Forgive me if I failed to amuse you, but it is no secret that Pakistanis love their meat-based protein. I’ve lamented my husbands love for meat in the past - it is so strong that he rarely consumes veggies unless they are served with gosht - red meat. I’m certain my Pakistani readers will know someone like this (or maybe even be someone like this!) There aren’t a great deal of exceptions to this. There’s just a small handful of really wholesome, good dishes that will suffice and allow us all a collective family vegetarian dinner. One of those dishes happens to be this Mixed Sabzi. In fact, this Mixed Sabzi is so good that I made this the night before I was due to take photos of it for the blog. Well, unfortunately hunger struck at 4am for my husband, and he pretty much devoured the entire pot of curry and left me with but a small bowl for photography purposes. I wasn’t thrilled. So, on to the actual curry! Mixed Sabzi literally just means ‘mixed vegetables’. Yup, we don’t get too fancy with our names. It sounds more like mik-sabzi when we say it in Urdu, since the ’s’ sound from the ‘Mix’ just gets combined with the ’s’ from ‘Sabzi’. Mixed Sabzi is a selected assortment of vegetables steam cooked with very little effort in the way of cooking. It’s simple, its light and it’s really really refreshing. It’s feel so pure and just wholesome eating this after a few back-to-back days eating heavier, meat-based curries. There’s just something SO good about soft, floury potatoes, the sweet fragrance of capsicum, little juicy nuggets of green peas and of course one of my favourites, the enticing aroma of the fenugreek. I can never tire of Mixed Sabzi - and that’s something coming from a gosht lover like me!
How do you make Mixed Sabzi?
Start off by heating some oil in a pot and adding the onions, frying them until they are just turning golden. We don’t need to make them super brown for this recipe. They also don’t need to be uniform in size - they’ll melt into the curry for the most part Next, add in the chillis, ginger, garlic, spices and capsicum. Fry these for a few minutes… Before adding in all the vegetables. You don’t need to add any additional water - the vegetables will all release their own moisture. In fact, it’s a great tip to actively avoid adding excess water to vegetable dishes - it makes them soggy and lacklustre. Allow these veggies to steam on a low heat with the lid on for about half an hour or so, until the potatoes are cooked through. If at any point you need to add water because the veggies look like they will burn, add it sparingly. Finish off by spooning in some dried fenugreek, and we’re all good to go! A cheeky garnishing of coriander never hurt anyone either 😉 Super simple, right?!
What vegetables are used in Mixed Sabzi?
Generally speaking, the most basic version of Pakistani style Mixed Sabzi uses peas, carrots and potatoes in an onion and tomato base. My recipe uses:
Peas (matar) Carrots (gajar) Potatoes (aloo) Aubergine (baingan) Capsicum (shimla mirch) Dried fenugreek (kasoori methi) And of course, tomatoes and onion, as is the case with most Pakistani curries
I am aware that aubergine may be an unusual addition for some - but it’s something I had often at home, my Mum and aunts using it on the regular in their Mix Sabzi curries. If you are averse to aubergine, you can omit it or replace it with another vegetable, such as potatoes. I personally ADORE it in this curry! You can totally use other vegetables too, whatever suits you! The great thing about this recipe is that it’s super versatile and forgiving. Other vegetables that go great in a Pakistani-style Mix Sabzi include:
Cauliflower (gobi) Spinach (palak) Green beans (phali) Sweetcorn (makayi)
Some more Mixed Sabzi tips
Like I’ve mentioned above, Mixed Sabzi and generally vegetable dishes are best cooked with no additional water if possible. In this recipe, the moisture from the vegetables will be enough to cook everything without needing to add more water. This just helps make the texture of the veggies better. If you find you do need to add water, add sparingly Don’t chop the veggies too small! Chopping the potatoes too small in particular can lead to mushy veggies - that’s definitely not what we want! Ideally, we want each veggie to hold its shape up yet be tender and easy to break into One exception to the rule above is the carrots - slice these into thin rounds so that when they cook, they aren’t crunchy. It’s very difficult to cook carrots to the point of mashing them, in fact it’s more likely they’ll end up with more of a bite, therefore slicing them on the thin side is better. Stick to fresh tomatoes, onions, carrots, aubergine, capsicums and potatoes. Frozen peas work fine in this recipe - that’s what I used too! I am inclined to say fresh ginger and garlic is always best, but I know that isn’t always convenient, so you are free to use whatever ginger and garlic is easier for you. The dried fenugreek is SO ESSENTIAL in this recipe for that classic Mixed Sabzi aroma. Trust me, please don’t skimp on this! Dried fenugreek is easily available at any Asian/desi supermarket. It also goes great sprinkled over other traditional Pakistani meals too - my favourite recipes to add dried fenugreek to include Aloo Gosht and Chicken Salan. Generally, it’s a great thing to have on hand if you cook Pakistani food often. Using ghee in this recipe is really wonderful - it adds a richness which really can’t compare to oil. I highly recommend using ghee if possible.
How do you serve Mixed Sabzi?
Mixed Sabzi is best served with a fresh, hot homemade chapatti with a pat of butter or ghee. This is my favourite way to serve it! They also go beautifully with some buttery, flaky parathas. It goes wonderful alongside a simple chicken curry, like my Chicken Salan - but to be honest, I like it served by itself, as the star of the show.
Other recipes you may enjoy
Aloo Palak | Saag Paneer | Mash Ki Daal | Achari Aloo | Tamatar Aloo Enjoy, with love x
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