Stew'd

Here’s the recipe for Sunday’s stew. Happy cooking d!

You’ll need:
potatoes- peeled and diced
carrots- peeled and diced
peas- shelled!
fresh button mushrooms- quartered.
onions- peeled and chopped into largish chunks
garlic- peeled and chopped, again large chunks if you like the texture, or smaller if it’s only for flavour.
·a stick of cinnamon
·a few cloves, say 5
·a couple of large black cardamom, elaichi
·a bayleaf
·dried red chillies, broken in half. I used six. Go for less if spicy is not your thing. Or else empty out the seeds and use only the red part.
·a tsp of vinegar
·a tbs of oil
·a tsp of salt

Take a large pot. Put in everything except the peas and mushrooms. Pour in some water, enough to cover all stuff and a dollop more. This will be the stock. Medium heat after it starts to boil.

Peer at it and stir every once in a while. Fish out a potato piece and check if it’s done. If you can cut through it with a spoon, turn the heat off. Toss in the peas and mushrooms, stir a bit and cover the pot. Now leave it alone for a while, there’s other stuff to do.

You’ll need another pan. The sauce will be made here and the whole stew comes together. So make sure it’s large enough for all the veggies and extra room to stir. Got it? Ok. Then get a large whisk, or a wooden spoon and strong arms.

Pour in some oil. About two tbs, i think. As it warms up, toss in a heaped tablespoon of atta. Yes, not maida. atta.

Use the whisk or spoon to stir it into the oil. As you stir, it should look biscuit brown, thick paste like; the oil bubbling around the edges as the brown darkens. Put in a bit more oil or atta to adjust consistency if you need. Now pour in half a cup of milk, stirring really briskly now keep the sauce smooth.

Now, it’s time for the veggie pot. Lift off the lid and let the steam open your pores a bit, careful not to inhale - the red chilli fumes really get the back of the throat.

Now ladle some of the broth into the sauce pan. Then stir and stir, as the sauce thickens smoothly without any lumps. Ladle and stir till the consistency is thinner than a white sauce for a bake. Say a pourable thickness. And turn off the heat. Taste. Add as much salt as you’d like.

Now, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the veggies and toss into the sauce. It would probably be nice to weed out the whole spices at this point and discard. But not essential to the plot. The eaters should be soo happy just to savour the end result, they can meekly put the stuff on the side of their own plates.

So all the veggies are in the sauce; most likely, not all the stock. Strain it out and save it for another meal. It’ll make a great base for a noodle soup. (My plan is to make a risotto.)

Check for salt content after the veggies are mixed in. It balances out the chilli.

That’s it. Dish up and eat. And tell me if you can taste the creamy cheesy-ness of it all.