veg kadai recipe with step by step pics – restaurant style delicious kadai vegetable gravy recipe.
at home, we like kadai recipes and so i make these on ocassions. though most of the times, i make kadai paneer as its easy to put together, this time i made mix vegetable kadai.
making veg kadai takes some more time than preparing kadai paneer as the veggies need to be cooked. but the results are too good and delicious. make this veg kadai gravy on weekends or for festive or family occasions as the gravy is a bit rich.
generally, kadai recipes are made in a kadai. kadai resembles the chinese wok, but is more broader & deeper than a wok. in india the kadai is used as an utensil for deep frying as well as to make many other dishes.
if you don’t have a kadai or wok then just make in a pot or pan. in this recipe i have made some variations in the kadai masala, which resulted in a better kadai gravy.
bell peppers are a must in the recipe. generally green bell peppers are added. however, even red or yellow colored bell peppers go well. you can even use a mix of all three bell peppers for a colorful dish. apart from bell peppers, the other veggies can be of your choice.
serve veg kadai gravy hot with tandoori rotis or naan or rotis or paratha or bread. also goes well with steamed rice, jeera rice or saffron rice or garam masala rice.
how to make veg kadai
1. begin by preparing the kadai masala. heat a small frying pan and add the following spices – 1 tbsp coriander seeds, ½ tsp cumin seeds, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, ½ inch cinnamon, 3 to 4 dry kashmiri red chilies, 1 tsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves), 7 to 9 cashews and 4 to 5 black pepper.
2. stir and roast till the spices become fragrant. no need to brown the spices.
3. when the ingredients cool down, add all of them in a dry grinder or spice grinder.
4. grind to a fine consistency. don’t make a coarse powder as the masala then comes in the mouth while eating. remove the kadai masala and keep aside. the cashews will release fat while grinding, but just scrape the masala from the sides and continue to grind again. substitutes for cashews are 6 to 7 almonds or ½ tbsp melon seeds (magaz). with almonds and melon seeds, the taste of the gravy will slightly change.
5. also puree 3 medium tomatoes (200 grams) in the same grinder if its big enough or in another blender or mixer. no need to blanch tomatoes before pureeing. keep the tomato puree aside.
preparing veggies
6. in a kadai or pan heat 1 tbsp oil and add ⅓ cup sliced onions and ½ cup sliced bell pepper. use any colored bell pepper/capsicum.
7. stir very well and saute the onions and bell peppers on a low to medium flame.
8. saute till the bell peppers are half cooked. about 5 to 6 minutes on a low to medium flame. some crunch is desirable in the bell peppers.
9. remove the sauteed onions and bell peppers aside. chop the potatoes and carrots in batons and keep aside too.
making veg kadai
10. in the same kadai, then heat 2 tbsp oil. add 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste. stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
11. next add ¼ cup finely chopped onions.
12. stir and saute the onions.
13. saute till they become light golden.
14. add the prepared tomato puree. if using ready tomato puree, then add ⅔ cup tomato puree.
15. add ¼ tsp turmeric powder and ¼ tsp red chili powder.
16. stir very well.
17. saute the masala till it thickens and you see oil releasing from the sides.
18. then add the potato, carrot batons along with ⅔ cup peas.
19. stir and saute for a minute.
20. add 1.5 to 2 cups water.
21. season with some salt. stir.
22. cover the pan. on a medium flame simmer and cook the veggies. check at intervals and if required, add more water.
23. the veggies need to be cooked well yet still retain shape. they should not become too soft. for a quick option, you can cook the veggies in a pressure cooker. pressure cook for 1 or 2 whistles and add 1 to 1.25 cups water.
24. then add the ground kadai masala reserving 1 tsp of it for garnish. stir very well.
25. add the sauteed bell peppers and onions.
26. mix and stir again very well.
27. simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. if the kadai vegetable gravy looks dry, then do add some water. toward the end, before the next step, if you want you can also add some paneer and simmer for two minutes till the paneer is cooked.
28. then add 3 tbsp cream. use low fat or whipping cream.
29. stir and mix the cream with the rest of the veg kadai gravy. switch off the flame. check the taste of gravy and add more salt if required.
30. lastly add 2 to 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves. stir again very well.
31. serve veg kadai hot garnished with some chopped coriander, ginger julienne and sprinkled with the reserved kadai masala. accompaniments for kadai vegetable curry are rumali roti, naan, chapati, paratha, bread. also goes well with steamed rice, jeera rice or ghee rice.
more curry recipes for you!
