using green garlic for curry ... a mishmash of beans with the greens...


The star of this recipe is the green garlic...or the hara lasun , this is the young plant of garlic before it sets to become a bulb and the leaves are still green and edible...the bulb is less than the size of your thumb and the whole plant can be used for cooking  , a very flavorful chutny is made with the whole green garlic n green chillies and it is used in cooking some winter delicacies too...especially in the state of UP ....


This is different from garlic chives but can be a good substitute for them....though i am afraid , garlic chives cannot substitute garlic greens in this recipe ( a mix of garlic pods and garlic chives will be better if you don't get any garlic greens in your part of the world ) ...........green garlic is a seasonal green and i keep looking for it throughout the winters ... i make a yummy pickle with it which is lying in my drafts since last year n i promise to post that soon....that achar is so yummy n versatile , it can be used to make chutnys , salads n even curries apart from being a delicious green pickle looking like a coarse chutny...see the picture of achar...the pickled green garlic with ginger and dill.........isn't it delectable ???


The left one is made using dill leaves , garlic greens , ginger , green chillies and lemon , while the right one is made using dill, garlic greens , amla and green chillies...both of them are oil free and taste very fresh though these are the pictures of one year old pickle......still as yummy as fresh with any thing n everything...


The recipe today is a mix of seasonal winter veggies ...green peas , broad beans or sem , plantain and egg plants , it's very lowfat ..though it can be made fat free too but a mild flavor of mustard oil is pleasant and it is just a teaspoon for three large servings.........EVOO can be used as a substitute if you like....


ingredients...
 

green peas fresh or frozen 1 cup
sem or broad beans 300 gm ( cut in 1.5 inch pieces )
plantain or kaccha kela 1 no. ( cut in 2 cm thick slices)
small eggplants 2-3 nos. ( quartered )
garlic greens 3 nos.( bulbs and leaves )
coriander greens 100 gm 
green chillies 4-5 nos.
ginger 1.5 inch piece 
salt to taste
mustard oil 1 tsp


preparation...

 Make a coarse paste of ginger , garlic greens , green chillies and green coriander and keep aside.



Tip in the green peas in the kadai first with half a cup of water n a pinch of salt , cover and cook for 3-4 minutes , till half done ...the time may vary according to how tender or mature the peas are...i used mature ones....

Add the cut beans , sliced plantain and eggplants  salt to taste , turmeric powder and cook covered for another couple of minutes...


Add the coarse paste of the greens mix well , add half a cup of water and mustard oil and cook covered on high heat ...stirring after every couple of minutes......after stirring it twice or so you will notice that the paste sticks to the base of the kadai ...this is the time to take the kadai off the flame.........mix well and keep covered for a while before serving .......


 
I made it in my cast iron kadai ( regular readers know my obsession with this kadai ) so i emptied the kadai just after cooking to avoid the curry from becoming further dark in color.....in the same kadai i added another teaspoon of mustard oil and roasted some quartered baby potatoes with salt to taste ( potatoes were microwaved previously to half cook them...parboiled potato fingers will be as good ) the paste sticking to the kadai was a good roasting flavor for the potatoes.........this was for someone who can't do without potatoes for long and was potato starved for a week .......he loved it...


All the vegetables used are so well coated with the paste and it's flavors that you get citrusy , earthy , garlicky flavors all at the same time, and yet the original taste of the veggies is not overpowered , each one retains it's identity , needless to say this is my favorite seasonal subzi which doubles up as a warm salad too .


 We liked it with multigrain rotis but it can be as good with dal chawal or as a side dish for a bigger spread........


Comments

  1. Healthy and that looks good with roti... thanks for the recipe..

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  2. I love to eat veggies and my fridge is always loaded with them. the curry looks yummy with so many different vegiies its so warm and welcoming with rotis. never have seen garlic greens can you plz upload one pic of that?

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  3. Hey nice dish...seems tasty and flavourful...i had never heard of green garlic...m sure, it vl be tasty.I vl try to search for them here and if i get them m surely trying it.

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  4. I never found Green garlic here,the mishmash sounds totally appetizing:D

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  5. Thank u so much Sangeeta for dropping by my blog and leaving a nice comment,u too have a nice blog and u can visit me whenever u want to and give ur valuable comments.

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  6. interesting & good looking...love garlic achar, waiting for the recipe now....

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  7. If there is one food thing I miss the most by being out of India is the hara garlic! This used to be my favorite and my Dad used to go to bazzar sometimes specially to get some because I liked it so much! Over here, I searched and searched, but I don't find it anymore except in frozen form and it just doesn't give the same taste like fresh ones...

    Your recipe looks wonderful and I am drooling over it right now :)

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  8. thank you everybody for all the complements !!
    many of you asked about the garlic greens and good news is that it can be grown very easily on a sunny window sill ...a medium sized pot can hold at least 25 pods of garlic which will grow n enlighten you...i have planted some today n will update about it regularly...
    and i was waiting if somebody asks about the pickle.......aah , at least one person asked for it...thanks Spice...i will do it soon..

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  9. Wow such a healthy dish....amazing.

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  10. Love the use of herbs in this dish. Looks green n healthy.

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  11. Dear Sangeeta
    Looks like a great dish!! Where do you get these green garlic in Delhi?.* well I dont have a place to plant do gardening) I used to get a lot in Korea, but that was the stem long of the Garlic flower ( Like you get the long stem of onion flower)
    Let me check at the sabjiwala

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  12. That sure is a delicious plate, growing garlic green at home, waiting for your update on how it grows.

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  13. looks like a really nice and healthy accompaniment to rotis.

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  14. hmmm, green garlic, sounds interesting; nice spread with the rotis and roasted potatoes too :)

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  15. I can eat that whole plate now...loooks very tempting ot me..

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  16. Green garlic sounds very interesting, and the curry sounds very inviting !

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