Veg Curries

Zucchini Aloo Jeera (Zucchini and Potato with Dry Indian Spices)

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This recipe was created on one of those days when I was super hungry and wanted a super easy and quick side for chapathi. There was no other vegetable on hand except for some zucchini and potatoes that I had bought at a farmers market! Well, I ended up making a quick side using both the veggies 🙂 The subzi was so delicious that I had to share the recipe here!I did not over cook the zucchini so it was just slightly crunchy. The boiled potatoes just add a soft bite! And the garlic here just adds a kick! I think this is a great way to start trying out zucchini if you have never tried it before 🙂 Zucchini gets cooked in no time and works well with so many flavors – I use it in a lot of dishes like  Sabut Masoor Dal (Brown Lentils) with Zucchini,  Cucumber Zucchini Stir Fry (Palya/Poriyal) and Zucchini Yogurt Dip (Raitha)
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This one is not so much of a recipe – I just used all the basic handy spices like cumin, chilli powder and some garlic. Tossed everything up together and that is about it 🙂 The thing is somedays that is about all the cooking I want to do. Yes I love cooking and experimenting but I don’t like doing something elaborate at the end of the day! I like having some simple, and easy recipes around that I can try on busy weekdays.
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Zucchini Aloo (Potato) Jeera

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients
  1. 2 zucchini
  2. 1 small potato
  3. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  4. 2 cloves garlic
  5. 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  6. 1/4 tsp coriander powder
  7. 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
  8. 1/4 tsp garam masala powder
  9. Salt to taste
  10. 1 tbsp oil
  11. pinch of asafoetida (hing)

Method

  1. Wash and peel the potato and chop it into small bite sized pieces. Wash and chop the zucchini also into bite sized pieces.
  2. Chop the garlic finely. Mix the spice powders (except hing) together with 2 tbsp of water.
  3. Take a large saucepan and heat 1 tbsp oil in it. Add the cumin seeds and let it turn slightly golden in color. Add the chopped garlic and hing and sauté for a few seconds. Add the spice- water mixture to the pan and let it cook for one minute.
  4. Add the chopped potato and sprinkle some salt. Let it cook for 5-8 minutes till it is half cooked. Then add the chopped zucchini to this and cook till the zucchini is tender and the potato is fully cooked.
  5. Don’t add too much water as the zucchini can become mushy! Adjust salt and any spice required. You can add some lemon juice too! Serve hot with rice or chapathi.

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Black Pepper Cauliflower

kondaji Leave a comment
The combination of simple spices like black pepper and cumin seeds coarsely ground up add so much flavor to any dish! You don’t need a ton of exotic ingredients to create a nice quick, tasty, wholesome meal. Also with a little creativity you can add a new look-and-feel to any vegetable 🙂 I think this recipe is testimony to both the above statements.
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Hesarebele Saagu (Vegetables and Moong Dal in a mild mint gravy)

kondaji Leave a comment

Saagu is a traditional dish from south India in which vegetables are cooked in a coconut-cilantro gravy. This is a small twist of that recipe. I add moong dal or lentils while making saagu to pack in some protein and make the dish more filling. I don’t like a lot of coconut so I cut down on it. And I add some mint as it gives such a unique flavor to the cooked veggies and lentils. You can add any veggies of your choice – I generally use green beans, chayote squash (chow chow), green peas, carrots and kohlrabi (knolkol) 🙂  This is a one pot meal! I love those! They are easy to cook and also involve very little clean up! This dish works as a great side dish but if you are a veggie lover like me, then you would probably eat it like a main course stew 🙂 The only prep work that this dish requires is vegetable chopping!

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Brown Lentils (Sabut Masoor Dal) and Zucchini Stew (Fall Recipe)

kondaji 2 Comments

I have not used zucchini in a while! Strange!! I generally buy zucchinis when I have a hectic week! Zucchini is super nutritious, easy and quick to cook and it also pairs well with any kind of flavor. If you have not already checked it out, I have two other great zucchini recipes on the blog – Zucchini Stir Fry(Palya/Poriyal) and Zucchini Yogurt Dip(Raitha)!

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