Vegan dish Archives - Dees Platter

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

Black Chana with Coriander Gravy (no onion-garlic)

Black Chana with Coriander Gravy (no onion-garlic) is a perfect dish for those who want simple food during their fasting days. Black Chana with coriander gravy is rich in nutrients. If you are inviting guests for lunch or dinner during your fasting days, this non-onion-garlic gravy dish might be the best dish in your menu!

Black chana – usually we know this as kala chana – belongs to the family of chickpeas. But kala chana is darker in colour and smaller than chickpea. Kala chana is usually cooked as a dry dish for snacks. But we can also prepare it as a gravy dish to be accompanied with roti (flat bread), poori or rice. Generally, we add onion along with tomatoes in all our gravy-based dishes to add to the volume of the gravy. Garlic is added for flavour. In India, some communities don’t use onion in their food due to their religious beliefs. Usually, new generation of these communities don’t follow these beliefs. But then, cooking two different types of dishes with the same ingredient is a burden.

So instead of using onions, you can use green coriander along with tomatoes, ginger and green chillies and prepare gravy not only for kala chana but for any other gravy based dishes as Lauki ke kofte ki sabzi (grated bottle gourd dumplings in curry), Chole (chickpeas with gravy)

Ingrediants:

Kala Chana 3/4 cup
Salt 1/2 tsp
Water 1+1/2 cups
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Tomatoes 3 medium size
Grated ginger 1/4 tsp
Green chilies 3 – 4
Green coriander 30 gm

Oil 2 tbsp
Rai (tiny mustard seeds) 1/4 tsp
Jeera (cumin) 1/4 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) 1/8 tsp
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Red chili powder 1/4 tsp
Add some more water and salt if required

Process :

Wash and soak chana in 1+1/2 cups of water overnight.

Next day in the morning add salt and turmeric powder in soaked chana and pressure cook it with using the same water in which chana was soaked till it becomes soft.

While chana is getting cooked, we will prepare gravy. Wash and chop tomatoes, green coriander leaves, green chilies, grated ginger and grind all of them in the mixer to prepare paste. If required, add little bit of water while grinding.

Heat oil, crackle rai, hing, jeera and add the grinded paste in a wok.

Add rest of the spices. Keep stirring on medium heat until all spices are cooked.

By now chana must be cooked. Switch off the flame and let the steam of the pressure cooker settle down. Open the lid and add chana into the ready masala.

Reduce the heat to sim and let it cook for 10 – 15 minutes. Stir in between and add some water if you feel that consistency is too thick. Taste a bit, and if required, add some salt. After 10 – 15 minutes of cooking, kala chana with coriander gravy is ready to be served!!

July 14, 2020

Deeksha Pathak105 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.