Vegetable Saagu

I started my career in Bangalore as a computer teacher in a small school. I worked there for one academic year. I learnt many things during the course of the year. Once we had a teacher’s get together, and all the teachers had made some dish and brought it to school. They were all Karnataka specials like Madhur vade, bisi bele bath, avrekaayi playa etc. One of the teachers had got Chapathi and to go with it another had brought saagu. When I tasted the saagu I took an instant liking to it. Just loved it. Since then I have tried saagu in many restaurants, though all taste good but first taste is always special isn’t it. I immediately went to the teacher who had prepared it and got the recipe from her in a sheet of paper. I still have that sheet with me as her remembrance, though I know the recipe by heart. I tried it out the next day itself and everybody at home just loved it since it was new to them as well. From then on I have prepared this recipe umpteen number of times and we never get bored of it.

So I decided to start my blogging marathon under the theme curry under 30 mins with my favorite side dish Saagu which gets ready in about 20 minutes. Saagu is a side dish famous in Karnataka, served in almost all restaurants as an accompaniment to Poori, Set Dosa, Rava Idli etc. But it tastes equally good with chapathi. It is a medley of vegetables flavored with mild spices and coconut. So here comes the recipe:

What you need: (Serves 4)

1. Mixed Veggies – 2 cups (Chow Chow, potatoes, carrots, beans, green peas)
2. Salt to taste

For the Masala

1. Grated coconut – ½ cup
2. Roasted Channa Dal/ Pottu Kadali – 1 tbsp
3. Green Chillies – 2
4. Black pepper – 5 to 6
5. Coriander Seeds – 2 tsps
6. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
7. Green Caradamom – 2
8. Cloves – 2
9. Cinnamon – 1 small piece

For tempering

1. Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
2. Hing – a pinch
3. Curry Leaves a few
4. Oil – 1 tsp

Method:

Chop all the veggies into small cubes. Pressure cook the veggies and keep aside. In a small frying pan, dry roast coriander seeds, jeera, black pepper, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon till a nice aroma comes out.
Allow to cool. Grind these with roasted channa dal, coconut and green chillies into a fine paste adding little water.
Now, remove the veggies from the cooker, add salt to taste and let it boil for a few minutes. Next add the ground paste and mix well. Let it simmer for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Heat a small frying pan with a tsp of oil, add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the hing and curry leaves. Pour this tempering over the saagu.
Delicious Saagu is ready. Serve it with poori, chapathi or set dosai.

Note:

1. Do not add too much of whole spices as the garam masala taste will dominate and saagu won’t taste good.
2. Add pepper according to your taste, this curry is generally not too spicy.


Now let's check out my fellow marathoners in BM

#5 and see what they are cooking today  

Curry in a hurry under 30 min:
Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree, Jayasree, Kaveri, Pavani,

Seven Days of Indian Sweets:
Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Cool Lassi(e), Harini, Vaishali, Suma

Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani

Summer Coolers: Kamalika, Srivalli