The Joy of Stir Fried Vegetables – Recipes and Spices
While just plain steamed vegetables are nice in a
traditional western dinner of roast, sausages or grill, these must remain side
dishes on the dinner plate. However, increasingly based on new health studies
or for spiritual reasons many are shunning or reducing meat in their diets. In
this latter case it is possible to make a main dish out of vegetables provided
one uses the right recipes for stir fried vegetables; these can make a delicious
and wholesome main dish on a dinner plate. In this latter case just one or two
hard boiled eggs, a salad and buttered bread on the side makes a complete and
nourishing dinner that delights mind, body and soul. The following tips and
spices will be helpful for any interested reader
The Simple Stir fry
Stir fried vegetables are prepared by heating a little
butter, clarified butter or cooking oil in a pan or pot and then adding chosen
seasoning and vegetables to it, followed by a little stirring and cooking with
a cover in the pan on low or medium heat.
A single vegetable or a mix of vegetables can be used in a
stir fried dishes. When preparing a mix, it is best to add vegetables in the
order in which they cook. Potatoes require the most time. They are therefore
added first if part of the mix. Vegetables like peas and cauliflower require
lesser time and can be added a bit later while some like cabbage and button
mushrooms (fungi) needs very little cooking time and should be added last for
best results.
To soften hard vegetables like potatoes, a little water can
be sprinkled on them and cooked covered for a few minutes on low heat to ensure
the water does not dry out and the vegetable gets much too brown or burnt. A
little experience in the kitchen would make any person a perfect judge of the
best timings and heat required for different vegetables.
Adding Spices
While some vegetables like button mushrooms (called a
vegetable here for convenience) are delicious if stir fried in butter with just
a bit of salt and black pepper others require more additions if they are to be
a main dish for a lunch or dinner.
One of the best spices to add to stir fried vegetables aside
from black pepper is cumin. The seeds can be used whole or ground in a blender
for the dish. The flavor of cumin seeds develop when they are roasted or fried
a bit otherwise they have a bitter flavor that is not very nice. The seeds can
be pre-roasted in an oven or hot plate and then ground and stored in a glass jar for use later. Otherwise, after heating cooking oil in the pan,
add the ground cumin powder first and let it fry for a minute before adding
vegetables. Just half a tea spoon is sufficient for a couple of cups of diced
vegetables. Salt to taste and some black pepper may be added while the cooking
proceeds.
Curried Stir Fry Vegetables
In South Asia curried stir fried
vegetables is a common daily preparation. However, do note that curried
vegetables or any other dish is never prepared with curry powder. That is a
western innovation never used in South Asia.
Not only does it not taste nice it also smells bad at least to this author.
The way vegetable preparations are curried in much of South Asia
is by adding ground cumin powder or whole cumin seeds, coriander seed powder, turmeric and chili
powder according to taste. If you wish to make a curried stir fried vegetable
dish use these spices in about the same quantity as the cumin. While the cumin
must be added to very hot oil before the vegetables, the other spices are mixed
in later after the vegetables are added to the pot and stirred in.
Garam Masala
Adding Herbal Flavors
Garlic, Ginger, tomatoes, Green Chilies and Green Coriander
Leaves (Cilantro) are great additions to a stir fried vegetable preparation.
Peal and chop a few cloves of garlic and let them brown in the cooking oil
before adding vegetables. Ginger cut in strings can be added at any stage while
green chilies and chopped tomatoes come out best if added when the dish is
nearly ready. Cilantro leaves may be added as a garnish after the heat has been
turned off.
Exotic Stir Fries
Adding nuts like almonds, cashew nuts and paneer pieces adds
an exotic touch to a stir fried dish and makes it fit for a King’s table. To
use cashew nuts or almonds soak them in water for a few hours. Peel off the
skins of almonds and then add to the stir fried vegetable dish along with the
chopped vegetables. Paneer is an unprocessed non-melting cheese. Information
about it can be found in this blog or on google. It may be procured from a
store or made at home by coagulating fresh milk with a bit of vinegar. Because
paneer does not melt, it can be added to stir fries to make them more delicious
and full of rich proteins. Nuts serve the same purpose. If you have edible flowers growing in your
garden, the flower petals can be used to garnish and decorate the dish on
special occasions. Use the search tool in side bar to reach a list of edible flowers in this blog.
In a Pie or Samosa
Stir fried vegetables prepared as just described make an
excellent pie filling. My favorite is a stir fry of peas and button mushrooms
for a pie. This pie, because it is stir fried with herbs and spices does not
need gravy as many meat pies do.
Samosa is an Arab and South Asian variation of a pie. In
this case the stir fried mix is wrapped in kneaded and rolled out flour and
deep fried in a triangular sort of shape. It requires much practice to make at
home and is therefore mostly purchased from a Samosa shop. It is delicious but
not very healthy to have in a regular meal, only as an occasional snack
The Dinner
A western dinner that has a stir fried vegetable preparation
as explained can be the main dish on a dinner plate. The side dishes can be
couple of hard boiled eggs (just one if you already had one at breakfast), a
small serving of salad and bread. The bread can be any western or Asian but all
are wonderful hot and with some butter on it.
A few persons are allergic to gluten in wheat and they may
then use steamed rice as replacement. Just add a little water to the stir fried
dish when it is nearly done so that it develops a little gravy needed for
steamed rice to soak up.
For special occasions one can make a five course dinner out
of a main preparation of stir fried vegetables. Begin with a small appetizer,
followed by soup, the dinner as described, a course of salad dressed in a
mayonnaise, hung yoghurt or sour cream followed last by a desert and black tea especially
on cold winter evenings.
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