Veg Kadai
INGREDIENTS
for kadai masala
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- ½ inch cinnamon
- 3 to 4 dry kashmiri red chilies
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
- 8 to 9 whole cashews
- 4 to 5 black peppers
veggies for veg kadai
- 100 grams carrots Or ½ cup carrots cut in batons
- 100 grams potatoes Or ½ cup potatoes cut in batons
- ⅔ cup green peas - fresh or frozen
- 100 grams bell pepper or 1 medium sized or ½ cup sliced bell pepper (capsicum)
- 1/3 cup sliced onions
- 1 tablespoon oil for sauteing bell peppers and onions
for kadai vegetable gravy
- 2 tablespoon oil
- ¼ cup chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste Or ½ inch ginger and 3 to 4 garlic - crushed to a paste in mortar-pestle
- 200 grams tomatoes or 3 medium tomatoes pureed - about ⅔ cup tomato puree
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1.5 to 2 cups water
- 3 tablespoon low fat cream or whipping cream
- 2 to 3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves for garnish
- ½ inch ginger - julienne for garnish (optional)
- salt as required
INSTRUCTIONS
making kadai masala
- heat a small frying pan and add the following spices - 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 3 to 4 dry kashmiri red chilies, 1 tsp kasuri methi, 7 to 9 cashews, 4 to 5 black pepper.
- stir and roast till the spices become fragrant. no need to brown the spices.
- when the ingredients cool down, add all of them in a dry grinder or spice grinder.
- grind to a fine powder. remove the kadai masala and keep aside.
preparing veggies
- also puree 3 medium tomatoes (200 grams) in the same grinder if its big enough or in another blender or mixer. no need to blanch tomatoes before pureeing. keep aside.
- in a pan heat 1 tbsp oil and add 1/3 cup sliced onions and 1/2 cup sliced bell pepper. use any colored bell pepper.
- stir very well and saute the onions and bell pepper on a low to medium flame.
- saute till the bell peppers are half cooked. some crunch is desirable.
- remove the sauteed onions and bell peppers aside. chop the potatoes and carrots in batons and keep aside too.
making veg kadai
- in the same pan, then heat 2 tbsp oil. add 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste. stir and saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
- next add 1/4 cup finely chopped onions.
- stir and saute the onions till they become light golden.
- add the prepared tomato puree. if using ready tomato puree, then add 2/3 cup tomato puree.
- add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp red chili powder. stir very well.
- saute the masala till it thickens and you see oil releasing from the sides.
- then add the potato, carrot batons along with 2/3 cup peas.
- stir and saute for a minute.
- add 1.5 to 2 cups water. season with some salt. stir.
- cover the pan. on a medium flame simmer and cook the veggies. check at intervals and if required, add more water.
- the veggies need to be cooked well yet still retain shape. they should not become too soft.
- then add the ground kadai masala reserving 1 tsp of it for garnish. stir very well.
- add the sauteed bell peppers (capsicum) and onions.
- mix and stir again very well.
- simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. if the kadai vegetable gravy looks dry, then do add some water.
- then add 3 tbsp cream. use low fat or whipping cream.
- stir and mix the cream with the rest of the gravy. switch off the flame.
- lastly add 2 to 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves. stir again very well.
- serve veg kadai gravy hot garnished with some chopped coriander and sprinkled with the reserved kadai masala.
- accompaniments for veg kadai are tandoori rotis, naan, chapati, paratha, bread. also goes well with steamed rice, jeera rice or saffron rice.
NOTES
2 tbsp cream - 1 tbsp milk powder or dairy whitener
cashews - almonds or melon seeds/magaz
kashmiri red chilies - any less to medium hot dry red chilies
kasuri methi - a pinch of fenugreek seed powder vegan substitutes:
dairy cream - coconut cream
paneer - tofu
Hi. Can we use milk in place of cream if not available?
yes, you can use milk.
Plz share this same recipe in hindi Plzzzz as soon as possible plz
Hello,
This came out delicious. I skipped the potatoes, peas and carrot, and instead used cauliflower, brocolli and paneer to keep it low carb. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes you post, as well as the step by step instructions. I’ve been making your recipes for a couple of years now, so apologies for this late thank you note 😊.
Kind rgds
Kirthana
Welcome Kirthana. Its alright. Thanks for sharing your positive feedback on recipes. Also good to know the variation you did to the recipe. Happy Cooking.
wow…!! it came well ..!! <3 <3 thnkz a lot..!!
