You might notice in this recipe a departure from the traditional use of cardamon in kheer – I use vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt instead. Tell me how you like it!

You Need:

[For 5-6 servings]

• Sabudana / sago – 1 small cup [buy here]
• Full-cream milk – 1 liter
• Vanilla extract – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Cinnamon stick – 1-inch stick [buy here]
• Raw unsalted nuts (almonds / pistachios) – 1/4 cup [buy here]
• Raisins – 1 tablespoon [buy here]
• Sugar – 1/3 cup (adjust to taste)
• Sea salt – a pinch [buy here]

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

How To Make Sabudana Kheer:

1. Soak the sabudana / sago

Wash the sabudana well. Soak it in a cup of milk – just enough milk to submerge the sabubana.

After an hour, the sabudana pearls would have softened and swelled. They are now ready to be added to kheer (step 3)…

…but before that, step 2!

2. Prep the nuts

Slice the almonds / pistachios / cashew nuts.

Dry roast the nuts in a thick bottomed pan till they turn golden-rimmed and aromatic. Set aside and go on to step 3.

3. Simmer stir simmer

In a thick-bottomed pan, bring a liter of full-cream milk to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly.

After a 5-minute simmer, add the soaked sabudana to the milk.

It will take about 20 minutes for the milk to thicken and the sabudana to turn translucent.

When the sabudana pearls have turned translucent, add the cinnamon, vanilla extract, a pinch of sea salt, raisins and most of the toasted nuts (retain some for garnishing).

As the kheer comes close to the consistency you’re looking for, stir in the sugar. Cook another minute till the sugar dissolves. Switch off the heat.

Let the sabudana kheer stand and cool down; the kheer will continue to thicken as it cools.

Keep stirring periodically to assist with cooling and to prevent a film from forming on top.

Chill covered in the refrigerator till ready to serve.

To Serve:

Just before serving, garnish the chilled sago kheer with toasted slivers of nuts.

Dig in!

Notes:

Try more desserts from the blog archives:

Also check out other sabudana / sago recipes:

The post Sabudana Kheer: Vanilla Sago Pudding appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

This recipe is a meatless take on the dhansak template, with plenty of vegetables and a freshly prepared dhansak masala.

Before I made my own, I had only had dhansak in Parsi restaurants. The dish was consistently delicious (standouts: Soda Bottle Openerwala and the now-closed Daddy’s Deli Bangalore) – but no two offerings tasted alike. So in my first attempt at preparing dhansak, I searched earnestly for a solid recipe. Youtube videos, blogs, old books. The challenge compounded. I found as many variations as the number of recipes. There were pretty wide differences in

With a few trials and adaptations, based partially on what I usually have in stock (sorry, patthar ke phool), I have finally settled for the recipe as I lay out below.

Note: I am fairly flexible about the dals as well as the vegetables that go into dhansak – whatever is in season or in my pantry is fair game. The main consideration is that the quantity totals should tally. For example, if the only dal I have on hand is toor, I would put in enough of it so that the overall quantity of dals remains the same. If I skip the potato or eggplant, I would add more pumpkin or chayote. If going beyond the listed ingredients, I would pick substitutes from a similar flavor profile – for example, masoor would be swapped with yellow moong, not rajma; pumpkin with butternut squash, not capsicum.

Some of the links below are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

You Need:

[For 4-6 people]

To boil together:

• Toor dal – 3/4 cup [buy here]
• Masoor dal – 1/4 cup [buy here]
• Chana dal – 1/4 cup [buy here]
• Pumpkin – 2 cups, cubed
• Bottle gourd or chayote (chow chow) – 1/2 cup, cubed
• Eggplant – 1/2 cup, cubed
• Potato – 1/2 cup, cubed
• Tomatoes – 1 cup, cubed
• Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Bay leaves – 2

For the dry dhansak masala powder:

• Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Peppercorns – 8
• Dry red chilies – 1 or 2
• Cinnamon stick – 1-inch stick [buy here]
• Cloves – 2 [buy here]

