Vegetable medley from an Oriya kitchen

A rather simple questions from your little one like what’s for dinner tonight mama? Makes one’s mind go whirling into the far depths of outer space. This is the simplest of the queries from amongst the tons of expected ones, but the expectation of answers leaves no boundaries and I believe that it is very hard to escape from this echoing question with a satisfying answer to see the little ones face brighten up in anticipation. Same goes for my other half.

There are some vegetables I have had no choice than to drag them to the verge of expiry and one such vegetable is the string beans and sometimes I am kind of lost with what to churn out from these seasonal bounties that would cast a spell on your taste buds and also render a great solution to the echoing question that often gripes us.

Coming from Orissa, mustard paste is the prima Donna in Oriya kitchen but as I remember part of my growing up, my mom seldom used this mustard blend. So mustard based curries were chalked outside of her cooking dairies.

On slowly moving out of my safe cocoon to peruse my career journey, I came across many friends that diligently and religiously cooked these delectable mustard based curries and it was a great respite for me when my curries failed to satisfy the taste buds. Later it was an immense pleasure when I found out that my Mother in law tops these mustard based curries on her cooking chart. On realizing my penchant for them she left no stone unturned to make them extra special and delicious.

Here is a very simple recipe blended with yogurt that imparts a creamy texture to the gravy inspired by my mother in law.

Ingredients

2 cups potatoes cut into chunks

1 cup pumpkin cut into chunks

2 cups string beans cut into pieces

1 medium onion chopped

1 big tomato chopped

½ cup thick yogurt

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 teaspoon curry powder

Mustard paste

2 tablespoon black whole mustard

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

3 to 4 garlic cloves

2 to 3 green chilies

(Grind the above to a smooth paste)

1 tablespoon Pancha Putona

Oil for cooking

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add the pancha putona. When they start to crackle, add the chopped onions. Sauté till they are translucent. Add chopped potatoes, cover with a lid and lower the fire till the potatoes are half cooked. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt, curry powder and add the rest of the vegetables. Sauté for couple of minutes and add the mustard paste.

Stir them on low fire for 4 to 5 minutes and add yogurt and water approx 3/4 cup. Cover and cook them on a low fire for 15 minutes till the vegetables are cooked and gravy is thickened.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Note - First dry grind the mustard and poppy seeds and then add garlic, chilies and water to make a thick paste.