The first thing, that I like about eating vegetables, is because of its colors. Just greens? (no, thank you). I really need something colorful!
Growing up, I never tried 'exotic vegetables' (like asparagus, red cabbage, broccoli, yellow bell pepper etc.) My first time having it—umm, when I experienced fine dining in Kolkata's Park Street area, back in 2015.
Vegetables can taste this good? (for me, potato was an exotic veggie, because, hello—french fries!
I couldn't stop having the sautéed veggies, because it was a) tasty b) creamy c) healthy. The combination made me wonder how to, where to, and hyped me up to know about its cooking procedures.
Broccoli was the first exotic vegetable that I bought from the market, to cook (try to). I remember cooking it for the first time, using 'Indian flavors' and 'frying it', not realizing it cannot taste even 10% of fine dining.
Broccoli, as you know— is not native to India. It was introduced from abroad. Farmers like Jitendra Ladkat, brought the 'first broccoli seeds' from Kenya around 1990s. He started cultivating it in Pune, and it was made accessible to Indian market.The early adopters were, ofcourse, the 'urban residents' and 'health-concious' people.
Took me a while, but I finally cracked the code—blanch the broccoli first (to cook vegetables in a boiling water for a brief time). Now, I use this process for every thing. I blanch broccoli, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and then sauté it using herbs and salts.
Now, this has become my go-to recipe, if I want to snack, have it as a side, or include it in a platter.
Sautéed Vegetables
Process: (broccoli, carrots, peas)
Blanch (boiling water) - 5-minutes low flame
Strain the water
Grease the pan, using butter (only butter)
Add the blanched vegetables
Sprinkle pepper
Sprinkle salt
Cover the cooking pot for 1 minute (low flame)
Stir-fry in low flame
Add 1/2 cheese cube (optional)
Sprinkle chilly flakes and oregano
Take it out
Enjoy!
Bell peppers are commonly known as 'capsicum' in India. It is still a notion, the Portuguese brought capsicum to India, along with potatoes, pineapple, and cashews in 1498 C.E.
Process: (bell peppers - red, yellow & green)
Blanch (boiling water) - 1–2 minutes max low flame
Strain the water
Grease the pan using butter
Add the bell peppers
Sprinkle chilly flakes and oregano
Sprinkle some salt
Stir-fry until it looks a little brown on the sides
Sprinkle parsley herb
Take it out
Enjoy!
I usually enjoy the exotic veggies as a 'side' with toasted bread and eggs.
If you're a vegetarian, you can enjoy it with bread and some fried tofu or paneer.
You can even sauté your boiled eggs.
Add butter to pan
Add chaat masala
Half cut boiled eggs
Place it on pan from the yellow side
Sauté it
[you can even add green chillies or onion to enjoy the boiled eggs taste]
This recipe works really well when you live alone, away from home, or clueless, or in a 'what to eat' loop. So, you see, this is my go-to recipe of veggies.
Give it a try, let me know in the comments.
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