For the tempering:

• Salt – to taste
• Tamarind – coin-sized ball
• Tomatoes – 1
• Onions – 2 medium
• Green chili – 1 (optional)
• Garlic – 8 small cloves / 3 big cloves
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Cinnamon stick – 1 small
• Ghee – 2 tablespoons

Garnishing:

Kasoori methi, coriander leaves

How To Make Vegetarian Dhansak:

1. Boil the dal and veggies

Wash the dals (toor + masoor + chana) together in several changes of water till the water runs clear. Soak the dals in three cups of water for 30 minutes.

While the dals soak, chop the veggies (pumpkin + eggplant + potatoes (peeled) + chow chow / bottle gourd + tomatoes) into bite-sized chunks.

Tip: Place the eggplant and potatoes in salted water till ready to use, to prevent discoloration.

Drain the soaking dals and place them in a pressure cooker, along with all the chopped vegetables. Pour in three cups of water. Add a teaspoon of turmeric powder and a couple of bay leaves.

Give it all a stir. Lock the lid of the pressure cooker and boil till the dals and vegetables have softened to mashable consistency. In an Indian-style cooker, this takes boiling on high heat till the first whistle, and then further simmering on low heat till the cooker lets out two more whistles.

Let the cooker stand till it has let out its steam naturally. Unlock the lid.

Blend the dals to the consistency you like: use a whisk for coarse texture, a blender for fine texture. Or, do what I do: blend a fourth of the boiled dal and veggies in a blender and mash the rest using the back of a ladle.

2. Make the dry dhansak powder

Dry roast these whole spices on low heat, one by one, in a thick-bottomed pan or tava: a tablespoon of coriander seeds, a teaspoon of cumin seeds, half a teaspoon each of fenugreek and mustard seeds, a few pepper corns, a dry red chili or two, a small cinnamon stick and two cloves.

Let the spices cool.

Dry grind them in a spice grinder.

Dhansak masala powder is ready. Keep aside till it’s time to use.

3. Make the tempering

Soak a coin-sized ball of tamarind in half a cup of hot water. After twenty minutes, mash the tamarind into the water, discard the roughage and seeds if any.

Grind together an inch stick of ginger, garlic cloves and half an onion.

Slice the remaining onion finely.

Heat two tablespoons of ghee in a thick-bottomed pan. When the ghee is hot, set the heat to medium and slide in the sliced onions along with a cinnamon stick.

Fry the onions for five minutes.

Then add to the pan the ginger-garlic-onion paste.

Stir continuously while the onion paste browns and becomes fragrant.

Add a tomato, either chopped or pureed, and a slit green chili if using.

Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring things around, or till the tomato turned a deeper hue.

Now is the time to put in our freshly made dhansak masala powder.

Give a final stir take the pan off the heat.

4. Put it all together

Mix together the boiled dal and vegetables (step 1) with the tempering (step 3).

Pour tamarind water into the dhansak.

Tip: If the tempering is stuck to the pan it was prepared in, use tamarind water to deglaze that pan first and then pour that into the dhansak.

Bring to a boil. Add water to thin it out if you like, and adjust salt.

Dhansak is ready.

Serve dhansak hot, garnished with fresh coriander leaves / kasoori methi.

Dhansak is typically paired with Parsi brown rice and kachumber salad.

Meal below (clockwise from left): berry pulao, aloo stir-fry, kachumber salad, dhansak, grape chutney.

Notes:

Like the idea of vegetables and dal boiled together? Then you will also enjoy poi saag toor dal, mooli sambar, pumpkin masoor dal with chili garlic relish.

The post Dhansak: Parsi Dal and Vegetable Medley appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

I have used here the graffiti eggplant, which is purple with pale stripes – more specifically called Purple Rain. You could use the all-purple baby eggplant too. Just pick a variety that’s low on seeds.

