Vegetable Makhanawala
This vegetable makhanawala recipe takes inspiration from Rick Stein's travels to Goa. The vegetarian Indian dish is best served simply with fragrant coriander.
From the book
Rick Stein’s India
All the recipes from Rick's TV series
Over 100 meat and vegetarian recipes
Take a journey through India's flavours
Introduction
I remember this lovely rich vegetable curry from years ago in Goa on the menu of the Reef restaurant at the Ronil beach resort in Baga. I always love to eat it, and I am just as interested in the pronunciation of makhanawala – I just find it a very pleasing name. I think it means ‘with lots of butter and cream’. I’ve made this with potatoes, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, peas and have kept all the vegetables except the potatoes slightly al dente, a happy contrast to the spicy, buttery tomato sauce.
Ingredients
| 800g | mixed vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, green beans, cauliflower and peas, chopped into 4–5cm pieces |
| For the sauce: | |
| 50g | ghee |
| 1 | medium onion, sliced |
| 25g / 5 cloves | garlic, finely crushed |
| 25g / 5cm | ginger, finely grated |
| 400g | tomato passata |
| 1 tsp | Kashmiri chilli powder |
| ½ tsp | ground coriander |
| ½ tsp | ground cumin |
| ½ tsp | ground cinnamon |
| ¼ tsp | turmeric |
| ½ tsp | garam masala |
| 1 tsp | desiccated coconut |
| 1½ tsp | salt |
| 25g | cashew nuts |
| ½ tsp | caster sugar |
| 75ml | natural yogurt |
| 4 tbsp | double cream |
| A handful | of chopped coriander leaves, to finish |
Essential kit
You will need a mini food processor or a pestle and mortar.
Method
Cook the potatoes and carrots separately in boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until just tender, then drain.
For the sauce, heat the ghee in a heavy-based saucepan or karahi over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 10 minutes until softened and golden, then stir in the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato passata and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add all the spices, coconut, salt and 100ml water, and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
In a mini food processor, or using a pestle and mortar, blend the cashew nuts to a paste with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir this into the sauce, followed by all the vegetables, apart from the potatoes, another 100ml water, and simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through. Stir in the potatoes, sugar, yogurt and cream and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Garnish with coriander and serve.
