This Veg Jalfrezi By Chef Kunal Kapur Will Keep You Hooked
Image Credit: Outlook India/Asian food network

All vegetarians know how important veg jalfrezi is. This dish is a sort of mixed vegetables and is a must whenever vegetarians go out to have Indian food. Do you know an interesting fact about veg-jalfrezi? This dish has British origins and was actually a non-vegetarian dish. Jalfrezi is actually derived from two Bengali words which are jhal and frezi. Jhal means spicy and frezi means stir-fry. It is a combination of stir-fried vegetables with green chili, capsicum, and onions. 

 Its history says that when there was British rule in the country, some British governors had an extravagant lifestyle and used to organize grand parties. When large feasts of British governors were organized, there used to be huge celebrations and of course, so much of leftovers especially meat used to be thereafter. The leftovers didn’t had many spices and thus were not good enough as per Indian taste. So, in order to give it some taste and in order to not waste the food, the Indian servants used to cook vegetables or meat with onion and green chilies. The onions were used to absorb the flavours and this was when this dish originated. Interesting Right? 

Let us make it even easier for you. Celebrity Chef Kunal Kapur has shared the recipe of veg jalfrezi on his Instagram handle and we knew you didn’t want to miss it. So here is the recipe of Chef Kunal Kapur’s recommended recipe of veg jalfrezi. Have a look. 

Preparation time - 15 minutes

Cooking time - 30 minutes

Serves - 2

Ingredients 

  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • ½ cup onion (chopped)
  • 1 tbsp ginger (chopped)
  • 1 tbsp garlic (chopped)
  • 3 green chilies (slit, and deseeded)
  • 1 cup tomato (chopped)
  • ½ cup tomato puree
  • Salt to taste 
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ½ tbsp Kashmiri chili powder  
  • ½ tbsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • ½ cup cauliflower 
  • ½ cup green beans (sliced)
  • ½ cup carrots 
  • 1 cup cabbage (sliced)
  • ¼ cup green capsicum 
  • ¼ cup yellow capsicum
  • ¼ cup red capsicum
  • Handful coriander (chopped)
  • 100 gm paneer 
  • 2 green chilies (slit)
  • ¼ cup onion (sliced)
  • ½ tbsp lemon juice  

Method 

  • Take a kadhai and add ghee to it. 
  • Now add cumin and add chopped onions. Stir fry over high flame for a few seconds. 
  • Now add finely add chopped garlic and ginger. Now again, stir fry on high flame. 
  • Now add green chilies along with chopped and pureed tomatoes.
  • Add turmeric, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, and garam masala. 
  • Stir well and let it cook on medium flame.
  • After the rawness of tomatoes starts eliminating, add cauliflower. Let it cook for a minute. 
  • Now add beans, carrots, and cabbage. Also, sprinkle water to prevent the veggies from burning on a high flame. 
  • Bring the vegetables and bring them to the center and cover the lid. Let it cook on low flame. 
  • Now add capsicums, coriander, paneer, chilies, and sliced onions. Also, add lemon for sharpness. 
  • Add salt and toss everything together.
  • When done, turn off the flame and transfer it to the plate.
  • Garnish with fresh coriander and serve 

Enjoy!!