You Need:

• Baby eggplant* – 6
• Onions – 2
• Tomatoes – 2
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste
• Ginger – 1 inch piece
• Garlic – 4 small cloves
• Pepper corns – 6-8
• Dry red chilies – 4
• Bay leaf – 1 (skip if you don’t have it)
• Cloves – 3
• Cardamom – 2
• Cinnamon stick – 1/2 inch
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Oil – 2 tablespoons

*Pick even-sized eggplant with smooth skin.

How To Make Baingan Masala:

1. Prep the eggplant

Chop off the stalk from each eggplant.

Make cuts into each eggplant, starting from the head towards the tip but not all the way through. For small eggplant, make two perpendicular cuts to form quarters. For larger ones, make three or four equidistant cuts to form sectors.

Follow the soaking steps to prevent discoloration of the cut eggplant.

In a wide, flat thick-bottomed pan, spread a tablespoon of oil and heat. Place the eggplants, slit-side down, into the hot oil. Arrange them so that the comparitively larger ones are towards the center of the heat.

Cook on medium-low heat, covered, till the side facing down is golden-brown.

Turn sideways, and let the sides cook all around.

Keep turning and cooking till evenly done.

This will take around 15 minutes in all.

While the eggplant cooks, you can go on to steps 2 and 3 for the curry.

2. Make the spice paste

In a grinder, place the bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, dry red chilies, pepper corns, ginger, garlic and a chopped onion.

Grind to paste. Add a few teaspoons of water while grinding, only if you must.

3. Make the curry

Slice an onion finely.

In another pan or skillet, heat a tablespoon of oil. Set heat to medium and add the sliced onions to the hot oil.

Sauté the onions, stirring periodically, till they are golden (around 7-8 minutes).

Add the ground spice paste to the pan.

Mix well, and continue to cook till the spice paste turns a deep brown.

Puree the tomatoes.

Add the pureed tomatoes to the cooking spices.

Mix well. Add turmeric powder.

Continue to cook till the onions and tomatoes have browned well and taken on a paste-like consistency.

Add two cups of water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil.

Reduce and simmer for five minutes.

4. Put it all together

Pour the curry over the cooked eggplants.

Cook for another five minutes, turning the eggplant once in between.

Baingan masala is ready.

Serve hot.

Meal below: baingan masala with chapatis, homemade yogurt, carrot sticks.

Notes:

Also try eggplant in non-curried versions: baingan bhaja, bittersweet green eggplant, eggplant in mustard-fenugreek masala.

Looking for more ways to use bay leaf? Try out pumpkin masoor dal or this sweet rice preparation flavored with bay leaf.

The post Baingan Masala: Baby Eggplant Curry appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Firm, slightly tart apples work best for this recipe. I have used the small greenish-red apples available in India during the pre-winter season.

You Need:

[for 3-4 servings]

• Apples – 3 small/2 medium
• Raisins – 1 tablespoon
• Cloves – 2
• Cinnamon – 1-inch stick
• Apple cider vinegar* – 1 tablespoon
• Water – 1/2 cup
• Jaggery** – 2 teaspoons
• Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
• Paprika powder*** – 1/4 teaspoon

*If you do not have apple cider vinegar, substitute with a tablespoon of lime juice.

**In place of jaggery, you could use 1.5 teaspoons of brown sugar or white sugar.

***No paprika powder? Go for a pinch of red chili powder or red chili flakes instead.

How To Make Apple Chutney:

Quarter each apple along the core. Remove the core and dice.

As you dice, dip the apple cubes in a bowl of water to prevent browning. For the curious, here’s an interesting experiment on the discoloration of cut apples under different test conditions.

Crush the cloves.

In a thick-bottomed pan, heat half a cup of water with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Add to it crushed cloves, cinnamon stick, diced apple and raisins.

Bring the contents of the pan to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer covered. Check every five minutes, turning the apple cubes around and pressing them gently with the back of a spatula.

Add a few more tablespoons of water if the cooking apples look too dry.

