drains out from potatoes.

With the help of a toothpick, prick potatoes from all sides. With this step potatoes wouldn’t taste completely bland from the inside.

Heat oil in a broad heavy-bottomed pan and crackle rai, hing, jeera (small mustard seeds, asafoetida and cumin seeds).

Keep the heat on the sim. Add peeled potatoes along with salt, coriander powder, chili powder and turmeric powder. Mix everything well. Slice green chilies and add and cover the pan.

These potatoes should be cooked on sim heat. Use a separator if your stove doesn’t give sim heat.

Keep on stirring potatoes time-to-time from all sides. Let them become crisp from all sides and get a beautiful brown colour!

Add some more sliced green chilies and fresh coriander leaves for garnishing!

January 23, 2021January 23, 2021

Deeksha Pathak103 Comments

Gaajar matar gobhi ki sabzi

Gaajar matar gobhi ki sabzi (carrots, peas and cauliflower) is a wonderful combo of three winter vegetables. All vegetable vendors bring fresh red carrots, peas and cauliflower in abundance during winter. Though these three vegetables can be cooked separately, ( Aaloo Gobhi ki sabzi ) as a combo, gaajar, matar aur gobhi creates a delicious vegetable dish. The sweet taste of carrots and peas is balanced by adding ginger, green chilies and garam masala. Kids also love this vegetable as they find their favourite peas here.

Sometimes the taste of gaajar matar gobhi ki sabzi is ruined if peas are not of good quality. They remain hard until carrots and cauliflower are completely cooked. To avoid this issue, I prefer buying very soft peas. But in case you have hard peas, then before cooking them, boil them in a pressure cooker for just one pressure. Now peas will be completely cooked along with carrots and cauliflower. Be careful, don’t boil peas for more than one whistle, otherwise, they will become mushy by the time all the vegetables are cooked.

You can check out more recipes in the blog for different vegetables:

Vegetables (Curries)

Ingredients:

Carrot 250 gms
Cauliflower 250 gms
Peas 100 gms
Grated ginger 1/4 tsp
Green chillies chopped 3-4
Oil 5 /6 tbsp
Salt as per your taste
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
Tomatoes 2 / lemon juice 1+1/2 tsp /amchur powder 1 tsp
Green coriander leaves for garnishing
Water 3-4 tbsp if required

Process:

Peel, wash and chop carrots. Cut cauliflower in small florets and shell out peas and wash them.

In a wok heat oil and crackle rai, hing, jeera (small mustard seeds, asafoetida and cumin seeds).

Add carrots, cauliflower and peas followed by chopped green chilies and grated ginger.

Add coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and mix it well with veggies.

(If all the water is drained out from the vegetables after washing and sieving them, add 3-4 tbsp of water after mixing spices. If still some water remains while adding veggies in the wok, then there is no need to add water unless spices start sticking to the bottom of the wok).

Cover the wok and let vegetables cook on sim heat. In between, stir them two or three times until they become soft.

Now add garam masala and chopped tomatoes/lemon juice/amchoor powder. Mix it properly and let the veggies cook for two-three more minutes. Gaajar matar gobhi ki sabzi taiyaar hai.

Transfer it to a serving bowl and sprinkle finely chopped green coriander leaves. Enjoy this winter special vegetables treat with roti, paratha, poori or rice.

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021

Deeksha Pathak78 Comments

Kunduru ki sabzi

Kunduru ki sabzi is my favourite as a side dish with daal-chawal, though it is equally good with chapati and plain paratha too. Kunduru is known by many different names, like, ivy gourd, coccinia grandis, tendli, scarlet gourd, tindora etc. I really like this vegetable when kunduru is completely raw and green from inside. When kunduru ripens, they turn red from inside and look fruit rather than vegetable! Though we can still cook ripened kunduru as a vegetable, but that recipe some other time.

Kunduru ki sabzi can be cooked with or without onions. Onions enhance the taste, look and make it more appealing. But that doesn’t mean that kunduru doesn’t taste good without onion – my mother is a non-onion-non-garlic person and she cooks finger-licking good food!!

