Vegetable Korma

This recipe is just bursting with flavor and nutrition. What could anyone want more than to eat their vegetables and like them too! You can make this in a pressure cooker or a covered pot. It takes a little longer in the latter. I made it in a pot/pan as I think it gives more flavor.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup cauliflower cut in small pieces
   
2. 1 cup diced carrots
3. 1 cup diced potatoes 
4. 1 cup green beans cut in small pieces
5. 1 cup peas
6. 1 cup small pieces of paneer, fried (I used the store bought paneer and fry it at home)
7. 1/2 cup tomato sauce
8. 1/2 tsp ginger paste
9. 1/2 tsp garlic paste
10. 2 tsp fresh cilantro paste
11. salt and red chilli to taste
12. 1/2 tsp haldi
    
13. 1/2 tsp garam masala
14. pinch of kesar (saffron) in a small amount of hot milk
15. 2 tbsp ghee
16. 1/2 cup milk (I use 2%)
17. 1 tsp cashews
18. 1 tsp lemon juice
19. Some cut cilantro to garnish

Process

1. Add ghee to a large pot. Once it is hot, add the ginger and garlic paste. Fry a little bit and add the cilantro paste. Fry the mixture. Add a little bit of the milk and and keep frying the paste. Add all the milk and make it into a nice paste.
2. Add all the vegetables, tomato sauce, all the spices, the kesar in milk, and cashews. I added the paneer after about 20 mins of cooking as I did not want it to dissolve in all the veggies.
3. Add about 1 or 1 1/2 cup of water, depending on how much of a curry you want.
4. Cover the pan and cook until all the vegetables are cooked. 
5. Once all is cooked add some cut cilantro to garnish.

This vegetable korma can be eaten with rice or naan. The flavor of this vegetable is amazing!!

Simple Cauliflower

This is a simple, low spice, north Indian type of cauliflower.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 tsp - cumin seeds
2. 1/4 or 1/2 tsp - garam masala (1/2 tsp if you can handle more!)
3. 1/2 tsp - turmeric powder
4. salt, red pepper to taste
5. 1-2 tbsp - oil
6. 1 tbsp - fresh ginger - cut into small pieces (optional)
7. 1 medium size cauliflower - cut into small pieces (about 2 in thickness); wash with water and drain.
8. fresh cilantro to garnish - cut into small pieces (optional)

Process:

1. Add the oil to a small frying pan (should have a lid)
2. Add the cumin seeds when oil is hot.
3. When cumin seeds are reddish-brown, add the ginger pieces. Fry them a little bit.
4. Add the cauliflower.
5. Add the spices - salt, pepper and turmeric powder. Mix well and cover the pan.
6. Lower the heat to medium.
7. Stir every few minutes with a spatula or spoon. The cauliflower will cook in its own water. If it sticks to the bottom or starts to burn, add a few teaspoons of water. 
8. Cut or crush the cauliflower with the spatula to see that it is soft and cooked. Cook it to softness preferred. Too soft will make the vegetable too mushy and not tasty.
9. Once almost done, add the garam masala and mix well. This is a good time to cook the cauliflower without the cover so there is no water in it.
10. Garnish with cilantro when ready to serve.

For a change:

- add 2 small tomatoes after frying the ginger and before adding the cauliflower to give it little color and sourness.

- you can also add 1 medium potato (small pieces) and/or a few green peas to make it a nice mix veggie.

Enjoying it: 

You can eat this dish with virtually anything - rice, naan, any form of chapati (roti), paratha, puri, make sandwiches with bread or just eat it as a snack.

Staples of my Cooking

There are a few vegetables that are staple in my kitchen: onion, garlic (minced and paste), ginger (whole and ginger) and green chili peppers.

The garnish for most foods is green fresh cilantro leaves.  In some cases it might be mint or red pepper flakes or roasted cumin seed powder.  It depends on the dish.

I always have fresh yogurt in my fridge. One never knows when one needs it :-)

In terms of fats I keep canola oil and ghee.  Very rarely do I use butter for cooking.

Some other stuff I use a lot: sour cream, salsa and jalopenos.

Common cheeses in my fridge are: ricotta, cheddar, mozarella and cream cheese.  I still have to learn how to use cottage cheese. And of course I keep paneer (Indian home made cheese).

The sauces I keep are: soy sauce, pasta sauce (marinara and alfredo) and tahini.

Pantry is always full.  There are various types of lentils, rice (basmati), wheat flour, white flour, gram flour, beans (garbanzo, kidney and white). Pasta is there too!

Some of the mixes that I keep handy are for dosa, rava idli, dhokla and gulab jamun. These are typically Gits mixes from the Indian store. Once I have these it is easy to make some quick meal without too much trouble.