When the apples give way on being pressed (this takes about twenty minutes), add salt, jaggery powder and paprika powder.

Mix well.

Continue to cook covered till the apples are very soft. The total cooking time when using firm apples with skin on could be close to forty minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Cook uncovered till the chutney is dry.

Apple chutney is ready.

Serve along with chapatis or parathas.

When the chutney cools to room temperature, transfer to a non-reactive lidded container and refrigerate. Apple chutney stays good for up to a week.

Meal below: apple chutney served with chapatis, homemade dahi, karela masala fry.

Related Recipes:

Fancy more fruity chutneys? Try sweet mango chutney, green grape chutney.

Looking for other “surprising” recipes that make “secret” use of apploes? Check out how to make this chayote apple salad, apple cucumber mint juice fresh fruit rabri,

The post Apple Chutney – Easy, Chunky, No-Peel! appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Pumpkin is so versatile that, even when pairing up within the legume family, it can take on entirely different avatars depending on which legume, what recipe. "Will you get together with the pliant yellow moong in a sambar-like curry?" Yes says the pumpkin, and becomes pumpkin moong dal. "Will you combine with the dense kidney bean in a Bengali-spiced curry?" Yes agan, says the pumpkin, and morphs into the dish I’m writing about today.

You Need:

• Pumpkin – 400 grams
• Red kidney beans – 1/2 cup (if using dried), 1 cup (if using canned)
• Tamarind – 1 lemon-sized ball
• Jaggery – 1 teaspoon
• Pepper powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Dry red chilies – 3
• Garlic – 4 cloves (~1 teaspoon when crushed)
• Cinnamon – 1-inch stick
• Cloves – 4
• Cardamom – 4
• Panch phoron – 1 teaspoon
• Mustard oil – 1/2 tablespoon
• Coriander leaves – for garnishing

In the picture above (from top-right): cardamom, cinnamon, dry red chilies; pumpkin; garlic, tamarind.

How To Make Kaddu Rajma:

1. Boil the rajma

If using dried kidney beans, soak the kidney beans overnight in 3 cups of water. Drain. Place the kidney beans in a pressure cooker along with 2 cups of water. Cook on high heat till the pressure cooker whistles, then lower the heat and cook for another 15 minutes.

Let the pressure cooker release its steam naturally till the lid comes off.

2. Prepare the ingredients

Snip the dry red chilies into small pieces. Crush garlic coarsely.

Soak tamarind in half a cup of water for 30 minutes. Extract its pulp, discard seeds.

Cut pumpkin into 1-inch cubes.

3. Cook it all together

In a pan or kadhai, heat mustard oil. When the oil is hot, add these ingredients in quick succession: panch phoron, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, garlic, coriander seeds, dry red chilies.

When the dry red chilies turn dark, add pumpkin cubes to the pan. Mix.

Cook covered on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the dry spices to the cooking pumpkin: turmeric powder, red chili powder, pepper powder.

Mix well and continue to cook.

When the pumpkin is 3/4th done, add tamarind pulp, salt, jaggery, boiled kidney beans along with half a cup of the water it was cooked in. Adjust the quantity of water depending on how runny you want the gravy.

Mix well and bring to a boil. Lower heat, add chopped coriander leaves.

Cover and cook till all the ingredients have come together and the pumpkin is fully done.

Kaddu rajma (pumpkin and kidney bean curry) is ready.

Serve kaddu rajma warm with chapatis.

Meal today: kaddu rajma, aloo sahjan potato and drumstick curry, chapatis (the green specks in the chapatis are fenugreek leaves).

Notes:

For a no-garlic version of kaddu rajma, replace garlic in the recipe with a pinch of asafoetida.

For more legume-tamarind combos, try chaulai dal, khatti-meethi masoor dal, palak toor dal.

Check out pumpkin basale leaves curry, kaddu borani, potato pumpkin masala for more pumpkin recipes.

