Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals are easy to make dry sautes with different vegetables with a common spice powder.
For some of the Indian Festivals like Ugadi, Purattasi Padayal or Shanivaralu Panduga, we make four to five different dry vegetable sautes as Neivedyam. We mostly make vegetable stir fries with Brinjal, Lady's Finger, Cluster Beans, Green Leaves like Avisaku.
Today's Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals are stir fries with spice masala, a Andhra Style Spice Powder or Thalimpu Podi.
Amma uses onions and garlic for her dishes offered as Neivedyam for festivals like Ugadi or Purattasi sani. Ugadi is a festival where we pray to our ancestor. We offer their favorite food as offerings.
We use onions and garlic while preparing these Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals. However the Medu Vada doesn't have onions in it. So I really don't' know the reason. Though I do enjoy eating plain Medu Vada. You can also check special dishes made for Ugadi.
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Ingredients Needed
We use onions, garlic, dry red chilies for tempering all the vegetables.
Vegetables - We use vegetables like Brinjals, Lady's Finger, Avisa Keerai, Cluster Beans to make these dry sautes.
Spice Powder - All dry sautes uses the Thalimpu Podi.
Onions - We saute before adding the boiled vegetables.
Other ingredients - For tempering, we use mustard, urad dal, curry leaves and Red chilies.
Instructions
When you are going to start these Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals, it helps if you plan well and start the cooking process.
Avisaku Vepudu - Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals
Avisa or Agati or Agastya or katurai, are some of the names this green leaves are called. Sesbania grandiflora, also known as vegetable hummingbird or west Indian pea. This has edible flowers and leaves. The leaves are very healthy that these are used as fodder as well.
Wash and clean the green leaves, let it drain completely.
Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon oil, temper with 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, urad dal, garlic, curry leaves and 2 red chilies. Cook for few minutes.
Now add the drained leaves, mix well.
Add turmeric powder and salt, simmer with a lid covered for 5 to 7 mins.
Let the water evaporates completely.
Finally sprinkle 2 tsp of Spice powder, mix well and transfer to a bowl.
Brinjal Vepudu - Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals
Next on the Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals, we have Brinjal Fry.
Heat a kadai with 2 teaspoon of oil, add mustard, urad and curry leaves.
Add 1/2 cup finely chopped onions and saute until it browns slightly.
Wash and chop the brinjal into 1 inch pieces, add this to the pan, mix everything well.
Add turmeric powder and salt, mix everything well.
Simmer and cover with a lid to cook the brinjal for 5 to 7 mins.
Remove the lid, add 2 teaspoon of the spice powder, mix well.
When the brinjals are soft to touch, its done.
Transfer to a bowl.
Bendakaya Vepudu / Lady's Finger Fry
Wash and wipe the okra dry, let it get completely dry before you chop it into 1/2 inch pieces.
After chopping everything, spread on a plate to dry until you make the fry.
Heat a nonstick pan with 2 teaspoon oil, temper with mustard, urad and curry leaves.
Next add the chopped okra and mix well.
Once the pieces are well mixed, sprinkle turmeric powder and salt.
Combine and cook on low flame for at least 10 mins, while you keep stirring in interval.
When the vendakkai is done, add 2 teaspoon of spice powder to the vegetable.
Mix and let it cook for 5 minutes.
Switch off and transfer to a bowl.
Cluster Beans Poriyal - Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals
Clean and prep the cluster beans. Chop into 1 inch pieces.
Bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the beans and cook until done. This takes about 5 to 7 mins. We mostly drain the water away and don't use it as sometimes the cluster beans are bitter.
Heat a kadai with 2 teaspoon of oil. Temper with mustard, urad dal and curry leaves.
Add 1/2 cup finely chopped onions and cook until it browns.
Now add the boiled cluster beans and mix well.
Add turmeric powder and salt, combine everything well.
Next add 2 teaspoon of spice powder, mix everything.
Simmer for few minutes until the spice masala gets well mixed.
Switch off and transfer to a bowl.
Substitutions & Variations
While making these Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Recipes for Festivals, If you want to use regular spice powders, you can go ahead as well.
I normally add just chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric and salt to lady's finger.
Brinjal and Cluster beans always have the roasted peanut powder added in the end.
While we add cooked toor dal to all greens.
