Mixed Vegetable Curry - Iyer Style

Good evening peeps!

As usual, we started our dinner plans for today and all that we wanted was to avoid Idli and Dosa, which is almost our everyday breakfast and dinner. The ultimate destination is the Chapathi and Mixed Vegetable curry. A curry is normally prepared with the set of fixed ingredients, but, some of these ingredients are not suitable for some people's taste and liking, like my better half. This led to a small research and made me to come up with an Iyer version of the Mixed Vegetable Curry. 

We have avoided most fragrant spices and those that provide a hint of sweetness or overpowering taste. Normally, the spices for curry include Bay Leaves. Nutmeg, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Fennel seeds, Cardamom, cloves etc., but here we keep it simple, just to give the hint of heat, body and volume to the curry. 

Dry Spice mix:

Chana Dal

Coriander Seeds

Black peppercorns

Cumin seeds

Red Chilli

Ginger

Everyone has a preference of their spice grind technique. Normally the spice mix gets a dry roast and then a coarse grind in the pestle and mortar, which is then added to the sauteed Onions and tomatoes. There are others who prefer to grind the spices without roasting them and then cook it down to infuse the flavours to the curry. 

Here I roast the spices in a bit of oil until golden brown and keep them aside to cool. This brings out the flavours well and the spices go roasted and golden, which releases a smoky yet crunchy texture. 

Next step is to saute the Onions and Tomatoes, sweat them and then grind the spice mix with the Onions and Tomatoes to get a paste. 

Now lets get the vegetables ready. You can have any choice of fresh or frozen vegetables. My choice of vegetables include:

Carrots

French Beans

Green Capsicum

Flat Beans

Peeled Corn

Frozen Peas

Get all vegetables in a pressure cooker with some oil and fry them till the oil coats all vegetables. The vegetables need to get a mild cook in oil before the spice paste is added. Once the vegetables get a good cook on them, add the spice paste and some water to get a gravy consistency. Do not forget to add Salt at all times. Boil this for a minute and then close the pressure cooker and cook on high up to five whistles. This will cook the vegetables and get the thick gravy consistency. 

Remember we have added Chana dal in the spice mix, which will add to the thickness of the gravy and hence does not need any corn flour or thickening agent. The no. of whistles also varies on the pressure cooker and the flame. Normally, five to six whistles are preferred to get a very good cook on the vegetables and a mixed consistency of the gravy. 

Mixed Vegetable curry tastes good with Chapathi, Roti or any Indian bread. Those who prefer to have a filling meal can pair this with Rice as well. 

A disclaimer here is that this is the Iyer style which I have cooked a couple of times. The taste is to suite those who would like to have a curry without the over powering smell of Garam Masala and other fragrant spices. You may add the other spices as well and try the vegetable curry. Experimentation is the key for a good taste. 

Do try this and let me know how it comes up. Leave a comment if you liked this. 

Peace !!!!