MIXED VEGETABLE KADAI MASALA CURRY (Stove Top and Instant Pot)

Mixed Vegetable Kadai Masala is a restaurant style Indian curry enjoyed as a side dish with any Indian flat bread or even jeera rice!  Fresh, crunchy vegetables are sauteed in a tomato-onion gravy and seasoned with a special freshly ground masala powder called “kadai masala powder”!

With both options to make on a stove top and Instant Pot as well as step wise instructions, making this delicious Indian curry is super easy in your home!

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Who doesn't love Indian curries? Although we love our south Indian sambars, idlis, ghashis and upkaris, the aroma of a simmering North Indian curry is always tempting, especially this Mixed Vegetable Kadai Masala curry!

 WHAT IS KADAI MASALA?

It is a special blend of spices which are roasted fresh and stirred into the curry to give its unique flavor and aroma! The more popular dishes which use this masala are vegetable kadai, chicken kadai, kadai paneer etc.!

The basic spices of this special spice mixture are simple; just coriander seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chilies. I have stirred in a couple of fresh green cardamoms to give it an earthy, smoky, floral aroma!

The word “kadai” came from the fact that this curry is traditionally prepared in a deep wok-like dish called “kadai” or karhai”!

Although this spice powder is available in any Indian store, nothing like freshly homemade! You can blend a large quantity of this aromatic powder and use it to spice up any other curry, pulao, rice etc. or just use a mix of red chili powder, coriander powder and cumin seeds powder with a dash of green cardamom powder instead.

MAKING VEGETABLE KADAI MASALA CURRY:

Once the spice mix is ready and all the veggies are chopped and onion-tomato-cashew/almond masala paste is ready, it takes no time to make this delicious curry.

Use any vegetable you have to make this curry. I have used carrots, potatoes, bell peppers and green peas.

You can either saute them separately or make it like I have: I boiled the fresh peas and potatoes and once done, stirred in carrots just to blanch them! I still needed the crunch of carrots in every bite!

To retain the aroma and crunch/bite of onions and bell peppers, I flash fried them for a few seconds on high heat, just to sear them!

Once the vegetables and kadai masala powder were ready, I just mixed them into a well roasted spicy onion-tomato gravy.  A shower of dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) and cilantro leaves to perk up the dish some more and you are ready to dive into a restaurant style mixed vegetable kadai curry!

You can make it traditionally like in a kadai or saucepan or if you have an Instant Pot, it comes out fabulous in that too!

INSTANT POT MIXED VEGETABLE KADAI (UPDATED MARCH 26, 2021) :

Being here in the US sometimes, I tend to make most of my curries or dishes in my Instant Pot and Mixed Vegetable Kadai too ended up cooked in my IP and came out as good as the stove top one!

To make it easier, I skipped the step of roasting the "kadai masala" spices separately and then blending them by using already powdered coriander, red chili and cumin powders.

I avoided preboiling the veggies too (leaving out onions and bell peppers) and pressure cooked them along with the kadai masala paste and then stirred in the sauteed onions and bell peppers into the final curry just before serving to retain their crispiness!

I would say, it is one of my most delicious curries by far! Doesn't it look gorgeous too?

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

You can enjoy this ever popular curry either with rotis, parathas, naan, puris etc. or even rice! We enjoyed it with freshly made beetroot paratha.

To make the beetroot paratha, I boiled and pureed a medium-sized beetroot and stirred into whole wheat flour along with a dash of garam masala and salt to make a soft and pliable dough.

I then rolled them and shallow fried them like any other paratha!

This combination turned out to be a winner in my house (my husband’s words!) and I cannot wait to make it again!

When making with Instant Pot, enjoyed it with crispy Aloo Parathas, stuffed with potato masala leftover from weekend samosas!

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

For more similar curries, do check out some of these from my blog:

• Aloo Tikka Masala Curry
• Gulab Jamun Ki Sabzi/Curry
• Mushroom Matar Malai Curry

LETS MAKE IT!

STEP-WISE INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE MIXED VEGETABLE KADAI MASALA CURRY:

TO MAKE THE KADAI MASALA  POWDER:

In a wide saucepan, roast the dry spices; coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamoms and dry red chilies on medium heat for a few minutes, stirring often.

Once they turn slightly brown, remove, cool and make into a fairly fine powder.

This is the kadai masala needed to make this delicious curry.

TO MAKE THE TOMATO PUREE:

Make a fine paste of all the ingredients listed; tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger and soaked almonds (or cashews) in a blender jar. Keep aside.

PREPARE THE VEGETABLES:

MAKING IN A STOVE TOP SAUCEPAN:

Boil potatoes and green peas in enough water until the potatoes are almost cooked. During the last few minutes of cooking, stir in the chopped carrots and cook until they are crisp tender; do not overcook the carrots! Drain and keep aside.

