Vegetable Jalfrezi – My Style!

I wanted to cook up a lot of vegetables in a jiffy. That is when I though of Vegetable Jalfrezi. With all reputed cooks singing praises of this simple stir fry, I wanted to see what it was all about. I checked a lot of recip – they seemed a tad bland for our taste. So I added a few more ingredients and Voila! Jalafrezi my style. The spice infused veggies were a treat to our palate. I also gave it a more Mughlai taste by adding a few cashews. It is heavenly with steamed basmati rice and chappatis. Do try it and let me know if you liked it.

Ingredients you will need:

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 red capsicum = julienned thinly

1 long carrot

3 small onions ( I am not referring to shallots) julienned thinly

2 jalapenos – julienned thinly (if jalapenos not available , use regular chillies according to your degree of hotness desired. If you have sensitive skin, handle these hot things with caution, they burn!! )

2 tsp fresh ginger garlic paste

Oil

1/4 tsp jeera

1 tsp Powdered pepper

Grind to coarse paste the following :

1.5 tsp jeera

1 tsp coriander seeds

4 to 5 whole cashews

half inch cinnomon stick

2 green elaichis

What needs to be done:

1. Heat water in a vessel to boiling point to blanch cauliflower and carrot. Toss them in for 2 minutes only. Quickly drain the veggies of the hot water. (This water can be used as veggie stock for other dishes) Run them under cold water to stop the cooking. The cauliflower and carrot should be crunchy. Capsicum cooks fast, so no blanching is  required for it.

2. In a plate, marinade cauliflower, carrots and capsicum with a little oil, pepper and salt.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera. Wait till it stops spluttering and then add sliced onions. When they turn golden, add jalapenos/chillies. Wait for onions to brown a little more.

4. Next add the marinaded veggies, mix them well with the onions and jalapenos.

5. Cook on medium heat after closing the lid of the pan.

6. Once veggies are cooked, add the spice paste, mix well. Cook for a few more minutes and then take off fire.

The veggies will be a little soggy.  If you prefer them crunchy, reduce cooking time. Also adding the paste as soon as you toss in thPost Tagse marinaded veggies will keep in crunchier.

So there you Sirs and Madames – Jalfrezi My Style is ready! Bon Appetit!

Mango Fever

Sachin and I are mango fanatics. The sweet juicy flavour of Mangoes drives us crazy. So on our last Superfresh visit, we spotted a case of mangoes. We immediately snapped it up and got it home. But to our diappointment it wasnt all that sweet. Our diappointment lasted just as long as the idea of MANGO LASSI came up. Well, when life throws lemons at ya, make not lemonade but a mighty Tequila as one good friend of mine says!

All you need

1 medium mango peeled and cubed

1 cups plain yogurt

As much Sugar your sweet tooth craves ( We used about 10 sachets of sugar substitute)

How you go about it:

Well its a no brainer to explain what you need to do considering the ingredients are so few. But I got a protocol to follow – so here goes.

Grind the mango cubes to a fine paste. Add the sugar and yogurt and beat it in the mixer. Some folks may prefer thinner lassi, go ahead and add some water. There! That’s all there is to it. You get a drink packed with all nutrition vit A’s you need.

Lets Begin with a Favourite …

Hello … Welcome to Food Works. I am a huge food blogging fan. Uptil now my online presence in the Food Blog was really minimal. After having seen a couple of worthy blogs, I realized I do know a few things myself. I wish to start with a childhood favourite – Mixed Vegetables with Semolina Soup (Upma Soup for the Indian population).

Yes, you got that right. It is my dear amma’s favourite too because with just one dish, both me and my sis (who are like chalk and cheese when it comes to food) would be happy at the same time. Its nothing elaborate though. All the basic upma ingredients plus a little more water than usually required.

1/2 cup semolina (sooji rava)

1 small onion sliced

1 small potato cubed

3 baby carrots cubed (or a 1/2 medium sized carrot)

1/4 cup green peas

slit green chillies according to your taste ( I used 5, we like it hot!)

red chillies, again you decide.

1 inch ginger thinly sliced

a sprig of fresh curry leaves

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp urad dal

1/2 tsp channa (if you like crunchies, it would be a great idea to add more of these)

1 tsp oil ( I use my non stick, so this amount works for me)

3 cups water (yes, I know what I am doing!)

salt as you like

Now to get started.

Heat oil. Toss in mustard, urad dal and channa dal. Wait for the popping, then throw in ginger, all the chillies  and curry leaves. Fry it for a bit on low flame. I like the curry leaves crunchy. Okay, next we move on to adding onions and waiting for it to turn translucent. Be careful here, because if you make it brown then it becomes bitter. Now, add the peas, carrots, potatoes, fry for few minutes, Add the water (yes, 3 cups … how else do you make a upma soup?) Allow the water to come to a boil. After ensuring the veggies are cooked, slowly stir in the semolina into the boiling water. Turn the heat/fire low, cover and let it cook for a  couple minutes. Once done, take it off the cooktop, else it will dry out. You may want to garnish with coriander leaves and fried cashews for a more luxxurious taste.

There you go, the lovely Upma Soup. A fantastic comfort food which is packed with all things good and nice. A quick snack for those rainy days when all you want to do is look out of the window while eating something hot and spicy. Cheers!

UPDATE

I am being bullied by my sis into disclosing the fact that the whole soup concept of Upma was hers. She claims she suggested this idea to amma. If you believe a 3 year old can think of such innovations, more power to you.