Mixed Sabzi

By Zainab Shah

Updated November 11, 2021

  • Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(921)
Comments
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Some English words have become part of Urdu names for dishes, as with this one, which is called mixed sabzi. Sabzi is the Urdu word for vegetables and the recipe calls for a mix of vegetables stir-fried and simply spiced for a quick weeknight main, or hefty side. Whatever’s in season tends to taste best. In Pakistan, it is most often made with cauliflower, potatoes, peas and carrots. But, it is great with any vegetables really: eggplant, green beans, bell peppers, bitter gourd or pumpkin, too. For convenience, you can even use mixed frozen vegetables. Roti or cooked rice are ideal for serving alongside.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • 3 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil

  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

  • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste or grated ginger

  • 1 tablespoon garlic paste or grated garlic

  • 1 medium red onion, finely chopped

  • 2 plum tomatoes, chopped

  • 2 Thai green chiles or small hot red chiles, finely chopped

  • 1 teaspoon garam masala

  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder

  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri or other mild red chile powder

  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt

  • 1 ½ cups cauliflower florets (from ½ cauliflower)

  • 1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes

  • 1 carrot, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes

  • ½ cup fresh or frozen peas

  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

15 grams carbs; 131 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 8 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 323 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 4 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat ghee in a medium pot over medium until it melts, 30 to 45 seconds. Add cumin and mustard seeds and stir until the seeds start sputtering, 1 to 3 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

  2. Step 2

    Add onion and cook, stirring often, until it starts to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, chiles, garam masala, turmeric and red chile powder. Add salt and mix well. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are tender and the oil starts to separate, about 4 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Add the cauliflower, potato, carrot, peas and ½ cup water and mix well. Cover and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Uncover and cook on high, stirring occasionally, to your desired sauciness, 2 to 5 minutes. Top with cilantro and serve.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
921 user ratings
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Comments

Prakash Nadkarni

A nice intro to Punjabi veg. cooking. The onion-spice-tomato base is very versatile, and any combination of the veggies, or a subset, can be used. Google "alu gobi", "gobi matar". "alu matar" (alu=potato; matar=peas; gobi=cauliflower/cabbage - both are cultivars of Brassica oleracea, see Wikipedia). A Bombay version,"pav bhaji" (pav=bread, from Portuguese "pao") adds chaat masala + loads of butter, and then baby-foods it by mashing the veggies, serving it with pan-toasted buttered rolls.

Mia

Made this for dinner and it was really tasty! I added some soaked chickpeas for a bit more protein. I definitely needed more than 1/2 cup of liquid, though.

CC

Add chick peas for protein. Needs more water than recipe says

EC

I used frozen cauliflower and frozen peas (in addition to the potato and carrot) and was very happy with the results. In the future, I might use all frozen veggies for ease, as suggested in the introduction. Still tasted great and wasn't mushy. Only used 1-1.5 tsp salt and that was plenty. It would have been over-salted with 2 tsp.

Kate

Delicious!

Trial by Error

Wanted to try this as-written, but got to the half cauliflower and ended up using the whole thing. Threw the ratios off a bit, so I added a can of diced tomatoes, and more water to steam. Took longer than 10 minutes to cook down the cauliflower. Looked watery in the end, so added some tomato paste to thicken. Still excellent! Would make again! Maybe with some wilted greens? Excited to try some different combinations with this base.

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