Friday, April 24, 2009

Marwari Vegetable


My Mother decided I had moped around the house long enough in my vacations and it was high time I did something constructive. Lazing around, reading books and when all was done complaining "kantalla ala mala  ( I am so bored -in Marathi), there's nothing to do around here , my life is a waste", was getting on her nerves. Summer holidays were a trial, too hot to go out, I had stopped going out to play ( in my teens then , I shunned my childhood games of lappa-chappi, aba-duubi, lagori, badminton  with an imaginary net) many of my friends had gone to their native places to enjoy holidays.
So having discussed all these problems with her 'train group', one 'auntie' suggested that  Mom should send me to some classes, to learn something that will be useful 'later'. And she very luckily had the solution she exclaimed! Send her to SNDT, Kings Circle, they have cooking classes there and she will learn to cook different things. "Girls need to know these things, otherwise the Mother gets blamed , you know!"
My Mother hurried off to SNDT and enrolled me in their class. I was aghast! Cooking? Learn cooking ? In the holidays? Didn't she see I had NO time? Uh-oh! Trapped in my own words, I had no option but to go.
I wondered if all other girls there were tortured souls , sent for punishment.. but most of  them looked happy to be there. I felt lost, they all spoke in Gujarati and I only understood some of it, it appeared they knew each other and shared that one goal in life, 'learn to cook saras food'. I learnt what I could and hurried home with a handful of recipe papers stapled together. Done! Shoved the papers aside and went to some other forms of occupying my mind.
All those years my Mother kept my papers safe and the last time she visited me, handed them over! This time I was happy and grateful, it was so thoughtful of her to bring them back !!

Browsing thru the recipes I recalled this Marwari vegetable which I had liked then and  one trip to Albertsons and I had what I needed!
I used :
2 cups Butternut Squash (peeled and cubed) - the original recipe calls for Pumpkin
1 cup cubed Potato
1 Green Chile (+/- to taste)
1 inch piece Ginger , grated
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
2-3 Cloves
1 Bay leaf
1 small piece Cinnamon stick
1tsp Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp Asafetida
2 tbsp. Ghee (clarified butter)
3-4 Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
little less than 1/2 tbs Garam Masala
Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Red Chile powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric pwd
Salt to taste

Wash, peel and cube the squash and potato.
Slice the green chile and grate or thinly slice the ginger.
Heat the ghee in a wok/ kadhai , add bay leaf, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and coriander seeds.
When the above sizzle, add ginger and green chile
Add the potato and squash and just enough water to cook
Add turmeric, asafetida and red chile powder
Mix thoroughly, cover and cook
When cooked add Garam Masala, cook for a minute or two
Switch off the heat and add lemon juice and mix
Serve hot with fulkas (tastes best with puris)




* Note: This vegetable is supposed to be hot, but I have used only 1 chile as heat comes thru the whole spices( clove, cinnamon , pepper) which I have also used in moderation.  
The red chile powder is optional. 
We prefer small amount of Garam masala in our vegetables ( I have used Rajwadi Garam Masala) and therefore use it sparingly.
The second time I made this I used some of the Gujarati garam Masala dear Trupti sent me, it adds a wonderful flavor to the vegetable!
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14 comments:

FH said...

How much time did we waste lazing around and reading when we were young. Imagine the amount of recipes we would have collected then if we had known we would have a foodies blog now! Hahaha!

Veg looks spicy and yummy. I don't like any dish too spicy with chillies or chilli pd, so this would fine for me.
Enjoying the baby? It's getting warmer now, you can get out and enjoy the Sun!
My kids have exams etc next month, I am taking a short break too in 2 weeks until June.

Poornima Nair said...

Hey I went to Nirmala Niketan at Churchgate for a cooking class after my 12th board exams, however in my case I had to beg my mom to send me:)...
The curry looks yumm, wonderful flavors...

TNL said...

you're too funny.... "Saras"....yes, it what we all strive for, eh, girl???

Marwadi veggies look good! Love the color!

trupti

Unknown said...

You went for cooing classes during your summer vacation! Great job!! So this dish is made by a professional cook!!

c de cocina said...

This looks delicious. I´m beginning to fall in love with indian food, and recently I began to use some exotic spices in vegetable dishes. I love the flavour and scent it adds to the food, it really makes a difference.
Thanks a lot.

Finla said...

Hi hi i know the feeling and the feeling of my mom too :-)
ANyway you must have been happy to get the recipe papers.

Supriya said...

Very nice sabzi :) I am always looking for new pumpkin recipes and I found another on today!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Manasi,

Have visited your blog several imes and tried some of the recipes. I had pumkin at hand and I tried this recipe today It was good. The changes I made was the addition of Methi leaves. I used to feed my almost 1 year old kichadi with rice, dal, bhopla (dudhi), methi leaves etc. and always wonder how bhopla paired with methi leaves would taste and today I know it is yummy.. the swetness of the pumkin and the bitterness of the methi leaves is a good combo. Thanks for this recipe.

Anu

EC said...

I had got a recipe book as a gift from my aunt and some books for purchasing some non-stick few years back..I completely ignored them thinking what I am going to do with it..and now I need them to cook variety food but am not able to find them..agree with Asha that we would have never thought of food blogs then..the veggie looks beautiful..

alisa@foodista.com said...

This looks delicious, and I've grown to love using garam masala in cooking veggies lately :)Hope you wont mind but I'd love to guide Foodista readers to your site, just add this little widget here to this post and it's all set to go, Thanks!

Vrinda said...

curry looks yummy,nice combo...

Cynthia said...

What an amazing gift! Your mom kept those recipes and now give them back to you. Fantastic.

luckysanjana said...

lol yes this reminds me of the chinese cooking classes me and my friend attended.......I still have hung on to the notes but have never tried anything from there ever...........wierd nah considering im always surfing for recipes.

s said...

great everyday dish

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