Mixed vegetable mandi

I was asked to make a light curry of mixed vegetables for a close friend who is on a very limited diet. Due to their richness, I wanted to stay away from the heavier North Indian jalfrezi-style curries, but I was unwilling to compromise on flavour or quality. This dish popped out of my library. It may look like it is long, but the recipe is really quite simple and takes less than 30 minutes to make.

It is a light, fragrant, versatile recipe loaded with any vegetables you can imagine. Although I have used a few here, you can consider eggplants, drumsticks, cauliflower, okra, peas, or any vegetable you love. The light rice broth curry is delicate and gently spiced for those with gentle stomachs, you can of course reduce the spices further to suit your dietary needs. Each vegetable adds its own nuance to the flavor profile, and the tartness from the tamarind is light, adding a wonderful tanginess to the curry. Also, check out the wonderful Chettinad spinach mandi (Keerai mandi) on this blog.

This South Indian cookbook brings to my shelf the unique cuisine of the Chettinad Tamils in South India. This now popular cuisine is known to be extremely spicy, complex and distinct. This book is a beautiful collection of recipes that make this cuisine accessible to us at home.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

2-3 tablespoons oil

1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 tablespoon urad dal

A pinch of asafoetida

12-15 curry leaves

1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced

10 garlic cloves, minced

3-6 green chiles, minced or to taste

2 tomatoes, finely diced

1 raw plantain, peeled and sliced in half moons

1 potato, cubed into 1/2-inch cubes

1 carrot, cubed into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 green pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips

1 green mango, diced without seed and seed shell (optional)

2 cups arsi mandi; see note after recipe

2 tablespoons tamarind extract

Water, as needed

Salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan large enough for all the ingredients to fit comfortably. Add the mustard seeds and urad dal and sauté on low heat until the mustard seeds begin to pop, about 30 seconds. Add the asafoetida and curry leaves and stir for 20 seconds more.

Add the shallots, garlic, and green chillies and sauté until the onions are translucent and beginning to turn pale gold. Add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are broken down and you have a sauce, about 10 minutes.

Add all the vegetables and toss them in the mix to coat them evenly with the spices. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add the arsi mandi, tamarind and salt and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for 15 minutes or till the potatoes are cooked. Taste and adjust salt as needed.

Serve immediately with rice.

Note: For the mandi, soak 1-2 cups rice in 3 cups water (after the initial rinse) for 30 minutes. The light milky liquid is the mandi that is used.