Hirvi Patal Bhaji / Green Curry.

Hot and Just out of my Kitchen ... Hirvi Patal Bhaji/ Green Curry with Cauliflower And Tomatoes ... A spicy curry that's just awesome when served with Pav (Bread)/ Paratha/ Roti/ Poori/ Pulav or ourvery own panpolo .. Yummilicious ....

A picture speaks volumes of its delicacy and sharing it with all you friends always gives me joy of life. This is a recipe I made by a lot of trial and error. There are millions of green curry recipes that are available prepared using coriander leaves and to get this one right in both texture and taste was really a task for me. Why ? … The reason being that my hubby wanted me to prepare it the way my Mother In Law prepared and there was no written recipe. My MIL had already left for her heavenly abode before my marriage and my hubby loved this curry very much. On his description and my own instincts I managed to zero in on the recipe after preparing the same many times. Finally done to satisfaction. It took me quite some trials but happy that I could get it done in the same way my hubby loves it. Pheewww …. What a task. But I whole heartedly agree the dish is simply delicious and goes very well with Pav / Bread and parathas. You can serve it with simple ghee rice or jeera rice too. Remember to make the dish spicy and thin textured. 

For Masala : Grind to a smooth paste with enough water 1 cup of freshly grated coconut with about 4-5 cups of coriander leaves (you can use the tender stems too), 1 tsp jeera powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp fennel powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder, pinch of cardamom, 12-15 green chillies (more if you want spicier) chopped to pieces, marble sized tamarind, one large sized onion chopped, 1 inch piece of ginger also chopped, 12-15 peeled and chopped garlic. Keep this aside ready.

** Wash, rinse and drain about 400-500 gms of cauliflower cut into medium sized florets. Put them in a vessel or kadai with 2 cups of water and cook till 75% done. Keep them ready aside.

** Cut 2 tomatoes into rings of 1/8th inch thickness. Keep this ready aside too.

** Peel and slice thinly lengthwise one large sized onion. Keep this ready aside too. 

Heat about 2 tblsp of oil in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot add in 8-10 curry leaves, fry a bit and then add in the thinly sliced onion and fry till light brownish. Now add in the ground masala, salt to taste and mix well and fry for a minute. Add 2-3 cups water to bring it to thin gravy consistency. This is patla bhaji meaning thin textured curry. 

Bring to a boil on medium flame, add in the cooked cauliflowers and the sliced tomatoes and cook till done on medium heat. All it takes is about maximum 5-10 mins. Do not overcook the cauliflowers as they do not taste great if they turn mushy. So remember not to over boil the curry. Remove and keep aside covered for some. 

Serve with some less spicy/ bland pulav or Pav (Bread) or Parathas or panpolo/ neer dosas. The curry is spicy so goes very well with bland pulav and also parathas. Once again Remember to make the dish spicy and thin textured that is why the curry is called Patla Bhaji meaning thin textured gravy. Do try out this recipe it just tastes yum. You can add in any other veggies of your choice, even potato, soya chunks, mushroom, paneer goes very well with this gravy.