Okay, so tonight, I wanted to make something quick and easy for dinner. I’m a big fan of Indian food, but I’m also a vegetarian, so I needed to find some recipes that fit the bill. Plus, I didn’t want to spend hours in the kitchen.
Finding Some Recipes
I started by looking up some ideas online. There are tons of Indian vegetarian recipes out there, but I needed something that wouldn’t take forever to make. I stumbled upon a few that looked promising, mostly stuff with easy-to-find ingredients and not too many complicated steps.
Gathering the Ingredients
After picking out a couple of recipes, I checked my pantry and fridge. I already had some basics like onions, tomatoes, and some spices. But I was out of cumin seeds, which is pretty essential for Indian cooking. So, I made a quick run to the grocery store to grab those, along with some fresh veggies and paneer. It was a quick trip, good thing the store isn’t too far from my place.
Cooking Time
- Step 1: Prepping the Veggies
- Step 2: Making the Base
- Step 3: Spicing Things Up
- Step 4: Adding the Main Ingredients
- Step 5: Simmering and Finishing
First things first, I chopped up the onions and tomatoes. I also diced the paneer into small cubes. This part was pretty straightforward, just some basic chopping. Nothing fancy.
Next, I heated some oil in a pan and tossed in the cumin seeds. Once they started to crackle, I added the onions and sautéed them until they were golden brown. This always makes the kitchen smell amazing! Then, I threw in the tomatoes and cooked them until they were soft. It’s like making a simple sauce, really.
Now for the fun part – adding the spices. I had some pav bhaji masala on hand, so I used that. I stirred it into the onion-tomato mixture and let it cook for a minute or so. The aroma was incredible, got me even more excited for dinner.
For one of the dishes, I added some mixed vegetables to the pan and for another, I added the diced paneer. I cooked them with the masala until everything was well combined and heated through. It’s important to make sure the veggies and paneer are cooked just right – not too mushy, not too hard.
I let the dishes simmer for about 10-15 minutes, just enough for the flavors to really meld together. While that was happening, I cooked some rice on the side. You can’t have Indian food without rice, right?
Dinner is Served
Finally, dinner was ready! I served up the vegetable and paneer dishes with the rice. It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself. And the taste? It was delicious! The spices were just right, and everything was cooked perfectly. The best part was that it didn’t take me all evening to make it. All in all, a successful weeknight dinner. I might just make these recipes again sometime soon!