Equipment
If we want to cook everything together, then we will need four kadais to cook at the same time. However, you can always wash one and go to the next one.
A mixer grinder to make the spice powder.
Storage
We can't store the cooked vegetables as they can't stay fresh. However, you can make the spice powder ahead and store it.
How to plan the cooking
Since for festivals the food is cooked just before serving, planning on how you will cook.
Dry roast the spices for the spice powder, allow it to cool down, grind to a texture that's not very coarse and not very smooth at the same time.
Store in a box until usage.
We will be making all the vegetables together. Making all these within short time, means we have to start with difficult chore and move on.
So start with washing the leaves and once done, drain over the colander for excess water to drain away.
Wash and dry the lady's finger, then chop into pieces, spread on a plate for it to dry.
Now clean and chop the cluster beans, bring a pot of water to boil, add the beans and cook until done.
Start with cooking the greens as the greens shouldn't stand for long.
Once the cooking is going on, next have the okra to the pan. This will also need to be cooked on slow flame.
So while okra and greens is getting done, have the pan for brinjal ready.
Wash and chop the brinjal soak in water and add to the pan right away.
While brinjal is simmering, have the pan for cluster beans on flame.
Add the ingredients needed and cover with lid.
All the stir fries takes about 5 to 7 mins to get done.
Finally add the spice powder to each, mix well and remove.
Recipe
Quick and Easy Dry Vegetarian Festival Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 cup Onions finely chopped
- 3 sprigs Curry Leaves
- 4 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 5 to 6 Dried Red Chilies
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup Spice Powder
- 2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon Urad dal
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 3 cups Avisaku
- 2 cups Brinjal
- 2 cups Lady's Finger
- 1 cup Cluster Beans
Instructions
Avisaku Vepudu
- Wash and clean the green leaves, let it drain completely.
- Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon oil, temper with 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, urad dal, garlic, curry leaves and 2 red chilies.
- Cook for few minutes.
- Now add the drained leaves, mix well.
- Add turmeric powder and salt, simmer with a lid covered for 5 to 7 mins.
- Let the water evaporates completely.
- Finally sprinkle 2 tsp of Spice powder, mix well and transfer to a bowl.
Brinjal Vepudu
- Heat a kadai with 2 teaspoon of oil, add mustard, urad and curry leaves.
- Add 1/2 cup finely chopped onions and saute until it browns slightly.
- Wash and chop the brinjal into 1 inch pieces.
- Add this to the pan, mix everything well.
- Add turmeric powder and salt, mix everything well.
- Simmer and cover with a lid to cook the brinjal for 5 to 7 mins.
- Remove the lid, add 2 teaspoon of the spice powder, mix well.
- When the brinjals are soft to touch, its done.
- Transfer to a bowl.
Bendakaya Vepudu / Lady's Finger Fry
- Wash and wipe the okra dry, let it get completely dry before you chop it into 1/2 inch pieces.
- After chopping everything, spread on a plate to dry until you make the fry.
- Heat a nonstick pan with 2 teaspoon oil, temper with mustard, urad and curry leaves.
- Next add the chopped okra and mix well.
- Once the pieces are well mixed, sprinkle turmeric powder and salt.
- Combine and cook on low flame for at least 10 mins, while you keep stirring in interval.
- When the vendakkai is done, add 2 teaspoon of spice powder to the vegetable.
- Mix and let it cook for 5 minutes.
- Switch off and transfer to a bowl.
Cluster Beans Poriyal
- Clean and prep the cluster beans.
- Chop into 1 inch pieces.
- Bring a pan of water to a boil.
- Add the beans and cook until done. This takes about 5 to 7 mins.
- We mostly drain the water away and don't use it as sometimes the cluster beans are bitter.
- Heat a kadai with 2 teaspoon of oil.
- Temper with mustard, urad dal and curry leaves.
- Add 1/2 cup finely chopped onions and cook until it browns.
- Add the boiled cluster beans and mix well.
- Add turmeric powder and salt, combine everything well.
- Next add 2 teaspoon of spice powder, mix everything.
- Simmer for few minutes until the spice masala gets well mixed.
- Switch off and transfer to a bowl.
Rajani says
I am trying the brinjal with the peanut podi version soon Valli..Festival prep can be quite a task, good to have a set process and then go by it!!