SPICE-LIOUS WINTER STEW

While I wish when I wake up tomorrow I don't have to wear my winter jacket, winter boots or get static electricity shocks every now and then, that I know is not going to happen. So I'm going to do what a good friend of mine tells me "Suck it up buttercup". It's snowing outside again and that makes me crave for some wintery stews and soups. So today I am going to share one of my mom's recipe. Even though it is not a typical Odia recipe but I can assure you that it will bring the same warmth and homeliness :) 

Odisha is hot almost all year round, so winter is when we have access to fresh vegetables. Keep in mind that I am talking about a time when frozen fruits and vegetables were not easily accessible, so vegetables like bell peppers, carrots etc would be fresher in winter than in summer. 

This stew has lots of spices that makes it the perfect winter weekday dinner, calming, soothing and invigorating at the same time. Hope you enjoy making it. Here goes:

PREP TIME	COOKING TIME	SERVES
10 minutes	20 minutes	4 - 5

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients	Quantity
Assorted Vegetables (select your favourite vegetables) I used carrots, green beans, zucchini, broccoli	3 - 4 cups (the more the merrier)
Onions	1 medium sized
Tomato	1 medium sized
Green chillies	2 - 3
Bay leaves	a pinch
Whole Black pepper	4 - 5 (add more to make the stew more spicy)
Cloves	4 - 5
Cinnamon	1 stick ( you can use cinnamon powder as well )
Vegetable broth (optional)	1 small mason jar / 1 and half cup
Water	1 small mason jar / 1 and half cup
Oil	2 Tablespoons (I use vegetable oil but you can use olive oil or butter)
Mung beans	1/2 cup
Salt	To taste

PREP

• Wash all the vegetables thoroughly and dice them into small pieces, don't make them too small because we want a chunky stew.
• Dice the onions and tomatoes
• Cut the green chillies into small pieces 

• Pressure cook the mung beans. If you don't want to use mung beans or don't have them ready, you can always use chickpeas or canned kidney beans. Mung beans add the protein to this dish. 

PROCEDURE

• Heat your soup pot on medium heat and add oil
• Now add the bay leaves. cloves, whole black peppers and the cinnamon stick
• You'll start getting a really sweet aroma from all the spices, make sure not to burn them and always maintain medium heat

• Add the green chillies 
• Add the diced onions and fry them

• Add the hard to cook vegetables first, I added the green beans and carrots first. Cook for about 5 minutes and add the easy to cook vegetables, I added zucchini and broccoli

• Add salt and stir fry the vegetables for around 5 minutes more and then add the lentils or beans 
• Now add the vegetable stock and equal amount of water
• The last step is to add the tomatoes 

• Cover and cook until vegetables are done

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Serve hot with a bread or you can have it all by itself.

Feedback and comments always welcome!