Meanwhile, while the potatoes are boiling, in a wide saucepan, heat one tablespoon of oil on high heat and stir fry onions and bell peppers along with some black pepper powder for a couple of minutes until they are slightly soft, but still maintain the crunch!

Remove from pan, drain and set aside. Use the water to thin the gravy.

TO MAKE THE MIXED VEGETABLE KADAI MASALA GRAVY:

In a kadai/deep saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons oil and once hot, add the bay leaf; saute for a few seconds and then tip in the tomato-onion puree.

Cook the tomato paste on medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add the dry spice powders; Kashmiri red chili powder, haldi and coriander powders, mix well and cook again until the oil separates.

Add 2 tablespoons of the prepared kadai masala powder (or even less/more depending upon your preference), stir to combine.

Add the cooked potatoes, carrots and peas along with the water and mix well.

Add pinch of sugar and salt to taste along with garam masala powder and kasoori methi.

Bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Add more water if needed.

At this stage, stir in sauteed onions and bell pepper, mix well and simmer the curry for about 1 more minute.  Make sure not to overcook the bell peppers.

Adjust the consistency of the gravy to your preference.

Remove from heat and serve garnished with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

TO MAKE IN AN INSTANT POT:

Blend ½ cup cubed onion, ¾ cup tomatoes, 1 inch ginger, 2 cloves garlic and ¼ cup soaked cashews in hot water to a smooth paste. Set aside. Same as above.

Turn Instant Pot on and press the "saute" button. When it says "hot", add 4 tbsp oil.

When the oil is fairly hot, stir in 3/4 cup cubed onions and 1/2 cup cubed bell peppers/capsicum.

Add a pinch of salt and a dash of black pepper powder and stir fry until slightly cooked and charred; do not overcook!

Remove from pot and set aside the sauteed veggies in a bowl. At this stage, while removing the veggies, you can turn the IP off to avoid any overheating or burning.

Once the veggies are removed, turn the pot to saute again and if needed, add more oil.

Add 1 bay leaf and 2 green cardamoms and saute a few seconds.

Stir in the onion-tomato-cashew puree along with 1 tbsp plus  1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder and 1 1/2 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder.

Fry, stirring often until the oil starts to ooze from the sides. Keep scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid masala from burning.

Add 1 cup julienned potatoes, 1/2 cup each carrots, green peas, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder, 1 tsp crushed kasoori methi powder and salt to taste.and mix well.

Stir in 1 1/2 cups hot water.  Give it a good mix, scrape well to make sure there is no burnt masala at the bottom of the pan.

Close the Instant Pot, press the "cancel" button and then pressure cook on "LOW" for exactly 4 minutes.

After 4 minutes, quick release the pressure manually and open the pot immediately to avoid further cooking.

Mix well and add more water or seasonings if needed.

Turn the pot to "saute" and stir in the set aside onions and bell peppers and mix well.

Simmer for a couple of minutes, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Mixed Vegetable Kadai Masala curry goes so good with any Indian flat bread like roti, paratha, naan etc. It goes great with jeera rice, plain rice or even with some soft fresh or toasted slices of bread!

Enjoy Foodies and Happy Cooking!

Print

Mixed vegetable kadai Masala Curry (Stove Top and Instant Pot Methods)

Fresh, crunchy vegetables sautéed in a tomato-onion gravy and seasoned with a freshly ground masala powder called “kadai masala powder”, a perfect accompaniment to naans, rotis, parathas or even a bowl of hot steamed plain rice or jeera rice!

Course Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Indian, North Indian

Keyword curry, Instant Pot, kadai, masala, plant based, side dish, spices, Vegan, vegetables

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author curryandvanilla

Ingredients

FOR THE KADAI MASALA POWDER:

• 1 ½ tbsp coriander seeds 1 tbsp powder
• ½ tbsp jeera/cumin seeds 1 tsp cumin powder
• 4 dry red chilies 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder
• 2 green cardamoms 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder

FOR THE TOMATO-ONION PUREE:

• 1 medium sized onion roughly chopped (½ cup cubed onions)
• 2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped (¾ cup tomatoes)
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup cashews/almonds soaked in warm water for 20 minutes

VEGETABLES NEEDED:

• 1 large onion cubed (3/4 cup cubed onions)
• ½ bell pepper/capsicum cubed (1/2 cup cubed)
• 1 potato peeled and julienned (1 cup)
• 1 small carrot peeled and julienned (1/2 cup)
• ½ cup green peas fresh or frozen

FOR THE KADAI MASALA GRAVY:

• 3 tbsp cooking oil plus 1 tbsp
• 1 large bay leaf
• ½ tsp haldi/turmeric powder
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder or paprika powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp crushed kasoori methi dry fenugreek leaves
• Salt to taste
• Pinch of sugar if needed to balance the flavors
• Chopped coriander leaves/cilantro for garnish

Instructions

TO MAKE THE KADAI MASALA POWDER:

1. In a wide saucepan, roast the dry spices; coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamoms and dry red chilies on medium heat for a few minutes, stirring often.
2. Once they turn slightly brown, remove, cool and make into a fairly fine powder.
3. This is the kadai masala needed to make this delicious curry.

