Veggie Pick ups

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

• 8 soya chunks (nutri nuggets)
• 1 onion - cut into 8 pieces and separated
• 6 paneer cubes of ¾ inch
• 8-10 medium flat florets of broccoli with little stalk
• 6 - 8 medium flat florets of cauliflower
• 8 small baby corns, 8 small mushrooms
• 1 green capsicum - cut into ¾ inch squares pieces
• 1 yellow capsicum- cut into ¾ inch squares pieces
• 2 tomatoes - pulp removed and cubed
• 4 tbsp all-in-one stir fry sauce
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (til), a few tooth picks

FOR MARINADE

• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp salt and ¾ tsp white pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp garlic paste (2-3 flakes of garlic- crushed to a paste)
• ½ tsp red chilli flakes
• 4 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 tsp soya sauce
• 2 tsp red chilli sauce

Method
Boil 5-6 cups water with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice. Add broccoli, cauliflower, baby corns and mushrooms. Remove from fire. Leave them in hot water for 2-3 minutes. Remove veggies from water with a strainer. Keep aside. Boil water again. Add nuggets and boil for 3-4 minutes or till soft. Remove from water. Squeeze well and keep aside.
Marinate the soya chunks, paneer, the blanched veggies and capsicum (except tomatoes) in the marinade mixture. Keep aside till serving time.
Heat a non stick pan. Reduce flame. Add the marinated ingredients and saute for 5 minutes, keeping them in a single layer in the pan. Add all-in-one stir fry sauce.
Add the tomatoes. Remove from fire. Spread out the veggies in the pan and sprinkle some sesame seeds. Skewer a tomato, soya ball and lastly a capsicum piece on the tooth pick. In the same way replace the soya chunk with blanched veggies or paneer. Serve hot.

Shabnam Curry

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 100 gm mushrooms - cut into 4 pieces
• ½ cup peas - frozen or boiled
• ¼ cup corn kernels (bhutte ke daane) - frozen or boiled
• ¾ cup dahi and 1 tsp cornflour - beaten together till smooth
• 2 onions - very finely chopped
• ½ tsp kalonji (nigella seeds), ½ tsp jeera, 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tomatoes - blanched, pureed and sieved
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
• ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp haldi, ½ tsp garam masala, ¼ tsp salt, 2 laung
• 2 laung (cloves) and seeds of 2 chhoti illaichi (green cardamom) - crushed together

Method
To blanch mushrooms, boil 2 cups water with 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Add mushrooms and boil for 1 minute. Add peas. Boil again. Strain and keep aside.
Heat a kadhai. Add kalonji and jeera. Stir till jeera turn brown. Add onions, stir on medium heat. Add 3-4 tbsp water and cook till light brown. Add blanched, pureed and sieved tomatoes and tomato puree. Cook, stirring till it almost dries up. Add ginger-garlic paste. Stir for 2 minutes. Add kasoori methi, red chilli, haldi, salt and garam masala. Stir for 2-3 minutes.
Remove from fire. Wait for 2 minutes. Add curd beaten with cornflour. Stir for 1-2 minutes on low heat. Add blanched mushrooms. Cook for 2 minutes. Add water (about 1½ cups). Stir. Bring to a boil. Simmer without covering for 5 minutes. Add peas and corn kernels. Bring to a boil. Add crushed laung and chhoti illaichi. Cook for 1 minute. Check seasonings. Remove from fire. Serve.

Mirch~Makai Ka Salan

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 6-8 (50 gm) baby corns - cut lengthwise into 2 pieces
• 1-2 big thick green chillies - cut into thin strips & deseeded or 3-4 whole green chillies
• ¼ - ½ cup cabbage - cut into 1 inch squares
• ¼ tsp of haldi (turmeric powder)
• 1 tsp dhania powder, ½ tsp garam masala
• a lemon sized ball of imli - soak in ¼ cup water and extract juice
• ½ cup tomato puree, 1 tbsp wheat flour (atta)
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste, ¼ tsp red chilli powder

BOIL TOGETHER FOR 4-5 MINUTES AND GRIND TO A PASTE

• 2 large onions - roughly chopped
• ½ inch piece chopped ginger (1 tsp), ¼ cup water

FOR GARNISHING

• coloured bell peppers - cut into thin fingers

TO SERVE

• boiled rice

Method
Heat a pan. Add babycorns, green chillies and cabbage. Saute for 4-5 minutes till brown specs appear. Remove from fire and keep aside. For masala, heat a pan. Add prepared boiled onion paste. Cook on low heat till light brown for about 7-8 minutes. Add haldi, dhania and garam masala. Stir for a minute. Add tomato puree. Cook for 5 minutes on low heat till dry. Add wheat flour and cook continuously for 2-3 minutes. Add 1½ cups water, tamarind juice (according to taste) and boil. Add salt and red chilli powder to taste. Add babycorns. Simmer on low flame for 5 minutes.
At serving time, heat the curry and add green chillies and cabbage. Remove from heat immediately. Garnish with coloured bell peppers and serve with boiled rice.

Note: Choose green chillies which are thick, big and light green, as the small, dark green ones are hotter. Remember, to deseed them. After deseeding them, tap them gently to remove all the seeds.