Vegan Aloo Wadi, Punjabi Inspired
After a long Sunday lie-in I decided to take Ayla to the best Indian supermarket here in Bristol, The Sweetmart (not a sponsored post, just love the shop). We had a fun day out exploring fruit and spices she’d never seen and I had to smile when she begged me for a bag of dry butter beans and the look on her face when I said she could have sweets made a fellow shopper laugh out loud. We did a £50 shop to supplement the £140 haul we did two weeks ago, meaning we’ve still spent under £10/person/week this month. Although we got a few organic non-necessities like vegan mayo, it was mostly staples I think will last a long time. I was excited to see Punjabi Wadi (or wari or vadi) because I’d tried it a few years back and it’s a real budget-friendly interesting addition to curries and spiced soups.
Ingredients (to taste)
oil
4 wadi, crushed up
sliced onion
4 cloves garlic, crushed
ginger
turmeric
curry paste
tin of tomatoes
tin of kala chana (brown chick peas)
tbsp almond powder
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
cup of frozen peas
extra firm tofu, cubed
Method
1. fry the wadi in oil until they start to darken. Set aside then fry the onion, garlic, ginger and fresh turmeric (if you can get it) until they start to soften then add curry powder. Fry until it starts to stick then add the tomatoes and chick peas, some almond powder and enough water to turn it all liquid. This masala will reduce lots later.
2. add the fried wadi to the masala, potatoes and peas. Bring to the boil then add tofu then adjust seasoning to taste.
3. pressure cook on full for 20 minutes then check to see if the wadi is soft. If not then boil for another ten minutes and check again
4. meanwhile cook rice or quinoa to taste. Add fresh fenugreek to the curry before serving and top with coriander if you like.
Eat East Indian’s Original Recipe
Here’s the video of the authentic vegetarian recipe, which contains yogurt and paneer (Indian cottage cheese). I chose to adapt the recipe to be vegan