Subz Makhani / Mixed Vegetable Makhani and Jeera Rice

Mixed Vegetable Makhani / Subz Makhani:

Mixed vegetable recipes finds its place in my menu when my refrigerator is on clean up spree or when my refrigerator is loaded with all fresh vegetables.I always do have vegetables like carrots, potatoes, beans and capsicum in my refrigerator as I do no use the whole variety in one dish.So I end up having few quantities of vegetables which when combined together makes delicious mixed vegetables curries like M.V stir fry,M.V kurma,M.V saagu,M.V. makhani,M.V.Kadai, M.V.Pulao etc etc.With few modifications in the process of cooking one can make this curry really rich like how we get in restaurants or a regular version which is good enough for parties or a very low cal version to include it in menu very often.I have mentioned all the tips in my notes to make it a restaurant style version and a low cal version.Feel free to adapt the recipe according to your taste and requirement.This is a very lengthy post,so please bear with it.

Ingredients:
vegetables:
2 medium carrots,diced small
2 medium potatoes,diced small
15-18 french beans,chopped small
1 capsicum,seeds removed and diced small
1/4 cup cauliflower florets,small
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/2 cup paneer cubes,diced small

for makhani gravy:
2 onions,sliced
3 tomatoes,blanched and skin removed
2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste1 tbsp chopped coriander
2 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp kasuri methi
a pinch of turmeric powder
a pinch of sugar
1 bay leaf
1 laung
a small piece of cinnamon(1/4")
1/2 tsp jeera
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter

for richness to the gravy:
1/4 cup cashewnuts
1/4 cup cream
(or)
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp water melon seeds

Method:

• Dice all the vegetables uniformly to get even sizes.Microwave the vegetables like carrots, potatoes, beans and peas for 3-4 mins until tender but firm and crunchy.
• Make a cross on tomatoes and blanch them in hot water for 3-4 mins.Remove the skin and chop them roughly.
• Blanch the cashew nuts in the same hot water for a couple of minutes and remove them.
• Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and fry ginger and garlic pieces until slight brown,add sliced onions and fry until it is brown in color.Add a pinch of sugar while frying onion,it speeds up the caramelize process of onion.Let this mixture cool a bit.
• Heat 1 tsp of oil and toss in paneer cubes and capsicum cubes and saute for 2 mins until tender.
• Grind the onion mixture and chopped tomatoes into a very fine paste adding water if required.
• Grind the cashews also to a very fine paste using the same water in which it is soaked.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the same pan and add bay leaf,laung and cinnamon and crackle jeera and then add the pureed onion-tomato mixture into it and add coriander powder,jeera powder,turmeric,enough salt and let it come to a boil.
• Add the finely ground cashew mixture and mix well,let it cook for a couple of minutes.Add more water to get the right consistency.(I have replaced this by adding watermelon seeds to the onion tomato mixture while grinding)
• Now add the boiled vegetables,fried paneer and capsicum pieces,red chili powder,garam masala and kasuri methi(slightly roast it on pan and crush it with your hand before adding) to it and mix well.
• Now reduce the flame or remove the pan from the stove and stir in fresh cream and let it come to a boil on low heat and turn off the flame.This process helps in avaoiding the curdling of cream or milk when added to gravy.( Here I did not add cream to the gravy,I added warm milk to it)
• Add butter to it and garnish with coriander.Adding butter at the end will enhance the taste.(I even avoided this step to make it a low cal version)

Serve it hot with Roti's/Paratha's/Naan/Kulcha/Jeera chawal/pulao.

Notes for low cal version:

• I added watermelon seed paste instead of cashew paste as the fat content in water melon seeds is lesser than the cashew nuts.More over the taste provided by water melon paste to the gravy is better than the cashew nut paste,it gives a particular dhaba style gravy.
• You can avoid cream in the above recipe and add little milk instead or completely avoid it for low-fat version.
• Avoid adding butter and reduce the amount of oil from 2tbsp oil to 2tsp oil for the complete cooking process.

Notes for Restaurant style Subz Makhani:

• Deep fry the vegetables until they are light golden in color slightly crisp,do not let them become very crispy and change in color.
• Be liberal in the usage of oil,butter and cream at the respective stages of cooking.

Jeera Rice-Ver 2:
I have already posted a version of it in my earlier post here.The only difference in between that version and this version is I even add caramelized onions and fried jeera and cashewnuts to the jeera rice at the end apart from the procedure what I mentioned below.That really gives a very nice twist to the regular jeera rice and is more flavorful and is apt for parties.Me and my husband can eat that version of jeera rice with some simple raitha as well.As my husband loves the other version very much I often end up making it more than this simple version.Today I am posting the traditional version of jeera rice.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Basmati rice
4-5 laung
1" cinnamon,broken
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tbsp jeera
1 tbsp butter or ghee
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

• Wash and soak basmati rice for 10 mins,drain the water and keep it aside.
• Heat butter and oil together in a pan and add bayleaves,laung and cinnamon and crackle them.
• Add jeera and let them crackle and add drained basmati rice and stir for few minutes until it is dry.
• Add 1 3/4 cups of water to it and add enough salt to it and let it cook.I generally transfer this to rice cooker and let it cook in rice cooker to get nice and fluffy rice.You can even pressure cook this for 2 whistles.

Serve it hot with any gravy/dal/rajma/raitha.

Notes for a much tastier Jeera rice apt for Parties:

• Caramelize thinly sliced onions(about 2 onions) in 2 tbsp butter and 1tsp oil until deep golden brown color and crisp(add sugar while frying the onions which makes the process faster and easier) and remove it aside.
• In the same pan fry cashews(12-15) and keep it aside.
• In the same pan fry a tsp of jeera and add the fried jeera,cashewnuts and caramelized onions to the prepared jeera rice and give a nice stir.