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. However, I've made this curry many times, both by cooking the vegetables from raw in the sauce and by blanching them before adding to the sauce, and everyone prefers the version where the vegetables are blanched before being added to the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 3 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (see notes)
• 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 or salt to taste
• 1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes, blended
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 2–4 fresh finger chillies (red or green), finely chopped
• 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 garden peas
• 50g unsalted cashew nuts (optional)
• 300g 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 1 minute until they become fragrant.


3. Add the cumin seeds and fennel seeds and sizzle for a few seconds until they begin to crackle and give off a fragrant aroma.


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 200g of the blended plum tinned tomato and the tomato puree 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. Boil for 3–4 minutes and then add the green beans and boil for a further minute. If you time it correctly, once the vegetables have finished blanching the masala will have finished cooking.


8. Strain the blanched carrots and green beans and add them to the pot, along with the remaining blended plum tinned tomato, fresh 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 to prevent sticking.


9. Add the green and red bell pepper pieces, garden peas and unsalted cashew nuts (if using). Mix well and continue to cook for a further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
   Tip: About five minutes before adding the bell pepper pieces and garden peas you can place them into the reserved water that was used for blanching the carrots and green beans. This will warm them up and prevent an excessive temperature drop in the pot, ensuring that the curry continues simmering after adding them.


10. Meanwhile, boil the cauliflower florets until almost 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 simmer for a further 5 minutes.

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Notes:

• For more information about helpful curry cooking tips and techniques click here.


• The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds to be ground when making the spice mixture. I normally grind whole spices as and when I need them, but if all you have available is fenugreek powder then you can just use 1 rounded teaspoon of fenugreek powder instead.