This tasty mixed vegetable casserole originates from Gujurat in W. India. It is mainly cooked in winter, but the ingredients may vary depending on what is available locally. I've sampled a couple of versions of the dish during my trip to India: one was wet with a thick greenish gravy, the other was a dry casserole of colourful vegetables. This recipe is similar to the latter version, which I much preferred. Use any combination of vegetables you like, but do include several root vegetables to give the dish a hearty, starchy base.
Recipe Courtesy of Gordon Ramsay, from his book Great Escape.
Recipe Courtesy of Gordon Ramsay, from his book Great Escape.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- Serves 4
- 6-8 baby potatoes, peeled or just scrubbed
- 4-5 small Indian eggplant/aubergines (or 1 medium trimmed)
- 1 small sweet potato or yam, peeled
- 1 large unripe banana, peeled
- 20z/50g green beans, topped and tailed
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp carom seeds
- ¼ tsp asafoetida (optional)
- ½ tsp sea salt, or to taste
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 7 fl oz/200 ml water
- small handful of toasted coconut shavings to garnish (optional)
- Masala Paste
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 2.5cm ginger, peeled and chopped
- 3 green chilies, deseeded and chopped
- 75g grated coconut, thawed if frozen
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
Preparation:
- First make the Masala paste.
- Put all the paste ingredients into a food processor. Add 3 tbsp of water and blitz to form a thick paste.
- Cut the potatoes, aubergines, sweet potato or yam, carrot and banana into bite-sized pieces, and the beans into 1 inch/2 cm pieces. Keep each ingredient separate.
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the mustard seeds, carom seeds, and asafoetida, if using. When the seeds begin to pop, add the masala paste. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes stirring frequently.
- Put the potatoes and carrots into the pan and cook for 5 minutes before adding the rest of the vegetables, salt and remaining spices. Fry over a high heat for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat, add the water and stir.
- Cover and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through and tender. Transfer to a warm serving bowl and garnish with a sprinkling of coconut shavings if you wish.
