Friday Vegetable Curry

I am sure all of you are wondering why you haven't heard of a curry by this name before. That's because I just made up this name last Friday. I call it the Friday Vegetable Curry because it's the perfect thing to make on Friday when my fridge is practically empty as Saturday is the weekly shopping day. Last Friday I had one carrot , 2 tomatoes and a small bunch of coriander in the fridge and 3 potatoes and 1 lonely onion in the potato-onion basket. A few frozen veggies like sweet corn, green beans and peas came to the rescue and I made this very easy, but lip-smacking (if I may praise my own food) veg curry.

All I needed was :

3 potatoes cut into small cubes

2 carrots roughly chopped,

1/2 cup each of frozen peas, sweetcorn and french beans,

2 tomatoes coarsely pureed + one tspn of readymade concentrated tomato puree,

1 large onion,

4 cloves garlic crushed,

2 tspn cumin-coriander powder,

1 tspn powdered kasoori methi,

1 tspn chilly powder,

1/2 cup milk (yes!!!! Milk)

3 tblspns oil

salt to taste and coriander for garnishing

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a kadhai or suitable pan and fry the garlic and onions on medium heat till lightly golden in colour,

2. Next add the tomatoes and tomato puree and fry for a couple of minutes,

3. Now add the spices ,and chilly powder and mix well. At this point add a little water to the mixture so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

4.When the tomatoes have thoroughly cooked add all the vegetables and a little more water, add the salt and now let the vegetables cook on a very low heat. Do not cover the pan if you want to retain the lovely colours of the vegetables in the finished dish. Also by cooking on low heat the veggies cook well but also have a nice bite to them. They don't get all mushy.

5. Now stir in the kasoori methi.

6. At the final stage add the milk. Milk gives the whole dish a creamy taste like a korma and makes a very simple home-cooked dish taste like something you would eat in a restaurant . (Feel free to replace milk with single cream if you wish) After adding the milk let the vegetables simmer for a couple of minutes and then switch off the gas.

This curry goes very well with parathas, rotis , rice or even couscous.

Tomorrow is Friday , so go ahead and raid your fridge.