Vegetable Brown Masala.

Vegetable Brown Masala ..... This is a spicy vegetable curyy where vegetables are cooked and then added to brown masala ....... 

Everybody is familiar with Vegetable Kurma, a curry that is famous all round India, particularly in southern parts. They are served in restaurants with parotta, poori or pulav. I have already posted Vegetable Kurma before. This time I went out of the way and made it a bit different by adding in a bit of Maharashtrian touch to the method while preparing the masala. I added coconut that was fried till brown without adding oil.

Also goda masala is another famous Maharashtrian masala powder, used extensively in every household. They prepare them in bulk and store for all year round. These are also available in small packets in stores. I bought them ready made as it is a lengthy procedure to make it and I do not need them in bulk. 

Vegetables to be cooked :

Clean, wash and cook in little bit of water or in a microwave oven the following vegetables separately. As the time for each vegetable varies…..

1 cup of green peas, 2 cups of cauliflower florets of medium size, 1 cup carrot or 1 large sized carrot cut into medium sized cubes, 2 medium sized capsicums, 3 medium sized raw tomatoes, 1 cup of spring onion leaves cut into 2 inch strips. Mix all the vegetables together after cooking each separately and keep them ready aside.

Now for the masala You will need :

3 tblsp of coconut fried till brown, 2 medium sized onions – peeled and chopped to small pieces, 1 tsp jeera powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp haldi powder, 1 tsp fennel powder, 1 tblsp of goda masala (Maharashtrian masala powder) or garam masala powder, ½ tsp black pepper powder, 1 tblsp kashmiri red chilly powder, ½ tsp cardamom powder, 1 tsp of cus cus, 2 inch piece of ginger chopped to small pieces, 12-15 garlic – peeled and chopped fine and 8-10 curry leaves.

Heat 3-4 tblsp of oil in a kadai, when hot add in ½ cup of split cashews and fry them till light brown in colour and keep them aside.

Now in the same oil in the kadai you can fry the ingredients of the masala by adding each one by one ….. Heat the kadai, when the oil is hot enough first add garlic, when they turn light brown add in the chopped onions and fry till they are brown then add ginger and further fry for few minutes. 

Now add in the curry leaves and the cus cus and fry well till the cus cus is a bit brown too. Then add in all the remaining ingredients ie. all the masala powders and fry on slow heat for a good 8-10 minutes. You can sprinkle some water if you find that the masala is getting burnt. 

Remove and let cool completely. Grind the masala to a smooth paste with ½-1 cup of water. 

Pour the ground masala in the same kadai and bring it to boil on medium heat. When bubbles appear, lower the heat, add in all the cooked vegetables, salt to taste and mix well. Cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Till all the vegetables have cooked in well with the gravy. Lastly add in the fried cashews and mix well. The curry is ready to be served. Serve it hot with pulav, roti, paratha or pooris.

** Note : You can add a small marble sized tamarind while grinding the masala to add sourness to the curry if you are not adding raw tomatoes. I have not added the tamarind as I have added raw tomato. You can add ripe tomato too if you prefer. I do add them sometimes.