The post Kaddu Rajma: Pumpkin with Red Kidney Beans appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

The recipe broadly follows the ever-reliable Nisha Madhulika’s Kashmiri lauki curry recipe. The main departure is in the way the lauki is cooked (I did not want to deep-fry) and a little switch of ingredients.

You Need:

• Bottle gourd – 350 grams
• Green chilies – 2
• Plain yogurt – 1 cup
• Salt – to taste
• Fennel seeds – 3/4 teaspoon
• Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida powder – a pinch
• Coriander seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Cinnamon stick – 1 inch
• Cardamom – 3
• Cloves – 3
• Coriander leaves – 1 tablespoon, chopped
• Mustard oil – 1/2 tablespoon for cooking the spices + more for shallow-frying

In the picture above: bottle gourd, green chilies, plain homemade yogurt.

How To Make Dahi Wali Lauki:

1. Prepare the ingredients

Peel the bottle gourd, trim the ends. Cut into thin wedges about 2-inches long.

How to make bottle gourd wedges: Slice the bottle gourd into 2-inch tall cylinders. Halve each cylinder vertically, then slice each half as if along the spokes of a wheel.

Keep the yogurt unrefrigerated for 1-2 hours before you plan to make dahi wali lauki [cold yogurt tends to curdle when heated]. Beat the yogurt well with salt.

Keep all the dry spices ready: asafoetida powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder.

Grind fennel seeds to powder.

Slice the green chilies finely.

2. Shallow-fry the bottle gourd

Heat a wide non-stick pan with a thin coating of mustard oil. When hot, place the bottle gourd wedges in a single layer. [If the pan does not accommodate all the bottle gourd, cook in batches.]

Shallow-fry on high heat till the surface of the bottle gourd facing the heat has browned a bit.

Flip the wedges over and let the other side brown as well.

When cooked on both sides, remove the bottle gourd wedges from the pan and set aside.

2. Cook the spices

Heat half a tablespoon of mustard oil in a skillet or kadhai.

When the oil is hot, add cinammon stick, cloves and cardamom. Stir and then add cumin seeds and coriander seeds. As soon as the seeds splutter, set heat to low and transfer the dry spices (asafoetida powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder) to the oil.

Move the spices around, make sure there’s no charring.

3. Put it all together

Add chopped green chilies, fennel powder along with shallow-fried bottle gourd wedges to the kadhai.

Mix well to coat the bottle gourd wedges with the spices and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Set heat to low, add the beaten yogurt to the spiced bottle gourd. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water to thin out the curry. Keep stirring continuously so that the yogurt does not curdle.

When the curry comes to a gentle boil, take it off the heat. Dahi wali lauki is ready.

Stir in chopped coriander leaves.

Serve dahi wali lauki hot with chapatis or plain rice.

Meal in the pic below: dahi wali lauki with Kashmiri saag, chapatis and tomato wedges.

Notes:

Try other yogurt-based curries: quick dahi aloo, dahi arbi, dahi chhole.

The post Dahi Wali Lauki: Bottle Gourd Yogurt Curry appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Be prepared: this recipe requires time and effort. [If you are looking for quick & easy tomato recipes, I suggest capsicum tomato saute / zucchini tomato curry.] Stuffed tomato curry is best made when you have company in the kitchen for cooking and conversation.

Some links below are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

You Need:

[Serves 3]

• Tomatoes – 6
• Oil for shallow-frying
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

For the stuffing:

• Potatoes – 3 medium
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Onion – 1/2 (or 2 tablespoons when finely chopped)
• Garlic – 3 cloves (or 1 teaspoon when finely chopped)
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Oil – 1 teaspoon

For the curry:

• Garam masala – 1/4 teaspoon
• Pepper powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – a pinch
• Onion – 1/2 (or 2 tablespoons when finely chopped)
• Garlic – 4 cloves (or 1 teaspoon when ground)
• Dry red chilies – 4
• Cinnamon stick – 1
• Cloves – 4
• Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Oil – 1 tablespoon