TO MAKE THE TOMATO PUREE:

1. Make a fine paste of all the ingredients listed; tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger and soaked almonds (or cashews) in a blender jar. Keep aside.

PREPARE THE VEGETABLES

MAKING IN A STOVE TOP SAUCEPAN:

1. Boil potatoes and green peas in enough water until the potatoes are almost cooked. During the last few minutes of cooking, stir in the chopped carrots and cook until they are crisp tender; do not overcook the carrots! Drain and keep aside.
2. Meanwhile, while the potatoes are boiling, in a wide saucepan, heat one tablespoon of oil on high heat and stir fry onions and bell peppers along with some black pepper powder for a couple of minutes until they are slightly soft, but still maintain the crunch!
3. Remove from pan, drain and set aside. Use the water to thin the gravy.

TO MAKE THE MIXED VEGETABLE KADAI GRAVY:

1. In a kadai/deep saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons oil and once hot, add the bay leaf; saute for a few seconds and then tip in the tomato-onion puree.
2. Cook the tomato paste on medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously.
3. Add the dry spice powders; Kashmiri red chili powder, haldi and coriander powders, mix well and cook again until the oil separates.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of the prepared kadai masala powder (or even less/more depending upon your preference), stir to combine.
5. Add the cooked potatoes, carrots and peas along with the water and mix well.
6. Add pinch of sugar and salt to taste along with garam masala powder and kasoori methi.
7. Bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Add more water if needed.
8. At this stage, stir in sauteed onions and bell pepper, mix well and simmer the curry for about 1 more minute. Make sure not to overcook the bell peppers.
9. Adjust the consistency of the gravy to your preference.
10. Remove from heat and serve garnished with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

TO MAKE IN AN INSTANT POT:

1. Blend ½ cup cubed onion, ¾ cup tomatoes, 1 inch ginger, 2 cloves garlic and ¼ cup soaked cashews in hot water to a smooth paste. Set aside.

2. Turn Instant Pot on and press the "saute" button. When it says "hot", add 4 tbsp oil.

3. Stir in 3/4 cup cubed onions and 1/2 cup cubed bell peppers/capsicum.
4. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of black pepper powder and stir fry until slightly cooked and charred; do not overcook!
5. Remove from pot and set aside in a bowl. At this stage, while removing the veggies, you can turn the IP off to avoid any overheating or burning.
6. Once the veggies are removed, turn the pot to saute again and if needed, add more oil.
7. Add 1 bay leaf and 2 green cardamoms and saute a few seconds.
8. Stir in the onion-tomato-cashew puree along with 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder and 1 1/2 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder.
9. Fry, stirring often until the oil starts to ooze from the sides. Keep scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid masala from burning.

10. Add 1 cup julienned potatoes, 1/2 cup each carrots, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder, 1 tbsp crushed dried fenugreek leaves, green peas and mix well.

11. Stir in 1 1/2 cups hot water and salt to taste. Give it a good mix, making sure there is no burnt masala at the bottom of the pan, scraping well.

12. Close the Instant Pot, press the "cancel" button and then pressure cook on "LOW" for exactly 4 minutes.
13. After 4 minutes, quick release the pressure manually and open the pot immediately to avoid further cooking.
14. Mix well and add more water or seasonings if needed.
15. Turn the pot to "saute" and stir in the set aside onions and bell peppers and mix well.
16. Simmer for a couple of minutes, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

1. Spicy and mouth-watering Mixed Vegetable Kadai is ready to be served hot with any Indian flat bread like roti, paratha, naan etc. It goes great with rice or even slices of fresh or toasted bread!

2. Enjoy Foodies and Happy Cooking!

Recipe Notes

• Use any kind of vegetables you like or have like cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms etc. Even paneer can be added.
• For the paneer (Indian cottage cheese) lover, stir in thick julienned or cubed paneer into the gravy at the end along with onions and bell peppers. You can add them fresh or slightly sautéed.
• Adjust the amount of spices according to personal preference.
  Make the gravy as thin or as thick as you like.
• If making using freshly ground kadai masala powder, leftover masala powder can be used to spice up any curry or even pulao!

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