Mixed Vegetable Upkari (Bhaji).

“Mixed Vegetable Upkari (Bhaji)” … A simple colorful seasonal upkari / bhaji served as a side dish with other dishes in Thali or for lunch … Goes very well with chapati / roti too … Yumz. 

** I am all for relishing seasonal veggies and it’s the season of both carrots and green peas ie gajar and vatana now. The market is loaded with these vegetables and it is really difficult to ignore them and move ahead without buying the same. I have added in carrots, french beans, potato and green peas to this upkari/bhaji and it is simple both in taste and preparation. A very healthy one that goes very well both as a side dish in thali or with chapati/roti too. Always try to introduce seasonal veggies into your daily diet to obtain maximum health benefits coz. it is believed that seasonal veggies are good for health during that particular season. I will not go about the importance of each veggie here as I am sure all of you are well versed with them, so I will straight away add on the recipe here. Do try them out and enjoy with your family and friends. 

** Here is my simple method of preparing “Mixed Vegetable Upkari (Bhaji)” .. My Style .. 

** Peel off the skin of one large or two medium sized Onions / Piyav / Kanda. Cut them into small sized cubes, and keep them ready aside. 

** Peel off the skin of one large or two medium sized potatoes / batata / aloo. Cut them into small cubes, put them in a bowl of water to prevent them discoloring and keep them ready aside. 

** Peel off the skin of one large or two medium sized gajjar/carrots. Cut them into small cubes, same in size as that of potatoes and keep them ready aside. 

** Remove the outer shell from peas pod and collect the peas / vatana in a bowl and keep them ready. You should have about 1 cup full of the same. 

** String the french beans and cut them also into pieces of the same size as above and keep them ready aside. 

** Add all the above four vegetables in a colander and rinse well under running water and keep this ready aside allowing the excess water to get drained off. 

** Heat 1 tblsp of oil in a thick bottomed kadai/pan, when hot lower the heat and add in a teaspoon of mustard seeds (sasam/rai) and when they begin to splutter, lower the heat and add in 4-5 dried red chillies (sooki mirchi) cut into pieces along with ½ tsp of hing (asafoetida) powder and a few curry leaves (kadipatta/karbev) and stir for a few seconds. 

** Now add in the cubed onions and fry on medium heat for a few minutes, stirring often till it turns slightly pinkish / translucent in color. Do not over fry or turn the onions brownish or else the color of the curry will change on further cooking with veggies. So keep it to just bare minimum for this upkari / bhaji and be very careful while you fry the same.  

** Now add in all the drained veggies and mix well. Sprinkle some water if need be and cover and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Now open the lid and mix the vegetables together again, sprinkle some water if need be, cover and cook on low film till almost done. Then add in salt to taste, mix well, cover and cook till done. 

** Note : You can garnish the upkari/bhaji with a tablespoon of freshly grated coconut if desired, it tastes awesome too, I have not as I am cutting down on my liberal use of coconut in my daily cooking. It is optional and you may add or refrain from doing so. 

** “Mixed Vegetable Upkari (Bhaji)” is done and ready to be served. Serve the upkari/bhaji fresh and hot along with other dishes during lunch/dinner time and reap in the health benefits of this yummy colorful delicious bhaji. I added it on as a side dish in my Thali along with other dishes. You can do so with any combo dishes or even with chapati / roti / poori. You can also carry this in your lunch box, as it taste great even when cooled off. 

** Note : Do try to add on seasonal veggies as much as possible into your daily diet as they are health promoters. Even if you want to avoid protein or carbohydrates for dinner and want to go light, you can just have a bowlful of this veggies instead of soup and it is tasty and healthy too. Try it, many times, I am too tired after a hard day in my office and all I would love to do is have something light and snooze off. This is one of my fav. During such times, and if I have a forewarning what the day is going to be, I cut the veggies except for potatoes and put it in an airtight container and put it in fridge. On reaching home all I have to do is add on the potatoes and allow it to cook, while I relax, once it done, just enjoy a large bowlful, have some hot turmeric milk and off I go to bed my tummy full and happy. 

** These are small things I learned to go about doing about a decade back when my Doctor put a complete ban on my eating habits of relishing outside food. I had to stop home delivery of yummy dishes from nearby hotel as I had developed high acidity which played havoc with my life. My Dr. said do whatever you want, but eat home cooked light food. Over six months period I was glad that I could prove to my Dr. that I could do it and I felt much better. The habit has stuck on and I always have a light dinner sometimes vague dishes too. But I love them all and I suggest you try this one if you want to have something light and healthy. After nothing is more important than something healthy. 

** Note : For this particular upkari/bhaji do try to cut all the veggies that are to be cut into almost equal sized pieces. They not only look beautiful and good that way, but also the cooking time will also be distributed equally amongst them. If the sizes differ there is the chances of one veggie getting cooked faster before the other. Also here almost all the four veggies take the same amount of time to cook, so it is that much better.

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