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.

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.

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.

How many of you love jalfrezi?

More curry recipe you may wish to try are:

• New Potato curry.
• Cabbage, New baby potatoes and Sweet Thai chilies Curry with baby onions
• Masala and Coconut Stuffed Aubergine and Potato Curry
• Masala Stuffed Orange Baby Bell Peppers (Bharela Marcha)
• Potato Curry using Pataks Jalfezi Sauce
• Potato and fenugreek curry with chick pea flour
• Potato and mixed vegetable curry
• Peas and New Potato curry in tomato sauce
• Chick pea Curry or Chole

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