In the picture above:
Left [top to bottom]: spice powder bowl (cumin, red chili, coriander, black pepper, garam masala), whole spices bowl (cumin seeds, coriander seeds)
Center [top to bottom]: potatoes, onion, garlic, tomatoes
Right [top to bottom]: dry red chilies, cinnamon stick, cloves, turmeric powder

How To Make Stuffed Tomato Curry:

1. Hollow out the tomatoes

Here’s the technique I follow:

With a knife, cut a cone-shaped hole into the tomato from the top, almost touching the base but not piercing it. Take the cone out. Then with a corer (or similar gadget, like a swivel peeler or melon baller), scoop out the tomato pulp.

Save the tomato pulp in a separate bowl, for later use in the curry.

2. Make the potato filling

Boil the potatoes, till they are soft enough to mash. [In an Indian-style pressure cooker, this is how you’d do it: place the potatoes with enough water to submerge them. Cook till the pressure cooker lets out two whistles. Let the steam release and lid unlock naturally.]

Peel and mash the potatoes.

Heat oil in a skillet or kadhai. Add cumin seeds and when they splutter, add a teaspoon of finely chopped garlic and two tablespoons of finely chopped onion. Cook on medium heat for a minute, then add the dry spice powders: turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder. Give the spices a stir. Add mashed potatoes and salt to taste.

Blend the potatoes very well with the fried onions and spices. Switch off the heat after two minutes.

3. Fill and pan-fry the tomatoes

Stuff the tomatoes with the spiced potato filling. [Some filling might be left over – reserve it for use in the curry later.]

Pierce each tomato with a pin all over.

Heat a shallow non-stick pan coated with some oil.

Place the tomatoes in a single layer on the pan. Cook the stuffed tomatoes covered on medium heat, turning the tomatoes around every other minute, till they are lightly browned evenly on all sides. [This should take about 10-15mins]

While turning, take care not to break the tomatoes. Drizzle a little more oil while cooking if the tomatoes stick to the pan.

Take the pan-fried tomatoes off the pan.

4. Make the curry

In a non-stick pan, heat a tablespoon of oil. When hot, add cumin seeds and coriander seeds. As soon as the cumin seeds have crackled and the coriander seeds changed to a darker color, add dry red chilies, cinnamon stick and cloves. Stir them around for a few seconds, then add a teaspoon of garlic paste and two tablespoons of finely chopped onions.

Cook on medium heat till the onions turn translucent.

To the pan, add the dry spice powders: turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, pepper powder. Give the spices a stir.

Add the tomato pulp [reserved from step 1] to the pan. Cook on high heat, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes.

Smoothly mash the leftover potatoes after filling the tomatoes [in step 3] along with half a cup of water. Transfer this to the pan with curry.

Deglaze the pan in which tomatoes were fried. Add half a cup of water to the pan in which stuffed tomatoes were shallow-fried [in step 3], and transfer this water to the pan with curry.

Pour in more water if you want the curry thinner. Add salt to taste [carefully – the potatoes were salted too].

Cook everything together for 6-7 minutes on low flame, covered, stirring every other minute.

5. Put it all together

Give the curry a good stir, and then place the pan-fried stuffed tomatoes gently in it.

Let it simmer for 5 minutes, turning the tomatoes around a few times in between.

Stuffed tomato curry is ready to serve. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve stuffed tomato curry as the main dish of a thali meal with boiled rice / chapatis and assorted simpler accompaniments, such as dry moong dal, parval ki bhujiya, cucumber raita.

