Kashmiri Vegetables

This is for my OD friend who has a cauliflower staring her in the face.  I’ll let her explain, if you can figure out who her is.

Kashmiri Vegetables (from greatest ever indian recipes from Barnes and Noble)

spice mix:
8 cardamom seeds
8 black peppercorns
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick

The original recipe says to get all these fresh and run them thru a spice grinder.  Well, right. I used powdered spices, since they’re RIGHT THERE ON MY SPICE RACK, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.  About 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 2 tsp powdered cumin, and a splash of cinnamon powder)
Mix those together, keep them on the side.

3 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
2 tbsp slivered almonds
2 fresh green chilies (green chili peppers), seeded and chopped
1 tsp Ginger paste (which is smashed up fresh ginger with a little water.)
1 tsp chili powder (the kind you make chili with)
3 potatoes, cut into chunks
1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets
(it also calls for 8 oz of okra cut into 1 inch pieces, but we left that out)
2/3 cup plain yogurt (for those non-dairy folks, we used soy yogurt here and it worked great)
2/3 cup vegetable stock or water.

1) Heat 1 tbsp ghee or veg. oil in the bottom of a large, heavy-bottomed pan.  Add the almonds and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, or until golden.  Remove almonds from pan, put on paper towel to let drain.

2) Add the remaining ghee (oil) to the pan & heat.  Add the chilies and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.  Stir in the ginger paste, chili powder and ground spice mix and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, or until they give off their aroma.  (Note:  this really works – the smell just suddenly rises up out of the pot. You can’t miss it unless you’ve got a really really bad cold.)

3) Add the potatoes and season with salt to taste, then cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes.  Add the cauliflower (and okra) and cook for an additional 5 minutes. (might take longer to cook if the potato pieces are bigger)

4) Gradually stir in the yogurt and stock and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer an additional 10 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.  Garnish with almonds and serve with freshly cooked rice.

Note:  it also notes that you can substitute sweet potatoes for the regular potatoes, and we did that.  It was wonderful.

later, dears
love
Jude