Binging on vegetables without guilt

Pushpesh Pant

After the uninhibited eating binges during Xmas and New Year celebrations — roasts, cakes, and other rich repast — it is time for course correction. Sanity demands that the stomach be given the much-needed rest, but, the senses titillated resist. We always find this time of the year particularly difficult to endure. The question that haunts constantly is what would be pleasing to the eyes, tempting for the palate but won’t burden the stomach too much?

Fortunately, this is when the markets are flooded with seasonal vegetables, colourful and crunchy, and full of goodness. These lend themselves to a variety of cooking techniques — steaming, boiling, grilling, stir frying, baking etc. They complement each other in taste and texture and can co-exist harmoniously with many a fruit.

It’s a joy to make a ‘one dish meal’ of a pot of mixed vegetables. Best of all this handi or casserole call it what you may doesn’t require the ‘crutches’ of rice and roti. If you can’t live without grains you may serve the veggies on a bed of steamed rice or have a phulka or slice of bread on side. But for us the carbs contributed by potatoes, sweet potatoes and sweet corn are enough. Our suggestion is to play around with the sauce like gravy/dressing and keep tinkering with seasoning- sprinklers. We love this melange laced with a spoonful of achar Masala stirred in as the vegetables are simmering. Yet another way to make the meal more ‘substantial’ is to boil a cupful of pasta – whole wheat penne or macaroni and toss it in with the vegetables.

And, as you may have noticed, this hundred percent shakahari recipe eschews the tamasik and prohibitively expensive onions totally! The tear jerker isn’t indispensable after all. Garlic has suffered exclusion not due to the company it usually keeps but because it interferes with the enjoyment of distinct flavour of different vegetables.

If you like extra crunch do not hesitate to add a generous fistful of roasted peanuts, parched gram or puffed rice!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Carrots 100g (scraped and cut in thick discs or small batons)

Cauliflower florets 100g

Green peas 100g (net shelled)

Sweet corn kernels 200g

Potatoes 100g

Sweet potatoes 100g (roasted, peeled and cut in large pieces)

Tomatoes 200g

Button mushrooms 100g

Butter 100g

Chilly flakes 1 tsp

Cumin powder 1 tsp

Homemade garam masala/ chaat masala

Sambar masala 1 tsp

Black peppercorn powder 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar (optional) 1 tsp

Lemon juice 1 tsp

Method:

Parboil and peel potatoes. Cut lengthwise in wedges. Pan grill in a little butter on a non stick pan.

Boil lightly (or steam) cauliflower, carrots, sweet corn and peas. Wipe clean mushrooms and slice. Blanch the tomatoes, remove skin and chop finely.

Heat butter in a pan and when it melts add first the potatoes, pan grill for a couple of minutes till lightly browned, then add the mushrooms, stir fry for a minute more than add other vegetables except the sweet potatoes along with chopped tomatoes and salt. Sprinkle over with chilly flakes, black peppercorn powder and Masala Mix powder of your choice. Cook on low medium heat till the sauce drapes the vegetables evenly. Adjust seasoning, sprinkle lemon juice and enjoy hot.