Saturday, February 21, 2009

Gajar Matar

When I got married and came to A's house, his mom prepared every single thing he liked for the 10 days we stayed there. One of the dishes was Gajar Matar. When she first mentioned she was making Gajar Matar, I assumed it was a stir-fry. She disappeared into the kitchen to make Gajar Matar. A started drooling already! She came out 10 mins later and participated in the discussion going on in the drawing room. She never went back. I thought that she had to go sometime to switch off the gas! Finally, when I had dinner, I found the curry to have a rich gravy. She explained that she cooks the Gajar Matar in a Khoa gravy with some simple spices and in the Microwave. Now that explains it!

So, A keeps talking about it and how we should make this sabzi. I was skeptical of trying one his mom's inventive recipes! I stalled it until I felt like eating it one day! I haven't been a huge fan of carrots in curries. I've seen carrots only in mixed vegetable curries or carrot-beans poriyal. Poriyal is something I hate, and so I hated carrots! Gajar Matar totally changed my perspective on carrots! I cooked it on the stove and with milk instead of Khoa. Since I'm on a diet, I added 1 tbsp of cream to A's portion while I omitted it in my portion! *The cream portion rocked, but hey, I rock coz I eat healthy :D* Here is the recipe. Make it with or without cream. Use cream when you want to indulge and you won't regret it!


Ingredients:

Carrots - 5-6 big ones, chopped lengthwise.
Peas - 1-1. 5 cups
Onion - 1/4 cup finely chopped
Milk - 2 cups
Cumin or Jeera- 1 tsp
Turmeric- 2-3 tsp
Chilli powder - 2-3 tsp
Garam Masala -1-2 tsp
Oil - 2tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander to garnish - a must!

1. Chop the carrots lengthwise. Don't make them too thin. Cook them in the microwave for 5 mins. You can skip doing this and cook it thoroughly in milk. It will just take longer.

2. Thaw peas if frozen. If still in pod, make sure your husband shells them every weekend :D

3. Heat oil, add the cumin seeds, let them splutter, add the onions and fry a bit.

4. Add the peas to the onion mixture and fry them for a good 5 mins until the peas seem to shine

5. Add the cooked carrots now and stir.
*if you are using uncooked carrots directly on the stove, make sure to cook them in a little water and add milk after the carrots are semi cooked.

6. Add milk and follow with the masalas or spices and salt.

7. Close the dish and let it cook for a good 10-12 mins. Keep stirring once in a while to avoid burning of milk or the carrots.
*You may add 1tbsp of cream at the stirring stage.

8. Once the curry achieves a creamy consistency and slightly thick, but not too thick, garnish with coriander!

* If the curry gets too thick (which it has a tendency to!), do add water. You do not have to add milk or cream all the way. Water will do fine too! :)


This curry turned out to be so, so, so delicious that I'm going to make it every week and if A gets bored, I'm going to say: You asked for it :D But then, the man said that this curry was as good as his mom's. I guess I'm happy with it for the time-being! And hey, this dish is so healthy for your kids too! Carrots, milk, peas, hardly any oil - How much healthier can tasty get, I say!

Oh, oh, oh! With this, I'm answering Aparna's clarion call to paint the blogworld Orange, a colourful initiative by Sunshinemom whose name has orange written all over it :P (Pop quiz: How many times did I use the word 'orange' in this sentence?)

26 comments:

FH said...

Oh, that is a wonderful looking dish sweetie and so easy too. You have a very smart lady for a MIL. I will try, I think I have frozen Khova in my freezer somewhere! :)

Ranjani said...

Looks so pretty! way to go with the diet:)))

Lisa said...

Hi guys! I wanted to pass this award to the both of you because your food is SO amazing, plus you're good people and umm.. Yankee fans - heh! You can retrieve the award here

http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/black-sesame-lace-cookies-or-candy-and-an-award/

Now I'm going to X out so I stop drooling! lol

Vibaas said...

that looks very very yummy and u do rock for eating healthy! lol! :)

Trupti said...

wow this dish looks very rich, delicious.

Cham said...

U make me think Cream or not cream, gal I will try both, very simple but rock ur MIL dish!

suvi said...

This looks so so delicious! I'll have the one with cream, diet be damned :)

amna said...

I love original recipes from amma's generation - there is just something about them! I don't think I have ever cooked vegetables in milk! So definitely bookmarked.

PS: I love that sauce bowl you have served the curry in ;)

Dibs said...

very novel! Looks all creamy and sinful! Droool!

Anonymous said...

COmpletely new recipe for me! Thanks for sharing.. lovely pics.

Raaga said...

I will try this before these veggies go out of season :)

Aparna said...

Thanks for coming to my rescue. :)
I have to say, it looks like this recipe is definitely a winner. I'm going to try it out too, in it's creamless avatar. I am trying to watch my weight too (trying being the operative word here!).

confounded-lady said...

Looks amazing!!! Damn Nandu I ve been coming to the blog for quite some time but NEVER knew that it was you!!!!!!!!! A&N??
You and your cryptic initials :P

Priya said...

2? :D The curry looks delicious N, I would never have thought of making a gravy with milk!

Usha said...

I absolutely love this curry, looks delish. Definitely a must try recipe and very soon too :-)

Beyond Curries said...

That's definitely a new dish. You could also use pureed reduced fat silken tofu instead of cream and it gives the same effect and I promise it does not taste/smell weird. I recently tried it and loved it.

Deepthi Shankar said...

that sure is an indulgence .. I would love that .. why are such tasty dishes sooo heavy on calories?? :(

A_and_N said...

@Deesha: You do not have to add the cream! Just use milk :)

@ Madhuram: I do use silken tofu regularly. But that is a brilliant idea and will try this dish with silken tofu the next time!

@ Usha: Thanks so much, Usha

@ Priya: You win the prize for reading every line in the post ;) My mom in law is a genius, I say!

@ Confounded-Lady- There you go, making my extremely private husband run away from the space :D

@ Aparna: do try it! Add a little more spice if you want! And you can try it with coconut milk you know?

@ Soma: Gracias!

@ Dibs: It is a brilliant keeper of a recipe from mom in law. They are such treasurehouses!

@ Nags: Try with coconut milk, since you are a coconut freak :D

@ Raaga: Do let me know how it turned out!

A_and_N said...

Aquadaze: I agree! Go for it!

Cham: Totally!

Trupti: Thank you so much! Means a lot!

Vibaas: hehe, thanks :)

@Ranj: Next time, next time.

@ Asha: I have nothing more to say!

@ Lisa: Thank youuuuuuuuu!

Anonymous said...

i am rushing into kitchen and making this NOW!

Anonymous said...

just made it!!! but only milk i had was skimm ... so not creamy at all ... but haven't tasted it yet. ;)

Priyanka Agrawal said...

I love this! I have all the ingredients and might try it tonight. I like your sense of humor (make your husband shell the peas)
Would love to revisit!

Dibs said...

I made this yesterday - as I had nothing in the fridge but carrots! It was simply awesome! Even my hubby - whose think veggys begin and end with potato, and hates carrots - actually called it a 'hit'!! Truely yummy. Thanks for the lovely recipe!

Unknown said...

I tried it out from Nags blog and it came out absolutely yummy! Yours looks very creamy and rich!!

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