Vegetable schezwan
Your 5-a-day serving of vegetables never looked as good as they do in this Indo-Chinese specialty
| PREP TIME | 40 m |
|---|---|
| COOK TIME | 40m |
| SERVES | 4-6 |
Par-boiled vegetables
2 baby corn, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and cut into pieces
250gm (1 cup) cauliflower, cut into pieces
Raw vegetables
5-6 button mushrooms, sliced or left whole
1 ½ cup cabbage, shredded
50gm bean sprouts
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
8 tbsp cornflour
150ml stock
2 tbsp oil
Seasonings
½ inch ginger, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 green chilli, seeded and chopped finely
3 tbsp chilli paste
4-5 dried red chillies or 4 tbsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
For the garnish
2 spring onions, sliced finely
1. For par-boiled vegetables heat a pot of water and bring to boil. Put vegetables into the water to half cook or par boil them. It's best to cook them in batches so that the water remains at a strong boil (about 2 minutes per batch of vegetables). Drain immediately and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Take some of the reserved stock and mix with cornflour to the consistency of milk. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the seasonings — ginger, garlic, celery, onions and green chilli (about 2-3 minutes). Add chilli paste, dried red chillies (or red chilli powder), and ketchup and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the stock and bring to a boil, add the raw vegetables and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the par-boiled vegetables. Thicken the stock with some of the cornflour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with spring onions and serve immediately.
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