Tawa Vegetables

There is this Indian restaurant near my home which serves a fantastic buffet. They claim that they are the largest buffet in North America! Well, I have to believe them as they truly have this wonderful spread of breads, soups, pizzas, pickles, other condiments like olives, pasta salads etc. vegetarian and meat dishes, Hakka dishes, chaats and pakoras and finally, the desserts! They have ice creams and Indian sweets to finish off the meal with. But there is one particular dish that always catches my attention and actually I am eager to savor that dish only is Tawa Vegetables. I tried to chat with the chef and find out how exactly they make it. He was reluctant at first but I didn't give up! I was pestering him for so long, he finally described a little method! The horrible thing was, all the veggies were deep fried! Well, it's a buffet, what else can we expect? After that day, I haven't eaten that dish there again! So I decided to give it a try at home by trying steaming and grilling the veggies instead of deep-frying them. And the result was so satisfying, I couldn't believe it!

I forgot to buy bitter melon so that wasn't included in this dish. Practically all the veggies that can be added in this tawa. At the restaurant, they present this dish on a large tawa, all the veggies separately and it looks very pretty. For the 3 of us, I didn't have to do all that! But if I ever make this for my parties, I will present it that way.

Tawa Vegetables
Ingredients
1 cup each big chunks of cauliflower, colored peppers, small eggplants(I used the Japanese one as I couldn't find small ones at the super market), whole baby potatoes, pearl onions(couldn't find them either!), paneer(thickly sliced), brussels sprouts, okra
Salt to taste
Whole cumin seeds,1 tbsp
1 tbsp kasoori methi
Red chili powder
Turmeric powder
Cumin powder
Garlic powder
Chaat masala - all to taste
Oil as required

How to:
Put chunks of veggies separetely in a baking dish. Drizzle with oil, toss a little and bake in 400° F oven till the veggies are tender.
Steam brussels sprouts.
Bake the brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, okra, egg plant and paneer the same way.
Keep them aside.
Heat up the oil in a wok.
Add cumin seeds and roast them.
Add red chili powder and kasoori methi and cook for a few seconds.
Now add rest of the spice powder but chaat masala and veggies.
Add little water so that all the vegetables get cooked.
Sprinkle with chaat masala and serve.