There are a few more posts on different vegetables in the blog – if you are interested, can take a look…

Vegetables (Curries)

Ingredients:

Kunduru 1/2 kg
Onions 2 big sized
Green chillies chopped 3-4
Oil 5 – 6 tbsp
Water 2-3 tbsp (if required)
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp (increase or decrease)
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Salt as per your taste

Process:

Wash and chop kunduru lengthwise in thin stripes and keep them aside.

Chop onions and shallow fry them in one tbsp oil till they are slightly more than translucent.

Transfer these onions to a bowl. Add remaining oil and crackle cumin seeds (jeera) and asafotida (hing) in the same wok. Add chopped kunduru, spices and cut green chilies. Mix everything well and cover the wok. Keep the heat on sim.

Stir them twice or thrice. Add 2 or 3 tbsp of water if spices are sticking to the bottom of the wok. Cover again and let them cook till they are soft. Add fried onions, mix them with kunduru and let them cook on sim heat for 2-3 minutes more.

Kunduru ki sabzi is ready! Serve it hot as a side dish with daal-chawal or plain parathe/roti.

January 9, 2021January 9, 2021

Deeksha Pathak49 Comments

Baingan, saim ke beej aur mooli ki sabzi

Baingan, Saim ke beej aur Mooli ki sabji (mix vegetable of brinjal, seeds of flattened beans and radish) might sound a little different combo of veggies but trust me, this combo rocks! Baingan, Saim ke beej aur Mooli ki sabzi is completely my mother’s invention. Whenever we used to get bored during winters, she used to prepare this three mixed vegetables combo.

The best part was that all three vegetables used to be from our kitchen garden. Whenever we used to pluck beans from the vines, there were always some extra beans which had big ripened seeds. These beans couldn’t be used for normal Flattened beans with potatoes sabzi – so my mother used the bean seeds with radish and brinjal and an excellent mixed sabzi was invented!

Though this sabzi can be prepared without onions too, but If you are not against using onions then I would strongly suggest you to add them. Onions enhance the flavour significantly!

Ingredients:

Seeds of flattened beans 100 gms
Brinjal (small size) 4
Radish (medium size) 2
Green chilies, chopped 3-4
Onion (big size) 1
Oil 5 tbsp
Small mustard seeds (rai) 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) , a pinch
Coriander powder 2 tbsp
Red chili powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Water 4 tbsp

Process:

Take out the seeds from ripened flattened beans. Peel and cut radish into small pieces and wash both of them.

Chop onion and roast it in a wok with 1 tbsp oil till they are brown in colour. Keep them separate.

Heat 4 tbsp oil in the wok and crackle hing, rai and jeera. Add seeds of flattened beans, radish and chopped brinjals. Always cut brinjal just before adding in the wok. if we cut brinjal beforehand with other vegetables, they start turning black and their taste changes.

Add rest of the spices along with chopped green chilies followed by two tbsp water.

Mix everything well, cover the pan and let the sabzi cook on sim heat till all three veggies turn soft.

In between, keep turning them upside-down for even cooking and if you feel that sabzi is sticking to the bottom, add 2 tbsp more water and cover it.

When sabzi is cooked completely, add roasted onions and serve with roti, parathe or as a side dish to rice.

October 3, 2020

Deeksha Pathak86 Comments

Flattened beans with potatoes

Flattened beans with potatoes always reminds me of my mother’s cooking. She cooks the best sabzi of flattened beans with potatoes. In my childhood, we used to get fresh flattened beans (seim ki fali) from the kitchen garden itself. Have you ever noticed that if we pluck vegetables from the plant, then there is a fresh fragrance around it? Vegetables look so good and beautiful that you instantly want to cook them? Whereas, whenever I buy from the market (or online in the current situation), that enthusiasm is not there.

W are doing online shopping for all vegetables and fruits courtesy the pandemic . But for the last two weeks, could not see any variety in vegetables online. I got frustrated and my husband and I went out to buy in a traditional manner, to a brick-and-mortar store. It was sooo good to come out of the house, even though it was only vegetable shopping. I bought so many and was lucky enough to get very nice flattened beans . They were very tender and seeds were also soft and raw. I didn’t want to keep them in the fridge and decided to cook them for lunch.

