Iranian Veg Stew, another recipe

Yesterday being Sunday, and the husband craving for some garlic cheese pilaf, I wanted to pair it with a vegetable stew. The recipe kept forming by itself in my head, and I mentally kept on adding all the ingredients to it. I cross-verified it with the recipes in the Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East book and was all set to make it. That was then I realized that I had made something similar before. Quite different in terms of ingredients, and base, but almost similar in the method of making.
That was when it struck to me that like sambar, there can only be one method of making an Iranian Vegetable Stew. You just change the taste by altering the ingredients, or seasonings. And that’s how I got about to this recipe.

 

I used Smoked Tomato Puree (Recipe link below), an almost-staple in my fridge now, instead of regular tomato puree for an earthy flavour, and used different sets of vegetables. I also sautéed  them in butter instead of olive oil for a distinct butter flavour, and changed the seasonings.
Like I did, you can use this recipe as a template, and change the seasonings, and base of cooking. Use smoked or regular tomato puree, change the vegetables and use olive oil or butter. But to call it Iranian, don’t forget to use Dill. Add and remove the rest of the herbs to suit your taste.
Ingredients [Serves 4]
Cauliflower florets – 1 cup, cut and cleaned
Potato pieces – 1/2 cup, cut in cubes
Carrot pieces – 1/2 cup, cut in cubes
Smoked Tomato puree – 2.5 Cups [Click on the text for the recipe]
Onion – 1 cup, diced
Garlic – 1 tbsp, diced
Boiling water – 1 cup
Butter – 1 tbsp
Red chilli flakes – 1 tsp
Dried Dill – 1 tbsp
Dried Basil – 1 tsp
Pepper – 1 tsp, crushed
Sea Salt – to taste
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Ingredients
Sauté the onions and garlic slices in butter till they are pinkish, in a non-stick deep pan. Add the vegetables to this, and sauté for another 5 minutes on a medium flame. Add the herbs and chilli flakes for seasoning.
Add half the quantity of tomato puree, and the boiling water to the vegetables. Close the lid of the pan to cook for the vegetables. This should take ~10 mins on a medium flame.
Add the remaining tomato puree and bring the stew to a boil. Add salt to taste.
Garnish with parsley or coriander leaves. Add lemon juice if you like.
Serve warm with any pilaf.