Or pair the dish with:

• a special rice preparation such as vegetable pulao or peas & cashew fried rice
• exotic Indian flatbreads such as gobi lachha paratha or sesame-studded parathas

Quick-reference recipe card:

Print

Stuffed Tomato Curry

Stuffed tomato curry is a vegetarian meal star! With a rich sauce and a delicious spiced potato filling, this dish is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Course Curries

Cuisine Indian

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword stuffed, tomatoes

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Author The Steaming Pot

Equipment

• pressure cooker
• kadhai / skillet
• non-stick pan
• corer / swivel peeler / melon baller

Ingredients

• 6 Tomatoes
• Oil for shallow-frying (about 1 tbsp)
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

For the stuffing:

• 3 Potatoes medium
• 1/2 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/2 Onion or 2 tbsp when finely chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic or 1 tsp when finely chopped
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 2 tsp Oil

For the curry:

• 1/4 tsp Garam masala
• 1/2 tsp Pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/2 Onion or 2 tablespoons when finely chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic or 1 tsp when ground
• 4 Dry red chilies
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 4 Cloves
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp Oil

Instructions

Hollow out the tomatoes

• Here's the technique you could follow: With a knife, cut a cone-shaped hole into the tomato from the top, almost touching the base but not piercing it. Take the cone out. Then with a corer (or similar gadget, like a swivel peeler or melon baller), scoop out the tomato pulp.
• Save the tomato pulp in a separate bowl, for later use in the curry.

Make the potato filling

• Boil the potatoes, till they are soft enough to mash. [In an Indian-style pressure cooker, this is how you'd do it: place the potatoes with enough water to submerge them. Cook till the pressure cooker lets out two whistles. Let the steam release and lid unlock naturally.]
• Peel and mash the potatoes.
• Heat oil in a skillet or kadhai. Add cumin seeds and when they splutter, add a teaspoon of finely chopped garlic and two tablespoons of finely chopped onion.
• Cook on medium heat for a minute, then add the dry spice powders: turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder. Give the spices a stir.
• Add mashed potatoes and salt to taste. Blend the potatoes very well with the fried onions and spices. Switch off the heat after two minutes.

Fill and pan-fry the tomatoes

• Stuff the tomatoes with the potato filling. [Some filling might be left over - reserve it for use in the curry later.]
• Pierce each tomato with a pin all over.
• Heat a shallow non-stick pan coated with some oil.
• Place the tomatoes in a single layer on the pan. Cook the stuffed tomatoes covered on medium heat, turning the tomatoes around every other minute, till they are lightly browned evenly on all sides. [This should take about 10-15mins]
• While turning, take care not to break the tomatoes. Drizzle a little more oil while cooking if the tomatoes stick to the pan.
• Take the pan-fried tomatoes off the pan.

Make the curry

• In a non-stick pan, heat a tablespoon of oil. When hot, add cumin seeds and coriander seeds.
• As soon as the cumin seeds have crackled and the coriander seeds changed to a darker color, add dry red chilies, cinnamon stick and cloves.
• Stir them around for a few seconds, then add a teaspoon of garlic paste and two tablespoons of finely chopped onions. Cook on medium heat till the onions turn translucent.
• To the pan, add the dry spice powders: turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, pepper powder. Give the spices a stir.
• Add the tomato pulp [reserved from the step "Hollow out the tomatoes"] to the pan. Cook on high heat, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes.
• Smoothly mash the potatoes left over after stuffing the tomatoes, along with half a cup of water. Transfer this to the pan with curry.
• Deglaze the pan in which tomatoes were fried - add half a cup of water to the pan in which stuffed tomatoes were shallow-fried, and transfer this water to the pan with curry.
• Pour in more water if you want the curry thinner. Add salt to taste [carefully - the potatoes were salted too].
• Cook everything together for 6-7 minutes on low flame, covered, stirring every other minute.

Put it all together

• Give the curry a good stir, and then place the pan-fried stuffed tomatoes gently in it.
• Let it simmer for 5 minutes, turning the tomatoes around a few times in between.
• Stuffed tomato curry is ready to serve. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

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Looking for more curries to make for a vegetarian party spread? Try paneer butter masala, gobhi musallam, lauki kofta curry.

The post Stuffed Tomato Curry – Vegetarian Party Menu Star! appeared first on The Steaming Pot.