Mixed Vegetable Curry

Here is my recipe for mixed vegetable curry and it consists of what I believe to be a combination of vegetables that work extremely well together. Please don't be put off by the long list of ingredients because it's a really easy curry to make. It can either be served as a vegetarian main meal with plain boiled rice or naan bread or as a side dish for hungry meat eaters. It also works very well when mixed with pasta.

Mixed Vegetable Curry

No other country on earth has perfected vegetarianism quite like India has. There are literally thousands of vegetable curries in India. In fact, most of the food in India is vegetarian. This curry is not an Anglo-Indian curry, and nor is it a traditional Indian curry, it's just my take on a mixed vegetable curry and one that is cooked more along the lines of a traditional Indian curry. Although I blanch some of the vegetables before adding them to the pot, most Indian cooks wouldn't bother doing this and would just cook them in the sauce from raw. This ensures that you're getting maximum nutrition from the vegetables and no minerals or trace elements are going down the drain. However, when blanching the vegetables I don't use much water, and what water is left I normally use it for cooking the rice by absorption method.

Ingredients:

• 3 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 green cardamoms, cracked
• 2 cloves
• 1/2-inch piece cassia bark
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 400g finely diced onion
• 3–4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes, blended
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 2–4 fresh finger chillies (red or green), sliced into thin rings
• 250ml hot water
• 1 teaspoon kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• 150g carrot, cut into 1cm dice
• 150g French beans or runner beans, sliced into 1-inch pieces
• 100g green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 100g red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 150g frozen peas, thawed
• 350g cauliflower florets, cut into bite-sized pieces

Method:

1. Place the coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and black peppercorns into an electric coffee grinder and grind until fine. Add the turmeric, paprika, chilli powder and garam masala and pulse a few more times until everything is well mixed. Set aside.


2. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat and add the green cardamoms, cloves and cassia bark. Allow the spices to sizzle for about 30 seconds until they become fragrant.


3. Add the cumin seeds and fennel seeds and sizzle for about 10 seconds until they turn a shade darker and become fragrant.


4. Add the onion, mix well and fry for 8–10 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking, until soft and translucent.


5. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the garlic, ginger and salt. Mix well and continue to fry for a further 30–40 minutes or until the mixture turns golden brown.


6. Once the onion mixture has turned golden brown add the ground spices and mix well to ensure they are incorporated into the oil. Next, add 12 tablespoons of the blended chopped tinned tomato and mix again. Fry the mixture for 8–10 minutes, stirring often, until it turns a few shades darker and the oil starts to separate. When the oil separates this means the spices are cooked.


7. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of hot water to a rolling boil and add the carrots and green beans. Boil for 3–4 minutes and then strain, after which time the masala will have finished cooking.


8. Add the blanched carrots and green beans to the pot, along with the remaining blended chopped tinned tomato, tomato puree, fresh finger chillies, hot water and kasoori methi. Mix well and bring to a steady simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.


9. Add the green and red bell pepper pieces and the peas. Mix well and continue to cook for a further 20 minutes.


10. Meanwhile, boil the cauliflower florets until al dente and then place into cold water to halt the cooking process. When sufficiently cooled, strain and set aside.


11. After 20 minutes, add the cauliflower florets, mix well and continue to cook for a further 3–5 minutes.

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Notes:

• The combination of vegetables listed in this recipe works very well. However, if you wish to add even more variation then mushrooms, asparagus, baby sweet corn and new potatoes are also great choices. If you plan on adding additional vegetables then you'll need to slightly reduce the quantities of the ones already listed so that you don't end up with too much. You can play around with the quantities of each of the veggies to suit your own tastes.
  
  Closed cup, chestnut and button mushrooms all work well and should be added to the pot at step 8 with the carrots and green beans. Open cup (flat) mushrooms are not the best choice because they will alter the colour of the sauce. Asparagus should be added to the pot at step 9 with the bell peppers and peas, and there is no need to blanch it beforehand. Baby sweet corn should be boiled beforehand and then added to the pot at step 9. This is important because if you cook it from raw in the curry it will alter the flavour of the sauce by giving it a somewhat rancid sweetness. New potatoes should be cooked beforehand and then added to the pot at step 10 with the cauliflower florets. Whether you peel them or leave the skin on is entirely up to you.


• You can also add a few unsalted cashew nuts to the curry if you wish. Add them at the same time as the cauliflower florets.


• The best chillies to use in this curry are Capsicum annuum or Capsicum frutescens varieties.


• You can give this curry an added chilli flavour by stirring in one or two thinly sliced fresh chillies (red or green) at the end of the cooking process.