Flattened beans, paired with potatoes, go very well with roti or parathas. As not many ingredients are required to prepare this sabzi, it makes it very easy to cook. If you like garlic, you can add crushed garlic in oil along with rai, hing and jeera. It gives wonderful flavor.

I also have a post on a Clustered Beans in the blog – if you are interested, can take a look…Gwar ki fali (cluster beans)

Ingredients:

Flattened beans 300 gms
Medium sized potatoes 2
Oil 3 tbsp
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Salt as per your taste
Red chili powder 1/2 tsp
Green chilies (chopped) 2
Water 4 tbsp
Salt as per your taste

Process:

Cut both ends of flattened beans, chop them into small pieces and wash. Wash and cut potatoes too.

Heat oil in a pan and crackle rai, hing and jeera. Add potatoes, mix them with oil and let them cook for a minute or two. Now, add chopped beans.

Add all spices, mix everything well, add 2 tbsp water, cover the pan and let it cook on sim heat till potatoes and beans become tender. In between, keep turning them upside-down for even cooking and if you feel that sabzi is sticking to the bottom, add 2 tbsp more water and cover it.

Flattened beans with potatoes is ready to go with roti or paratha.

September 20, 2020

Deeksha Pathak117 Comments

Stuffed raw tomatoes with paneer

Stuffed Raw Tomatoes with Paneer ( cottage cheese ) is a complete party dish to impress your guests at any occasion. I know – these days what guests, what parties – but still, we can give even ourselves a treat to keep spirits high! So cook these stuffed raw tomatoes with paneer (cottage cheese); but if you are not a big fan of paneer then stuff tomatoes with mixed vegetables, followed by cheese, oregano flakes and black pepper.

You might give homemade fresh paneer a try if you are fine with paneer stuffing. Naturally, I have a post on how to prepare Homemade Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese!! As I used crushed paneer, just add vinegar or lemon juice in hot milk and milk will curdle. Sieve it, use whey for your gravy based dishes or for kneading flour and use paneer for stuffing!

Check out a few more posts for stuffed vegetables in the blog…

Stuffed brinjal/eggplant/aubergines (Bharva baigan)

Stuffed Capsicum (bharva shimla mirch)

Stuffed Brinjals/Eggplant/Aubergine

Stuffed Chilies(Bharva Hari Mirch)

Pyaaz vaale bharva karele

Ingredients :

Small size raw tomatoes 9-10
Crushed paneer 100 gm (reduce or increase as per the size of tomatoes)
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida powder a pinch
Salt as per your taste
Red chili powder 1 tsp
Dry mango powder/lemon juice 1 tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp
Kasuri methi/ chopped green coriander leaves 2 tsp
Oil 4 tbsp

Process:

Wash tomatoes and scoop out the pulp by cutting the top. You can use pulp for preparing gravy by grinding it for gravy based dishes.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add paneer along with all spices. Cook this mixture for five minutes and switch off the gas.

Fill this stuffing in scooped out tomatoes and pour rest of the oil in a pan and place stuffed tomatoes in the pan. If you want, can use the top cut part of tomatoes to cover them, though it is not necessary. I used them as it looks fancy to uncover them before serving!!

Remember, we have to cook tomatoes on sim heat. Sometimes, our gas burner doesn’t give very low heat for slow cooking dishes. If that is the case with your burner, just buy one extra small size pan support and use it. This helps in supplying low heat to the cooking pan.

Tomatoes will slowly start becoming tender. When we cook on sim heat then the pan gets heat only at the center, not around the edges of the pan. Keep shifting the position of tomatoes in the pan for even cooking.

As green raw tomatoes are firm tomatoes, it takes some time for them to become soft on sim heat. Once tomatoes are done, sprinkle some kasuri methi or green coriander leaves for garnishing just before serving and uncover them!!

September 12, 2020

Deeksha Pathak106 Comments