Seasonal Vegetable Stir Fry with Panchphoron and Split Peas
There is a lot camera action happening centered around my fledgling youtube channel. In the spirit of brains (as in needed to eat) before beauty, I offer you this seasonal vegetable stir fry with Panchphoron and split peas.
The Youtube Inspiration
Well with Amy, the real talent behind the channel gone. My son has seized the opportunity to take over and has gone of a roll recording the mushoor dal video. Well, folks I do know that his versions are a tiny bit rough, OK plenty rough. However, I did not have the heart not to let him do his thing. This stir-fry is an extremely simple dish. Something that my mom makes for the kids anytime she visits. It is mild and nutritious and works perfectly with almost any vegetables that you can think off.
I have worked though this with carrots, beans and red skinned potatoes. The interesting note here is her addition of split lentils. She actually does this subbing the bori or crunchy Bengali lentil nuggets, much more accessible and simple.
In fact, I started sharing this super simple recipe last evening and then went to sleep, not sure why, but then again possibly because I was working from home and knew that I could get in an extra half hour of shuteye this morning, well the working from and the fact that the kid’s school is closed for some unknown reason. I mean, seriously, how is it that all the teachers conferences and things tend to be before a long weekend?
Hence the working from home bit… The good news is that these days the kids are older and can actually keep themselves engaged, well sort of and you get to use the work from home time doing some quite things. Such as reviewing a bunch of policies that are waiting your approval and then using that extra time saved from commuting to actually finish the post with the video taken by the little fellow. So, on that busy day when you have a bunch of mixed up vegetables on hand, heat some oil and temper the panch phoron and get going.
A colorful seasonal stir fry made with mixed seasonal vegetables in today's instance I am using beans, carrots and red potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil (preferably mustard or olive oil)
- 11/2 teaspoons panchphoron (Bengali Five Spice Blend)
- 1 or 2 dried red chilies
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 2 small red potatoes, cubed
- 2 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 cup of green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup split peas, soaked overnight (note, the easiest way to do this is by soaking a couple of extra tablespoons of legumes when you are already soaking them, you can keep them in the refrigerator)
- Salt to taste
- Chopped Cilantro to Finish
Instructions
- In a large cooking pot, heat the oil and add in the panchphoron and wait until the seeds begin to crackle and add in the dried red chilies.
- In a few minutes, add in the red onion and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add in all the vegetables and the split peas with a little salt and about 1/2 cup water.
- Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the cover and cook until the water is evaporated.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve.
- If you wish this can also be served at room temperature much like a cooked salad.