For this week’s Cooking from Cookbook event, this is a take on vegetable Sagu from Vasantha Moorthy’s Vegetarian Menu Cookbook. Sagu is a mixed vegetable curry from Karnataka and is served with chapati, poori, set dosa etc. It is very similar to vegetable kurma. 

I have tried the recipe from the book without any modifications. However an online check told me that coriander seeds is not commonly included in the ground masala paste. So I might be leaving it out the next time I am making the recipe. I am not very sure about the authenticity of the recipe, but it was a tasty one for sure!

Read on for the pictorial. 

Serves 4 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups diced mixed vegetables (carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, beans, green peas etc)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes , chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• Salt 
• Oil and ghee to sauté
• Chopped coriander leaves to decorate 

For the masala

• 1 Tablespoon coriander seeds*
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 Tablespoon roasted gram dal
• 2-3 green chilies (I didn’t have any so used red chilies)
• 2 cloves 
• 1″ cinnamon stick
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2″ ginger piece 
• 3 tablespoons grated coconut

*skip if you don’t have. Most of the online recipes don’t have this listed. 

Fry the masala items from the list above until the onion in 2 teaspoons of ghee. Take off the heat. 

Now add a little more ghee if needed and sauté the onion, ginger, chili and coconut. Grind into a paste adding a little water if needed and the rest of the fried masala items. Set this aside. 

Heat oil and sauté the onions in the same pan. Once it’s done, add the tomatoes and sauté until it’s soft. Add turmeric powder and salt as needed. 

Add the diced vegetables and a little water to help the vegetables cook. Cover and cook until the vegetables are done.

Add the ground paste, chopped coriander. Let the curry cook for a few more minutes. Taste test the seasonings and adjust if needed. Serve with chapati. 

This goes to Cooking from Cookbook Challenge Group.