about ajoy
i’ve been a chef for over three decades now! i trained in chennai and started off with the taj hotel group. i’ve owned nilgiri’s indian restaurant in sydney for over 15 years. i’m on a mission to dispel the myth that indian food is no more than a ‘curry in a hurry’! come with me as i try and educate. indian food is my passion (alongside cricket!) and i’m enjoying exploring the new social media to fulfil this passion! i’ve also published cookery books, been on tv, the radio, won awards! now i’m also moving into making cookery videos. these are simple and easy to follow and don’t go on for hours like some Bollywood movies!
vegetable ishtew
Folks, this week we are making a dish that my ‘mallu’ friends call ‘ishtew’. Generally made with beef or chicken, here is my version with vegies and yes it is a ‘VEGAN‘ dish !!
ingredients clockwise starting in the 2 o’clock position: coconut oil, chopped red onions, sliced green chillies, broccoli and cauliflower florettes, diced tomatoes, kari leaves, ginger juliennes. outer ring: diced beans, cassia bark, green cardamom, cloves, mace blade, black peppercorn, star anise, caramelised onions, coriander leaves, coconut cream (or whole coconut if you are really keen; otherwise use coconut cream), diced potatoes, diced carrots
If you want instructions on how to caramelise onions (or even slice them), check out my techniques page.
Blanching the vegetables
Step 7
Repeat this process for beans, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower – cook each vegetable separately when blanching.
Cooking the spices, onion, fresh chilli, kari leaves and tomato
Step 1
In a large frying pan, heat pan and add coconut oil. When the oil smokes, add spices separately, folding between each addition. Start with the cassia (cinnamon sticks), then green cardamoms, cloves,black peppercorns and mace blades.
Step 2
Look for signs that the spices have cooked. Initially the cassia will be furled. When it has cooked, it will be open.
cassia (cinnamon stick) not ready since it hasn’t unfurled
unfurled, now it is perfectly cooked
cooked cardamon pods will swell, like this
cooked mace will only slightly unfurl, like this
when your mixture looks like this, it’s time to add caramelised onions
add caramelised onions and fold
when your onions look like this, it’s time to remove a cup of them to be used as a garnish
setting aside some of the garnish
if the sauce doesn’t drip off your spoon, add a little water (use the water from the blanched vegetables)
only add a little water (kept aside from the strained vegetables) at a time (if you need to)
Step 19
sample your dish – add salt to taste, if needed
So folks, as promised, we are on a journey!! Not only am I ‘touring’ the vast land of India and showing you the great variety of its food, I’m also focusing on vegan dishes! Don’t, my dear meat-eating friends, be ‘put off’ by this. Make some of these as a side dish, if you want, with some kebabs (remember?) or lamb cutlets that take minutes to cook. And as for my vegan friends, well yes, I know, this is more than enough as a good meal in itself.
Until then, happy VEG(AN)TARIAN cooking and remember Indian food is NO DAMN CURRY IN…..!!! When I show this dish to people they say, “Is it Thai, Italian, Macrobiotic . . . etc. etc. etc.” and never bl–dy Indian. And on that merry note.
Anah Daata Sukhi Bhaava!!!