Welcome Ilakya
Made this today.. really awesome!! Thank you!
Welcome Vinu
Hi
Dassana I tried several of your receipies. Each and every one of them turned out good. I am very much thankful to you.
Vina bhatt
thanks a lot vina and happy cooking.
Hi tried this recipie ,,,,it turned out really well,,,,i added almonds as i didnt have cashews but the recipie was a hit ,,,thanks for the step by step recipies,,,,,,, you make vegetarian recipies interesting😊😊
welcome kavita. thanks for your positive feedback.
Hi,
We experiment a lot in our kitchen. Yesterday we prepared veg kadai. After a long time, we got the taste right…
Thanks a lot.
Supriya and Vishwas
Welcome Supriya & Vishwas. Glad to know this. Do try some more recipes.
Hi
I tried ur recipe but I used brocolli, baby corn, bell peppers. It is yum!! My husband and I love it.. Thanks a lot !
thanks a lot vrindha for sharing the variations and also the feedback on veg kadai gravy recipe.
I always switch to ur website wenever i wanna cook something different and i have to say everytime each dish turned out yummy. Thanks for all ur tasty recipes. Keep posting. Thank u ma’m
thanks a lot madhuri. will sure keep adding more recipes.
Made this dish yesterday. Turned out very delicious.
My family Freaked on it . Thanks a lot.
thanks deepa for this feedback. glad to know.
Made it,according to your recipe.It was very tasty. Thank you. Use of milk powder ,if cream is not available , is nice idea. Thanks, again.
thanks anu for the feedback. in fact milk powder can be used in most gravy recipes where cream is not available. but it has to be used sparingly or less as too much will make the gravy sweet.
Made mix veg ,according to ur recipe, it was very tasty. Thank you.
welcome anu, thanks for positive feedback.
I made it four times and everytime it was very tasty.
thanks jaya 🙂
Hi dasanna,
I have tried this recipe and veg pulao for a get together party of 15 people.Both came out very tasty.Thank you so much for the recipes.
thanks sruthi for positive views, glad your folks liked the vegetable kadai recipe. you are always welcome 🙂
Hi dasanna amit
You’re really a blessing to beginners like me. The step by step guidance, the quantity measurement in fact everything is soo easy to understand.
I tried learning from my MIL and SIL, but they being well versed always used to drop quantities by hand and could never tell me measurement exactly.
Thank you so soo so much.
welcome always soumya glad to know our food blog could help you. thankyou for your kind and positive words 🙂
Hi, Thanks for such a wonderful collection of recipes with step wise step. I hav tried a lot of recipes from ur site n all the recipes turn out excellent…. Going to try vegetable kadai…. Really grt fan of ur site… Thanks once again….
pleased to know this thankyou rajitha 🙂
Hi,
I tried this recipe today and it came out very well.everyone loved it.Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
welcome radha and thankyou for your kind words 🙂 glad you liked the vegeetable kadai gravy recipe.
Can we add beans ?
yes you can add beans.
Hello …your recipes are real good…I tried out this recipe and it turned out real good….
Tnx for d recepies chef..it’s very interesting and step by step process helps me a lot.plz share more veg recepies which will help me to cook better
pleased to know this preety thankyou for your honest and positive words 🙂
Shall i use all three ingrediants cashews magaz and almond for the kadhi masala…..
no need to use all three ingredients together. either use cashews or almonds or almonds+magaz.
Hi,
Do you add paneer in the recipe?if so,how much and when to use it?
ahswini, you can add paneer. about 100 to 150 grams should be fine. add at step 27. almost towards the end, before you add cream.
Hi,
Thanks so much for the recipes. Have tried a lot of them and they had come out so well. Your step by step pictures make it still more interesting. Keep sharing. Whenever I think of trying any new North Indian recipes I refer your site only.
pleased to know this nithya 🙂 thankyou for your kind and encouraging words. god bless you.
2day i try veg kadai thanks a lot becus in 10 yrs my child & husband give me a complement I m add others vegetables in & avoid cream
pleased to know this thankyou rashmi for your honest and positive words. glad your family liked the vegetable kadai 🙂
Hi
Tried kadai vegetable today…and it came out fantastic. .my kids loved it….I have tried many of ur recipes and ur blog is excellent… Thank u for such superb recipes….
thank you sujatha. nice to know 🙂