Vegetable Jalfrezi

Everyone knows I have a special love for curries. Another curry that I discovered on the fly is vegetable jalfrezi. It’s mixed vegetables in a curry, creamy tomato sauce. A bit sweet and spicy. Always good. It’s one of those dishes that is pretty forgiving. I like to call it my “kitchen sink” curry. Use whatever is on hand with the spice mixture and you are good to go. As I cook the dish, I love to marvel at all of the wonderful colos of the vegetables. So pretty! It’s a mild curry, so it is very family friendly in this house.

Vegetable Jalfrezi
Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. ginger, chopped
1/2 bag of chopped cabbage
2 small zucchini, sliced
2 small yellow squash, sliced
1/2 container mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 can of chickpeas (I used white beans since I needed to use them up)
handful of green beans, cut in to 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup peas
chili powder (optional)
juice of one lemon
butter
1 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp curry paste
salt – to taste
In a large pan, saute the onion with the garlic and the ginger for a few minutes in some ghee or butter. Add in a bit of salt.  
Add in the other veggies to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl stir the curry paste with the yogurt and the lemon juice. 
Once the veggies are cooked, add in the tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes.
Add the curry paste mixture to the vegetable mixture. Cook for another 10 minutes. The mixture should be saucy, but not too saucy. If there is too much liquid in there, cook for a few minutes to let the liquid boil off.

Add salt and chili powder to taste.

Serve the vegetable jalfrezi over some steamed Basmati rice.

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Enjoy!

Aloo Gobi Masala

I may have already mentioned this, but I love Indian food. My love affair with Indian cuisine began when I was in college. I don’t remember eating much of it growing up in the midwest, but I dove in once in New York. My dorm was right in the center of an Indian neighborhood. I had about 6 vegetarian Indian restaurants and several spice stores to choose from. I even had a sari store or two, but I am not brave enough to figure out how to wear one properly. They are beautiful though.

I do remember the first dish I tried. It was Aloo Mutter. Since then, I have sampled many dishes, and have also had the opportunity to cook many of my favorites and play around a bit in the kitchen.

I wasn’t planning on Indian food tonight. In fact, I had nothing planned for dinner. The menu popped into my as I was headed home to pick up my car, which was perfectly parked right next door to the Indian grocery store. This wonderful little store has everything I need, and they are wonderful to me. They don’t mind my questions when I ask them to identify things, and they are very helpful about figuring out what is kosher around the store. Sometimes I wonder if I am the only Jewish observant person that shops in the store.

On the menu tonight was Aloo Gobi Masala, which is a curry of cauliflower, potatoes, and peas. It was so good. Lucky for me, there are tasty leftovers for me to take for lunch tomorrow. Well…lucky me, but maybe not so lucky coworkers. They have to smell my yummy lunch. Should we thank the open office floor plan gods now? On to the recipe.
Aloo Gobi Masala

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 overflowing tablespoon garlic paste
1 heaping tablespoon ginger paste
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small green chile, chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 head of cauliflower, cut up into florets
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 potato, cubed and boiled
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)
1/4 cup half and half
Methi Leaves, for garnish

Saute the onions in oil – for around 7 minutes.

Add in the garlic and ginger paste. Saute a few more minutes. Add in the chopped tomatoes. Saute for 2 minutes. Add in the spices. Stir the mixture and cook a few minutes. Add in the cauliflower and the broth.
After 5 minutes, add in the potatoes and the peas. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. Stir in the half and half and the optional cilantro.

Serve over some rice. Garnish with the methi leaves.

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