Vegetable Paaya

It is easy to cook. But very difficult to decide what to cook!  

I have learnt a lot of cooking from my friend Sowmya. And it is a known fact in my house that anything she teaches me will appear high on my list of ‘to try’.  She watched a TV program and regaled me with this recipe - over the phone! “Best served with Idiappam” – she said. I thought that the best I could do on a week-night was (my favourite) – Idli!

 The combo was good. We relished it and here is my adaptation of the recipe.

Vegetable Paaya

Ingredients:

Coconut – 1, large

Oil – 1 Tbsp

Jeera – ¼ tsp

Cloves & Cinnamon – 1 each

Bay Leaf – 1, small piece

Onion – 1, small

Green Chilli – 2, slit

Ginger – ½ tsp

Carrots – 2, cubed

Beans – 15, cubed

Green Peas – ¼ cup

Potato – 1, cubed

Tomato – 1, small – chopped fine

Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp

Chilli Powder – ½ tsp

Peppercorns – ¼ tsp, crushed coarse

Salt to taste

Almonds – 5

Cashew nuts – 5

Fried Gram – 2 tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 Tbsp, chopped

Method:

Grate coconut, and extract milk using 2 – 3 cups of water.

Heat 2 tsp oil and splutter jeera. Add whole spices and onions. Sauté until onions are transparent. Then add in green chilli, grated ginger, turmeric powder, chilli powder, crushed peppercorns, tomato and mixed vegetables. Stir fry for 2 minutes on a high flame. Pour in half the coconut milk and cook over a medium flame until vegetables are half cooked. Add salt to taste and cook further until vegetables are cooked through.

Blend together the cashew nuts, almonds and fried gram with the remaining coconut milk. Pour in and simmer until heated through. Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.