Aloo, gajar, matar: what?
Aloo<>potatoes, gajar <> carrots, matar <> peas
Most people when they think of India, they think that we don’t have seasons i.e. temperature remains the same through out the year. While that’s true for most of Southern India, in the Northern India we have hot summers and cold winters. While the winter is harshest in the Himalayan regions, the temperatures drop to low single digits in the surrounding flatlands of Punjab and other states.
With the change in season comes the change in food.
Winters in Punjab bring a cornucopia of vegetables: gajar, matar, gobi, sarso, palak, methi, bathoo, aloo, shalgam, pyaaz, tamatar, dhania, bhukan, band gobi to name a few vegetables. Dozens of dishes are prepared using a combination of these vegetables.
One of those combinations is an lovely dish made from carrots, peas and potatoes. It’s usually served hot with home-made fresh butter accompanied by a slightly bitter & sour pickles such as amla or lemon & ginger to offset the sweetness of carrots and chapatis made from wheat flour or corn flour.
Could it get more nutritious than this?
Give this recipe for making aloo, gajar, matar a try and I bet you will fall in love with its nutritious, gorgeous goodness.
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Ingredients
- 5-6 small potatoes 1-2 inches in diameter, peeled and cut into 1 cm thick cubes
- 750 gram carrots peeled and cut into 1 cm thick pieces
- 250 gram peas frozen or fresh, shelled
- 2 tbsp ghee clarified butter or oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 5-6 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 2 inch ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1 medium onion 2-3 inch in diameter, finely chopped
- 3-4 green onions with stems chopped
- 1 large tomato 3-4 inches, chopped,
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp yogurt
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp garam masala
- Handful of fresh coriander chopped
Instructions
Make Tadka
- Set a pressure cooker on high heat and add ghee. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and immediately afterwards add garlic and sauté for few seconds.
- Add ginger and green chillies and sauté for few seconds
- Add onions and sauté 1-2 minutes.
- Add green onions and half of green coriander leaves, sauté 2-3 minutes.
- Push tadka to one side of the pan and add 1 tsp of oil. Add the turmeric to the collected oil and cook for few seconds. Then mix everything together.
- Sauté for another 1-2 minute and add red chilli powder and immediately afterwards add yogurt.
Cook Vegetables
- Add carrots, potatoes, peas, tomatoes and salt to the tadka.
- Mix everything together and close the pressure cooker.
- If you haven't washed the vegetables before cooking and the vegetables are dry, add 1/4 cup of water just before closing the pressure cooker. This will make sure that sabji doesn't stick to the bottom of the pressure cooker. (optional)
- Turn off the heat after one pressure (one whistle).
- Immediately afterwards, put the pressure cooker under running water and open it. If the sabji is still not fully cooked, cook without closing the pressure cooker for another 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are fully cooked.
- Mix in the garam masala and the remaining coriander.
- Serve hot with a dollop of fresh home-made butter.
Video
Notes
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