Melange of Vegetables in a flavoured curry sauce

This is one more of the Recipes from the Taj, this time by Chef C J Richard at Patio, Taj Coromandel, Chennai
Unfortunately the recipe in the book seems to have been written in a hurry. There is no mention of what vegetables he used and even the proportion of the tomato sauce and cream is not very clear



The gravy is an aromatic thick tomato creamy one with a curry powder (no, not that bottled one sold as an Indian spice) that has been made from scratch...the combination of flavours is very aromatic and after a few trials with the quantities of various ingredients, I have settled on this adaptation..

From the picture in the book, I figured he has used brocolli, asparagus, red capsicum and mushrooms - I didnt have any of these at home, so stuck to the regular cauliflower, carrots and capsicum...

The first time I made this, I used tomato ketchup like they mentioned in the recipe. I wasnt too happy with the result. The next time I pureed the tomatoes and it was much nicer.

This goes really well with steamed rice

Sending this to Divya's Show me your curry Event


What you need

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp curry powder (recipe follows)
1/2 cup tomato puree (from about 3 medium sized toatoes)
1/2 cup fresh cream
2 tbsp olive oil
2 green capsicums
2 carrots
1 cup of cauliflower florets

For the curry powder
1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
5 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp pepper corns
2 tbsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup cleaned and dried curry leaves

What you do with it

For the curry powder
Roast fenugreek, mustard, coriander seeds, peppercorns and cumin seeds
Mix the turmeric powder, chilli powder and curry leaves and grind to a smooth powder
Do not add any water
You can store this powder in an airtight container in a cool dry place for about a month

Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil
Add 2 tbsps curry powder and saute for a few minutes
Add the cauliflower, carrot and capsicum and saute for 3-4 mins
Add the tomato puree and the cream and mix well and cook till the vegetables are done
Serve with hot steamed rice

Other Recipes from the Taj
Kombdicha Rassa
Lasooni Palak

Rainy weekend and some Bisi Bele Bhath

Ahmedabad has had some very unexpected showers over the last few weeks. Over the last two years here, the monsoon has ranged from 2 hours to 2 days, but this time, its been over 2 weeks !!
Sunday was one more of those downpour days...It has definately cooled down the place a lot, but the city is just not equipped to handle the rains, the roads are flooded and stepping out of the house for anything is a big mess...



This is the view from my balcony - an otherwise empty piece of land which has become a mini lake and had a buffalo enjoying a sunday swim !!

Rains again this Sunday meant our usual weekend meal out was out of the question..
I didnt want to go out to even buy the basic vegetables...Had to make do with what I had...TH was back after a few days of travelling out on work and he always prefers some simple home food...



Miri had gifted me this book 'Cooking at home with Pedatha', when she was here in Feb and though I have been reading it up and admiring all those lovely pictures, I always planned, but somehow never landed making anything from this book.

The bisi bele hulianna / bisi bele bhath was definately on my list and it sounded perfect for a sunday lunch. Plus since its a one pot meal, you dont have to think up of too much to go with it... Cucumber raita and some garlic vadiyos/ vadams /crispies and we were all set...



I've always liked bisi bele and really like eating it hot with lots of boondi and raita...The flavours were so good and reminded me of this place in Bangalore from where we had packed this a few times...'Nammoora', a small place in South Bangalore, which only parcels food and expects you to bring the boxes along..Their bisi bele bhath is to die for..

This tasted almost as good...
Thank you Miri, this book is a real treasure...

What you need -

1 heaped cup uncooked rice
1 level cup split red gram (tur dal)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 large onion
1 medium potato
1 medium carrot
7-8 french beans (I didnt have these)
1 green capsicum (my addition)
1 long brinjal (my addition)
3 tbsp tamarind pulp
2 slit green chillies
10-12 curry leaves
4-6 tbsps ghee (ok, i used 2-3 tsps)
2-3 tbsp oil
salt to taste

The 1st powder
1/2 cp bengal gram (chana dal)
1/4 cup split black gram (urad dal)
1/4 coriander seeds
6-7 red chillies
3 sticks cinnamon
4 cloves

The 2nd powder (this one rocks !!)
1/2 cup grated dry coconut (kopra / kobri)
1/4 cup coriander leaves

Tempering

1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
6-8 cashewnuts (my addition)

What you do with it -

Pressure cook the rice in 3 cups water till soft
Pressure cook the turdal in 3 cups water with a little turmeric. Churn and set aside
Chop the vegetables into bite-sized peces
For the 1st powder, dry roast the grams and coriander seeds separately, until deep brown. Heat 2 tsp oil and roast the red chillies. Grind these with the cinnamon and cloves to a fine powder
For the 2nd powder, wash the coriander leaves and pat dry. Roast the dry coconut until golden brown. Grind along with coriander leaves, without adding any water
In a large wok, heat the remaining oil for tempering,dd the ingredients under tempering and when the cashenuts turns brownish, add the vegetables
Cover and cook, adding a little water if necessary
Mix together the tamarind pulp, 1st powder and the cooked dal in 1 cup of water and make a smooth paste. Add this to the vegetables and cook for 2-3 mins. Here, Pedatha suggests adding some sugar. I added 1 tbsp grated jaggery
Add the cooked rice, green chillies, curry leaves and salt and stir for another 5 mins
Just before taking it off the heat, add the 2nd powder and ghee
Stir well and serve hot with vadams/ crispies and a raita