Vegetable Jalferazi
Today I thought adding some royal touch to our lunch menu and gathered all the leftover veggies in my fridge to make this interesting medley. The name is a marriage of two words from two different languages: Bengali jhāl, meaning spicy food, and Urdu parhezī, suitable for a diet. The clock winds us back to the Bawarchi Khaana of Mughal Saltanate where jalferazi was a marination of leftover meats topped with chillies to hide any disagreeable tastes. As the dish found its way into the cookhouses of the British Raj it was blended with local spices like cardamom and was a very popular way to re-cook vegetables left from previous preparations. So let’s travel together back into time and taste the flavors only meant for the royalty.
Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Method:
Ingredients:
- 3 cups vegetables diced into 1 inch chunks (carrots, potatoes, beans, cauliflower)
- 1 Onion chopped
- 3 Green chilies chopped
- 1tsp Ginger –grated
- 1tsp Garlic-grated
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 3 green Cardamoms,
- 1bay leaf
- 8-10 cashews
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1tsp red chilly power
- 1tsp garam masala
- ½ cup beaten curd
- Salt - to taste
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp.
- Oil - About 1 tbsp.
- Sugar - 1/4 tsp
- 1 cup fried paneer cubes
Method:
- Put carrots, cauliflower, beans and potatoes in boiling water for 8- 10 minutes till they are almost cooked. Drain water and keep them aside.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cardamom and cashew nuts. When they splutter add green chilies, garlic and ginger. Sauté for 2 minutes and add onions. Cook till they turn light pink. Now add tomatoes and all the masalas.
- Turn heat to simmer Add the beaten curd and mix well. Add the vegetables and salt. Stir till the masalas are mixed well.
- Add sugar, paneer and cook covered for 5 minutes. Mix well, garnish with coriander.
- Serve with chapatti, parantha or rice.
