Mixed Vegetable and chick peas jalfrezi

Jalfrezi Curry is a name which I hear a lot in UK and most Indian restaurants serve a form of Jalfrezi curry. I had never come across this name before whilst growing up in Kenya and India.  According to Wikipedia – Jalfrezi (also jhal frezi, zalfrezi, jaffrazi, and many alternative spellings) is a type of South Asian curry which involves frying  marinated pieces of meat, fish or vegetables in oil and spices to produce a dry, thick sauce. As the dish includes green chilies, a jalfrezi can range in heat from a medium dish to a very hot one. Typically those eating jalfrezi cool it down by combining it with cream.  Other main ingredients include bell pepper, onion and tomato.

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For my birthday a couple of weeks a go we ordered a vegetable jalfrezi from a famous Indian takeaway in London.  We didn’t enjoy the curry very much as it was quite dry and spicy.  I really regretted ordering a takeaway as I know I could have created a vegetable jalfrezi to my taste.  So I cooked this last week and we all enjoyed it a lot with my triangle parathas, saffron rice and raita.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

    • 3 cups mixed vegetables:  we used green beans, soya beans, broccoli, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes and red peppers
    • 1 cup of boiled chick peas ( I soaked some chickpeas and pressure cooked them the day before)
    • ½cup fresh fenugreek
    • 1 onion
    • 3-4 cloves of garlic
    • 2-3 green chilies
    • 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
    • 3 tbls sunflower oil
    • 1 tsp mustard seeds
    • 1 tsp salt
    • ½ tsp chili powder
    • 1 tsp turmeric powder
    • 2 tsp mixture of coriander and cumin powder (often called dhana jeeru)
    • 2 tsp lemon juice
    • 1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar
    • 1 cup of passata
    • 1 cup double cream

Method:

1.  Blend the fresh chilies, garlic, onion and ginger to make a paste.  I usually use a food processor.

2.  Heat the oil and add in the dry mustard seeds.  Once they stop popping, add the  paste you have just blended and cook for a couple of minutes.   Next add the passata and allow it to boil for a minute.  Now add all the dry spices -salt, chili powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder and the brown sugar.

3. Now add all the mixed vegetables including the fenugreek plus the boiled chick peas together with 2 cups of water and allow it to simmer until the vegetables have softened.

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4.  Once the vegetables are soft, add the lemon juice and cook for 5 minutes.  Just before serving, add the double cream to the jalfrezi, heat it and serve it warm with rice.

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How many of you love jalfrezi?

More curry recipe you may wish to try are:

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