Friday, June 25, 2010

Tara Tari Paanch Mishali -- Five Vegetable Medley




Eating healthy does not necessarily mean eating a salad.

Think of something your Mom used to make and you would turn up your nose at. Go ahead, quick. Do you see yellow, orange, green ? Yeah ? Well those were the nutrient laden, healthy dishes from your own cuisine.

Cook them. Make your new age changes to them. Use EVOO.

Talk like Rachel Ray.Ask yourself "Why do people like Rachel Ray?". They don't.

So you are in safe company, go ahead and make your very own Five Vegetable dish in under 30 minutes or maybe more.Depends on how fast you chop or don't.

Eat a bowlful of that. Tastes better than a salad and has all the goodness of it.

Paanch Mishali Tarkari or Five Mixed Vegetables is a very popular Bengali dish. Chop five different vegetables, not any vegetable, there has to be a rhyme and rhythm to them. Something sweet like pumpkin, something sharp like radish, something velvety like ridge gourd or eggplant or in my case zucchini, something orange and crunchy like carrots, something generous like potatoes to bring everything together.

You don't have to strictly follow this rule. I don't. I will toss in some other stuff, like this time I added bitter gourd and ignored potatoes.




I had 1/2 cup each of chopped pumpkin, radish, carrots, zucchini and 1/4 cup of bitter gourd. I cooked them in the microwave with little water, 1/2 tsp of Garam masala(totally optional not used in traditional Paanch Mishali), 3 green chillis and 1 tsp of ginger julienne. It is not necessary that you pre-cook the veggies but I do it, to make the process faster.






I think it took me 10 mins in the MW and I used that time to convince D that going to the beach is actually an outdoor activity while watching Football is well just watching TV. You see I am not a fan anymore, I don't root for a favorite team, I don't cry or get frustrated or jubilant.





Heat 2 tsp of EVOO. Ideally you should use Mustard Oil which is the new EVOO. But I used Olive Oil, my wish. Temper the oil with 1 & 1/2 tsp of Paanch Phoron, the mother of all spices and father of none.Add 2-3 Dry Red chili and a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida. Watch the spices sputter and pop. Feel the power.


I felt the power, the sharpness of chili up my nose. I felt that D might just sway and switch off the TV.





Add the vegetables. Reserve the water, the vegetable stock. We will add that later. Add about 1/4-1/2 tsp of Turmeric Powder. Saute the vegetables for couple of minutes.





Add the water, the stock, add salt to taste, cover and cook. This is too much water, use much less water to begin with.





I continued my convincing process. My methods are not right. No one gets convinced around here.




The veggies are done now. Remove the cover. Add 1 tsp of Mustard paste. I added 1 tsp of Kasundi, the spicy Bengali Mustard sauce. If you have your Mustard Powder or your homemade mustard paste, add that. I have never used Dijon Mustard, how bad can it get ?


Brazil won the game. Of course they would.




Stir everything together. Check that veggies are done. Taste and make any adjustments. If needed sprinkle 1 tsp of roasted Cumin Powder. Cook till water has almost dried up.


Everyone looks happy. The world is a fair place. D wants to go to the beach. But it is too hot. I really don't want to.


Similar Recipes:

Charchari

24 comments:

  1. I agree. Like this tara tari but salad only when they are from my garden ;)

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  2. Sandeepa, wow, that sure does look a tara tari preparation and beautiful too :)

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  3. very nice color and great veggie delight

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  4. Nice post! The vegetables look mouthwatering, yum!

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  5. eta amar week ekbar hotei hobe.all the veggies that the kids refuse to have are well loved all together this way for some reason. kasundi sheuni jibhe jol elo :-) ebar deshe gele niye ashbo. tomar ki desh theke stock eshechey? na are u lucky enough to get it some place here?

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  6. Nice post. Simple vegetable dish but looks so nice.

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  7. LOLs! Delicious and funny, that is a double healthy. And may I thank you for not liking RR. I thought I was the only one.

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  8. I love this panchmisheli with luchis. :-)
    Karela add korar idea ta mondo noye ... tobe kashundi add kora ta darun idea. Barite kasundi ache, potol ache, kumro ache .. ajke dinner e luchi baniye feli. :-)

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  9. Yummy looking and super healthy dish, a great alternative to salads :-D!

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  10. Dear sandeepa
    How are you? Sitting in an alien place and reading the recipe is a turture...but worth it...very nice presentation..never tried Garam masala in Panch Misali...thinking of trying it for a change when I am back home.
    Have a nice weekend
    Ushnishda

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  11. I have never hadthis, i think it is after starting blogging i am comming to know lot of dishes. Looks yumm.

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  12. Yummy! Such a riot of colors, Sandeepa! After a long day, i would totally love to have this delightful prep on my platter!

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  13. Wonderful dish - love the veggies and the lovely spices - I am going to get myself some kashundi and make this

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  14. My favorite with arhar'er daal...

    Btw Sandeepa, why do I see "edit" buttons on widgets and plug ins on your blog? I am not the owner, and should not see them. Is it some kind of bug?

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  15. Any chance of a recipe for this mustard kasundi? Please?

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  16. But I like Rachel Ray.... and I like salads..:) I am sure I will like this tara tari too, at least I love the name.

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  17. WOW... 5 veggies in one meal. Looks so cool and healthy.... YUM!

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  18. Made this today and it was amazing :)

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  19. dont we need to add haldi to panch mishali?

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  20. Hi...I have been living on your recipes ever since I came here in US and was forced to learn cooking. This looks like an easy way to make my husband eat some veggies :)...thank you!

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  21. Dijon mustard or any coarsely ground mustard sauce from grocery store works really well... kolkata theke mustard powder aanbo aanbo kore pack korte bhule geche, aar ekhane Indian stores e nei :( aar amar time koi sorse bata banabo, tai mustard sauce diyei experiment korlam... sorse maach specially croacker ba catfish darun hoy oi store-bought mustard sauce diye!

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