Vegetable Makhanwala

A day of festival just stops me from using onion and garlic by default. Was just thinking what to prepare and I got a call from Mr. S telling prepare me something delicious tonight. Was bewildered when I heard this from him as I always carry a belief that adding onion and garlic brings great flavors to any curry. But with the addition of onion and garlic we often fail to get hold of the real vegetable flavor used in a dish. Well I plunged into the sea of world wide web and began a wild search for a good recipe without onion and garlic. And yes I got a very good solid recipe for vegetable makhanwala from Tarla Dalal that too without onion and garlic as it was a Jain Recipe. Checked my pantry and was happy to see that I had all what were required. With minor tweaks to original recipe I got a splendid vegetable makhanwala ready up in the serving platter for the dinner to go along with chapathis.Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
Butter-3 tbsp
Carrot-1 diced
Potato-1 diced
Green beans-10-12 chopped to 1'' pieces
Cauliflower florets-8-10
Tender green peas-1/2 cup
Tomatoes-2 big
Water-2 cups
Milk-1 cup
Corn flour-2 tbsp.
Cashewnuts powder-1 tbsp. + to garnish
Green chillies-1 chopped
Garam masala-1 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Bay leaves-1
Cinnamon stick-1'' piece
Cardamom-1 pod
Cloves-2
Kasuri methi/Dry fenugreek leaves-1 tbsp.
Cilantro to garnish-1-2 sprigs
Salt to taste

Recipe:

1. Cook vegetables like carrot, potato, green beans, with enough water and salt to taste. After they are half cooked add cauliflower florets and cook till they are cooked completely. Do not let them turn mushy. Drain and keep aside. In a pan add water and bring it to boil, to that add tomatoes and blanch them. Peel off the skin of tomatoes, remove the seeds and chop them into pieces. (After blanching it becomes easy to remove the skin away). In a pan add butter 1tbsp of butter and as it melts add bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves.
2. As they splatter add chopped tomatoes and green chillies, cook till they turn mushy and are cooked well.
3. Then add turmeric powder, coriander powder and sauté.
4. Now add green peas and cook till they are almost done.
5. Mix 1 cup of milk with 2 tbsp. of corn flour and keep aside.
6. Now add the cooked vegetables, garam masala and mix well on a low flame.
7. Add this milk and corn flour mixture to the vegetables that are getting cooked and keep mixing.
8. Then add 2 cups water, salt to taste and mix well. Add cashewnuts powder to it and mix well.
9. Now cook till the mixture thickens slowly.
10. Crush kasuri methi in your palm and add them to the curry. Mix well. Add 2 tbsp. of butter at this stage and give a mild mix. Now switch off the flame and transfer it to the serving dish. Add cilantro on top and garnish by sprinkling cashewnuts powder on top.Enjoy with flatbreads or even hot rice.

 

Mr. S ate all alone almost half from that big bowl. Thank God I had little left!

 Enjoy the dish! n don't forget Eat and Eat little MORE.. :)

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