Cooking Simplified is Fun!!!

Video Recipe - వీడియో రెసిపీ

Ingredients:

• Potatoes – 3 (135gms)

• Carrot – 1 (90gms)

• French Beans – 11 (50gms)

• Cauliflower – 100gms

• Sweet Corn – 1/2Cup (90gms) {Frozen Corn}

• Green Peas – 1/2Cup (90gms) {Frozen Peas)

• Homemade Paneer – 100gms

• Onions – 2 (100gms)

• Garlic – 1Clove

• Ginger – Small Piece

• Red Chilies – 7

• Coriander Seeds – 1/2Tbsp

• Poppy Seeds – 1/2Tbsp

• Cumin Seeds – 1/2tsp

• Cinnamon – Small Piece

• Cloves – 2

• Big Cardamom – 1

• Melon Seeds – 1Tbsp

• Raisins – 1Tbsp

• Cashew Nut Pieces – 12

• Turmeric Powder – 1/4tsp + 1/2Of1/8tsp

• Salt – To Taste (1tsp)

• Dried Fenugreek Leaves – 1Tbsp

• Chopped Coriander Leaves – 1Tbsp

• Cream – 2Tbsps

• Oil For Making Paste – 1 1/2Tbsps

• Oil For Making Curry – 1 1/2Tbsps

• Water – 335ml

Preparations:

Take a bowl of water and wash all the vegetables thoroughly by rubbing between fingers. Place the washed vegetables in a strainer to drain water.

Take a peeler and peel the skins of potatoes. Take a peeled potato and cut it into cubes. Similarly cut the remaining potatoes into cubes. Add the potato cubes in a bowl of water. Keep the potato cubes immersed in water till use so that they do not get de colored.

Cut cauliflower into small florets and keep them in a plate. String the French beans by cutting the end portions and remove fiber if any. Cut the stringed beans diagonally into small pieces. Take the beans pieces into a bowl and keep it aside. Cut carrot into cubes and take them into a bowl.

Take a microwave safe bowl and add carrot pieces, beans pieces, cauliflower florets, potato pieces, green peas and sweet corn and add 30ml water. Place the vegetables bowl in microwave oven and cover it partially with lid. Cook the vegetables on high power for 7 minutes and stir the vegetables and again cook them on high power for 5 minutes. Allow 3 minutes standing time and remove the vegetables bowl from microwave oven and observe that all the vegetables are fully cooked yet they retain their shape without turning mushy.

Cut paneer into cubes and take them into a plate. Peel onions and slice them thinly and take them into a plate. Peel garlic and slice it thinly. Wash ginger and cut it into small pieces. Remove stalks of red chilies and break them into small pieces. Pound the big cardamom to slit the pod so that when added to hot oil it would not burst.

Making Gravy Paste:

Heat a pan and add oil and heat oil. When oil is hot add cashew nut pieces and fry stirring on low flame till they turn golden in color. Remove the fried cashew nut pieces and place them in a plate. In the remaining oil add cumin seeds and cinnamon, cloves and cracked big cardamom. Fry the spices stirring till cumin seeds splutter. Then add sliced onions and sliced garlic pieces and fry stirring till onions turn translucent. Then add poppy seeds, coriander seeds, red chili pieces, melon seeds and chopped ginger. Fry the ingredients stirring till melon seeds start to pop. Then transfer the fried mixture to a plate and allow it to cool. Take a mixie jar and add the fried mixture, fried cashew nut pieces and turmeric powder and grind. Add sufficient water and grind the mixture to a smooth paste. Test the paste texture by rubbing between fingers and it should be smooth. Here I have added 130 ml water to grind the paste.

Method:

Heat a pan and add oil and heat oil. When oil is hot add the paste and fry stirring till oil is fully absorbed and the mixture dries a bit. Then add the cooked vegetables along with water that is left in the bowl. Mix properly and add sufficient water to get the required consistency. Here I have added 175ml water to the pan. Mix well and allow the gravy to reach a boil. Then add paneer pieces and mix well. Lower the flame and cover the pan with lid and cook the vegetables on low flame for 5 minutes. Meanwhile let us fry the dried fenugreek leaves.

Heat a small pan and add dried fenugreek leaves and fry stirring with a spoon till they turn crisp. Transfer the fried fenugreek leaves to a plate and crush them with fingers to make a coarse powder.

After 5 minutes, remove the lid of the pan and stir the curry well. add fenugreek leaves powder, some chopped coriander leaves and cream and mix well. adding cream gives a silky and thick texture to the gravy. Mix well and transfer the prepared mixed vegetable kurma to a serving bowl and garnish with remaining chopped coriander leaves. Serve the kurma with roti, naan or jeera rice. Though the recipe has a long list of ingredients it is very simple to make once all the things are kept nearby. Serve the mixed vegetable kurma to guests or family members and you are sure to be praised for the restaurant style tasting dish that is prepared at home.

Points To Observe:

• Here I have used frozen green peas and frozen sweet corn. place the frozen items and allow them to thaw before using.

• Melon seeds, cashew nut pieces and poppy seeds provide the thickness to the gravy. Add any one by increasing the quantity or add two of them or add all the three as shown here to get different taste with each omission or addition.

• Cream is optional but it gives a smooth and silky texture with a soft taste.

• Cut all the vegetables into even sized pieces so that they cook evenly when cooked in microwave oven. One can even steam cook these vegetables in a pressure cooker. Place a steamer in a pressure pan and add the cut vegetables into the steamer basket. Cover the pressure pan and cook on high flame. After first whistle, lower flame and cook the vegetables for 7 to 10 minutes. However using a microwave oven the vegetable pieces do not get overcooked and turn mushy instead they retain the shape and look great.

• Crackle the big cardamom so that it would not burst when added to hot oil.

• Fried onions give a special flavor to the gravy. The combination of fried onions, cashew nuts and melon seeds gives the rich flavor to the dish.

• Dried fenugreek leaves should be crisp to make them powder with fingers. Often we see that fenugreek leaves are slightly soft rather than crisply dry. So it is advisable to roast them lightly so that the flavor comes out.

• Though the ingredients list is big, it is very simple to make once all the things are kept nearby. So keep all the ingredients ready and make it in a jiffy.

• Jeera rice is the perfect combination for this mixed vegetable kurma. However it may also be served with roti or naan.

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