When I am thinking of what to make for lunch on dinner, especially on weekends, my mind always wanders towards food that are restaurant style. I love eating out right from when I was a young kid and that has not changed a bit. Being a vegetarian has never been a problem for us and we always find something to eat in every place. Restaurant style subzis are my weakness and I just love the texture of them. If I can make the same at home with less oil and get the same flavor, then it is a winner recipe. This Kadai vegetable gravy was exactly that this is by far one of my favorite. We never order Kadai vegetable in restaurant as we mostly get the dry variety. I like my subzi with gravy and this one worked great that way.
I always prefer mixed vegetable subzis as I can add many vegetables to the recipe and that way can include a variety of vegetables in my kid’s meal. My personal favorite though is Paneer Butter Masala and that would definitely be one of the dishes that I would order when I ate out back in India. My boys like Malai koftas and hence that has become one of our regular. It really excites the boys when I can make their favorites at home and they looks forward it.
These days I have also started to make many of these dishes without onion and garlic. One such is this version of Paneer Butter Masala without onion and garlic that everyone loves in my house. If you are looking to make a Thaali without ‘No Onion and garlic’, check out my Mini Thali from Uttar Pradesh. I have each and everyone of my favorite dishes that I grew up eating. Also check the complete list of ‘No Onion and Garlic’ recipes here.
This dish is a little time consuming but worth every minute. The freshly ground masala makes a big difference in the recipe and I would highly recommend making it from scratch. I served this on a Saturday afternoon with some Avocado Paratha. I served the dish in my new kadai that my chitti and mami (aunt’s) bought for me when I went to India in November.
Preparation time – 20 minutes
Cooking time – 45 minutes
Difficulty level – Intermediate
Recipe adapted from – Veg Recipes of India
Ingredients – Serves 4 to 6
For the Kadai Vegetable Gravy –
- Onion – 3/4 cup (cubed) + 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
- Bell pepper – 1 (thinly sliced)
- Tomato puree – from 4 tomatoes
- Carrot – 2 medium (thinly sliced)
- Potato – 2 (thinly sliced)
- Green peas – 1/2 cup
- Ginger garlic paste – 1 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Red chili powder – 1 tsp
- Whipping cream – 2 to 3 tbsp
- Salt – as needed
- Oil – 3 to 4 tbsp (divided)
For the Kadai Vegetable Masala Powder –
- Coriander seeds / Dhania – 1 tbsp
- Cumin seeds / Jeera – 1 tsp
- Peppercorn – 6 to 8
- Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
- Cloves – 8
- Cardamom – 3
- Red chilies – 6
- Cashew nut – 10
- Dried fenugreek leaves / Kasuri methi – 1 tsp
Procedure –
To make the Masala powder –
- Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under masala powder until they are aromatic. Make sure you fry them on low to medium heat. Keep stirring when roasting the spices.
- Remove the roasted ingredients in a bowl and let them cool down to room temperature. Grind them into a fine powder and keep it aside.
To make the Kadai Vegetable Gravy –
- Clean and slice the potatoes and carrots and place them in a microwave safe bowl. Add the green peas to the bowl and sprinkle some water. Cook them until they are halfway done in the microwave. Mine takes about 6 minutes to cook the vegetables half way through. The time can vary depending on the microwave. Make sure that the vegetables are not mushy as they will cook further in the gravy. This step helps in making the cooking process faster.
- Cube the onions and slice the bell pepper. In the pan or kadai that we are going to make the subzi, add 1 tbsp of oil and saute them until they half cooked. Make sure the bell pepper still has some crunch to it. Remove this on a plate and keep it aside. We will add this at the end to the subzi.
- Puree the tomatoes and keep them aside.
- In the same pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the finely chopped onions and saute until translucent. Now add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute more.
- Add the tomato puree and mix well.
- Next add the turmeric powder and the chili powder and mix well. Cook the masala on medium heat until the oil separated from the sides of the pan. This will take a good 10 minutes. Don’t rush this step.
- Now add the semi cooked vegetables to the pan and mix.
- Add about 2 cups of water and salt and mix well. Let the subzi cook in medium heat for about 5 minutes and then simmer further for 5 minutes. Make sure that the vegetables are cooked well by now.
- Add the kadai masala along with the bell pepper and onions that we had kept aside and mix well. Let it simmer further for 5 minutes. Adjust the consistency of the gravy at this stage. Add water if the subzi appears too dry.
- Just before switching off the flame, add the cream to the subzi and mix. Turn off the flame.
- Serve hot with paratha, naan or rice.
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Vaishali says
the pics are tempting me to pick that chapati and polish off that bowl..it looks fantastic. I am getting the aroma of the spices right here,absolutely delicious Sandhya.
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
This recipe looks so yummy! I love the pan that you displayed it in! I’ve never had Kadai, but it looks easy and delicious! And thanks for showing how to make the masala powder.
April J Harris says
Your Kadai Vegetable Gravy looks delicious with all those lovely fresh vegetables. Your photos are great too! I like that you’ve made your own spice mixture as well!
Luci {Luci's Morsels} says
This deliciously spiced vegetable curry over some brown rice would be perfect to warm me up from the inside out on a cold winter’s day!
Luci’s Morsels | fashion. food. frivolity.
Thanh | Eat, Little Bird says
I absolutely adore curries and your post is so informative, especially with your step-by-step photos. And I always prefer to make my own spice mixes at home, so thank you for sharing your recipe!
