Home-style Corn & Peas Sabzi
This Corn and Peas Sabzi is my preparation of a home style curry/gravy with minimum effort and basic Indian ingredients. The recipe is quite straight forward and simple so it can be cooked in a jiffy. Serve hot with plain steamed rice, pulav, roti, paratha, puri, bread – the list is endless!
Ingredients
Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece
Ginger (finely chopped) – 1 tsp
Garlic (finely chopped) – 1/2 tsp
Slit green chilly – 1 (or to taste)
Onion (finely chopped) – 1 medium sized
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder – 1 tsp (or to taste)
Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Tomato (finely chopped) – 1 medium sized
Fresh corn kernels – 1/2 cup
Fresh green peas – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp (or to taste)
Fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 2 tbsp
Yield
Serves 2
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
~25 minutes
Method
1) Blanch corn kernels and peas together and set aside (see Cauliflower Bites recipe for blanching tips).
2) In a kadai/wide pan heat the oil. When oil is heated a bit, add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and cinnamon stick. Fry for a few seconds so that the cumin and fennel seeds splutter. Add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and slit green chilly. Fry for a minute or until the raw smell of garlic and ginger goes away.
3) Now add the finely chopped onion and saute for a few minutes on medium heat, until it turns golden.
4) When the onion turns golden, simmer the heat. Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder and garam masala powder. Fry for a few seconds. Now add the tomatoes and 1/4 tsp of salt. Mix and cover the pan. Let it cook on medium heat until the tomatoes cook completely along with the spice powders. Once fully cooked, the oil added in the beginning will start to float on top and sides of the gravy.
5) Reduce the heat again and add the blanched corn and peas. Add sugar and 1/4 tsp of salt. Mix completely. Cover the pan and allow it to cook on low heat for a few mins.
6) After 5 or 6 mins, open the pan and mix well. Your corn and peas sabzi is ready now. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.
Notes
- If you are using frozen corn and peas then you can skip the blanching step. Add it directly after the tomatoes cook.
- Using 1 tbsp of ghee along with 1 tbsp oil is also a great option. Adding ghee gives a rich aroma to the corn and peas sabzi.
- Always add cumin/fennel seeds only after the oil/ghee is heated enough. The cumin/fennel seeds should splutter and swell immediately after it is dropped in the oil/ghee. If the oil is not hot enough, then the seeds might not splutter and swell fully, because of which most of the aroma will be lost. To check if the oil is hot enough, first drop 1 or 2 seeds into the oil and see if it splutters immediately, if it does then add the entire quantity of cumin/fennel seeds.
- Add the spice powders only after you simmer the heat fully, otherwise they might burn and spoil the taste/flavour and colour of the sabzi. Also, add the tomatoes just after 20 to 30 secs of adding the powders.
- Adding a tbsp of dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) along with coriander leaves adds more flavour to the corn and peas sabzi.
