Veg Kolhapuri
Mixed vegetables in a fierce dark gravy built on coconut and whole spices roasted until they smoke. Not a mild dish, and not pretending to be.
- Prep
- 30m
- Cook
- 40m
- Total
- 1h 10m
- Serves
- 5
- Effort
- Involved
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 1/2 cup | Dry-roast each item separately until it smells right, then cool 12m Coconut first on low, chillies last and briefly. Burnt chilli is acrid, not hot. | Grind the roasted spices with water to a fine, near-black paste 8m Grind fine. Whole flecks of peppercorn in the finished dish are unpleasant. | Fry the masala paste until red oil splits out at the sides of the pan 15m This takes longer than you expect, up to a quarter of an hour on medium. Do not rush it. | Fold the drained vegetables into the gravy, add hot water and simmer until it turns glossy 12m Glossy means the oil has come back to the surface. That is when it is done. | |
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 5 | |||||
| 4cm piece | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 10 | |||||
| 1/2 cup | |||||
| 5 tbsp | Brown the onion, ginger and garlic hard, then add tomato 12m Take the onion to deep brown. Pale onion gives a thin, sour gravy. | ||||
| 2 | |||||
| 3cm piece | |||||
| 8 cloves | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 2 tsp | |||||
| 250 g | Parboil the vegetables in salted water, then drain them thoroughly 10m Drain hard and let them steam dry. Wet vegetables water down the gravy. | ||||
| 2 | |||||
| 100 g | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 1/2 cup | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 1 1/2 cups | |||||
| a handful | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
-
Dry-roast each item separately until it smells right, then cool
12m- desiccated coconut 1/2 cup
- sesame seeds 2 tbsp
- poppy seeds 1 tbsp
- coriander seeds 2 tbsp
- cumin seeds 1 tsp
- black peppercorns 1 tsp
- cloves 5
- cinnamon 4cm piece
- star anise 1
- dried byadgi chillies 10
Coconut first on low, chillies last and briefly. Burnt chilli is acrid, not hot.
-
Grind the roasted spices with water to a fine, near-black paste
8m- from 1 Dry-roast each item separately until it smells right, then cool
- water 1/2 cup
Grind fine. Whole flecks of peppercorn in the finished dish are unpleasant.
-
Brown the onion, ginger and garlic hard, then add tomato
12m- neutral oil 5 tbsp
- onions 2
- ginger 3cm piece
- garlic 8 cloves
- tomatoes 3
- ground turmeric 1/2 tsp
- salt 2 tsp
Take the onion to deep brown. Pale onion gives a thin, sour gravy.
-
Fry the masala paste until red oil splits out at the sides of the pan
15m- from 2 Grind the roasted spices with water to a fine, near-black paste
- from 3 Brown the onion, ginger and garlic hard, then add tomato
This takes longer than you expect, up to a quarter of an hour on medium. Do not rush it.
-
Parboil the vegetables in salted water, then drain them thoroughly
10m- cauliflower 250 g
- carrot 2
- French beans 100 g
- potato 1
- green peas 1/2 cup
- green pepper 1
Drain hard and let them steam dry. Wet vegetables water down the gravy.
-
Fold the drained vegetables into the gravy, add hot water and simmer until it turns glossy
12m- from 4 Fry the masala paste until red oil splits out at the sides of the pan
- from 5 Parboil the vegetables in salted water, then drain them thoroughly
- hot water 1 1/2 cups
- coriander leaves a handful
- lemon juice 1 tbsp
Glossy means the oil has come back to the surface. That is when it is done.
Why the coconut is roasted dry
Fresh or wet coconut in a gravy tastes sweet and milky, which is what avial and Kerala stews are after. Roasted dry until it turns the colour of teak, the same coconut behaves completely differently — its sugars and proteins brown, and it picks up the toasted, almost bitter depth that makes a Kolhapuri masala look and taste nearly black. Poppy and sesame seeds are there for body; ground fine, they thicken the gravy without any dairy or cashew, which is why this version needs neither.
Notes
- Roast each spice on its own. Coconut needs eight minutes on low, chillies need thirty seconds.
- Make the masala in bulk and freeze it in tablespoons. It is the only slow part.
- Parboil, then fold in. Cooking raw vegetables in the gravy dilutes it and overcooks the cauliflower.