Lynn | The Road to Honey says
This might be a time consuming dish. . .but it looks like it is worth every second. . .but when you think about it. . .time consuming dishes usually are, aren’t they. Anyhow, it looks so tasty. And I’m with you, it’s better to recreate restaurant food at home so that you can make it healthier.
kalyani says
beautiful spices & well presented ! I am a fan too , of re-creating restaurant dishes , and this is being bookmarked Sandhya 🙂
Priya Suresh says
Omg, this kadai vegetable looks simply out of the world, prefect side dish to enjoy with rotis.
Natalie | Natalie's Food & Health says
Your mashaly powder blend sounds wonderful. I don’t know where I’m gonna get fenugreek leaves thou… Quick question, would it make much different if I omit fenugreek leaves? These gravy looks amazing. It’s definitely worth time invested in making it. Sharing and pinning to try this!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks Natalie! You could absolutely skip the dried fenugreek leaves from the recipe. Also for future, you get the dried fenugreek leaves in any Indian grocery store. It is called Kasoori methi and a little goes a long way. The shelf life is literally forever if you keep it well covered and it is not too expensive.
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
Loving the sound of all those aromatic spices. This is packed full of flavour…and a wonderful way to eat veggies. I love making curries, and seriously some of the best ones are “meat free”. My mouth is watering just looking at these pictures.
srividhya says
omg.. I so wish I could grab that kadai vegetable from screen. super yum
Byron Thomas says
Wow – every single ingredient in that bowl is one of my favourite! I would love to have a huge bowl of this right now for my lunch. Even though the dish looks amazing, it is that spice blend that you made that is calling my name. I can just imagine how intense those flavours would be – yum. I’ll save this recipe for later. Thank you!
[email protected] says
I’ve never had Kadai gravy but this definitely sounds like something I would love to try. I wouldn’t mind that it took a while to prepare for something that tastes this good I’m sure. I just recently started using Masala so I’m glad you shared the recipe for that also 🙂
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
I’ve never had this dish before, but this year I made a resolution that I would try different cuisines and make international dishes. The spices sound wonderful my tastebuds are anxious to try the flavors in your vegetable dish. I’m glad you showed us how to make Masala. Homemade tastes so much better than store bought.
Megan Marlowe says
WOW, is this packed with flavor! I must admit I have never had this dish before but your photos and description make me want to grab a piece of naan and dive right in!
Sarah @ Champagne Tastes says
Haha.. I make a kadai curry that I adapted from Veg Recipes of India too! I’ll have to try your version too. (Although, since I don’t have a kadai.. mine is more of a ‘wok curry’ haha)
Noel Lizotte says
I am always amazed at the variety of spices in Indian recipes. And the beautiful colors of the dishes attract me! I need to start making some recipes like this to mix up the “ordinary” at our house. I thought when the kids were grown and moved out, I could start eating more interesting dishes. Yet twice a week my husband asks for macaroni and cheese! Who knew he was the biggest kid?
This looks like something I might be able to tempt him with …
Jolina says
I’ve never had this dish before but that has to change! It looks delicious. We’re looking to incorporate more veggie dishes into our menu rotation this year and this is a scrumptious option. Those spices you used. Yum!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day says
Looks delicious! I don’t have any good Indian restaurants to go to where I live, so I’m always happy to come across recipes I can make at home. I pinned this one to try later.
Hanady | Recipe Nomad says
Oh this looks heavenly!! I love anything Indian and I’ve never seen it at the Indian restaurant by my house! Oh can’t wait to make this!
swathi says
kadai vegetable gravy is really good Sandhya I likethat you used mixed veggies instead of paneer and vegetables. I make with capsicum though. your version is perfect to go with chapthi.
Molly Kumar says
The Kadai Vegetable gravy looks so tempting. I remember my mom cooking this for us as this one hid the vegetables so nicely 🙂 This is like a perfect meal on a rainy day with a bowl of hot steamed rice.
debi at Life Currents says
This looks wonderful. So full of flavor and texture. I’m not too familiar with Indian food, so it’s nice to have an easy to follow recipe like this so I can try it at home.
Jennifer A Stewart says
I am very new to this style of cooking and love finding new spice mixes. I never knew that toasting the spices first makes such a difference. This kadai looks amazing and I would love a bowl right now. Dipping bread into a vegetable style gravy seems like the only way to eat vegetables now!!
Sandhiya says
It’s always my first pick in the restaurant for rotis . Yours look so delicious and love the entire set up.
Julie | Bunsen Burner Bakery says
This looks so good, and your spice blend sounds amazing. We love Indian food, although I’m afraid what I make at home probably isn’t very authentic. I will definitely give this a try!
khadija says
I love Indian recipes, For some weird reason we used to cook alot of Indian food when I was younger so now It’s like homefood to me 🙂 I can’t wait to try this one.
Srivalli Jetti says
Such beautiful pictures Sandhya…love how bright it looks..
Silvia @ Garden in the Kitchen says
I am the same way, love making restaurant style recipes for two reasons; One. I know I love it. Two. I can make it healthier and save money too! I think that’s smart 🙂 You veggies look tasty and the step-by-step pictures are very helpful too.
Kim Lee says
This looks and sounds beyond tasty! So much flavor in one meal – I can’t wait to give it a try!
Pavani says
That is a delicious and creamy looking mixed vegetable curry.
harini says
Very delicious and bright looking gravy curry.
sushma says
The pics look soo yummy.
Harini says
Stunning presentation for my fav sabji.
Priya Srinivasan says
Pretty presentation Sandhiya, looks creamy and delicious!!