I spend some days doing crochet, watching tutorials, or learning new crafts the whole time only to realise that its already evening and I am late to start cooking. On such days, I would like to make curries that could be made in half an hour or so. You get creative and confident to try a few things once you have gained enough experience cooking. My mom used to make sambar out of leftover rasam she made in the morning when some unexpected guests arrive for dinner unannounced. But, the best part is that it used to taste delicious and there wont be any leftovers.
I always used to get surprised at how quickly she fixes a meal with the available ingredients even after a long day at work. It was her experience and confidence, and lets also blame it on the situations and the demand that she was compelled to get creative :) These days, I realise that I have also found few tricks to make some curries in lesser time than it used to take initially when I started cooking. The cauliflower and capsicum curry is one such curry that I made in less than half an hour. I also kneaded the roti dough while the curry was getting cooked.
Ingredients
Cauliflower 1
Capsicum/Bell pepper 2
Green chillies (optional)
Ginger
Tomato
Salt
GroundTurmeric 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder 1/4 tsp
Sabji masala/Garam masala/curry powder 1tbsp (Adjust the quantity according to taste)
(Note: This could be substituted with ground coriander and red chilli powder)
water
Kasuri Mehti
For Seasoning
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Corriander leaves
Recipe
1. Wash and cut the cauliflower.
2. Add cauliflower to a pot, add water and ground turmeric, and let it cook for 5 minutes so that it becomes tender. Make sure it doesnt get overcooked.
3. Wash the bell peppers, deseed them, and dice them.
4. Wash and dice the tomato.
5. Grate or mince ginger. (I cut it into very tiny pieces), and cut green chillies.
6. In a pan, heat coconut oil (any cooking oil).
7. Once the oil is heated, add mustard seeds and cumin seeds
8. Add green chillies and ginger. Saute for 10 seconds and add cauliflower.Fry it for 2-3 minutes or until it starts turning brown/golden.
9. Add the bell peppers to it now and saute it really well.
Note: If you think the cauliflower has been fried enough and that it may burn if you keep sauteing it for more, transfer the cauliflower to a plate and fry the bell peppers and then add the cauliflower back.
10. Once the raw flavor of bell peppers is gone and it is cooked, add tomatoes.
11. Cook it covered for 2 minutes.
12. Add turmeric, salt, and chilli powder and cook covered for 4-5 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy.
13. Add garam masala/curry powder/sabji masala and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
14. At this point, if you think the gravy is watery, cook it uncovered until the water evaporates and you get the consistency of your choice.
15. rush some dried kasuri mehti and add that to the curry.
16. Garnish with corriander leaves.
17. Serve with roti, rice, dosa, etc.