Sweet and Sour vegetables

Sweet and sour vegetables recipe- As i am a big fan of Chinese food i keep trying different Chinese dishes. So whenever i prepare either chinese fried rice,shezwan rice or chinese noodles i prepare the sweet and sour vegetables to go along with it.

The sweet and sour vegetables recipe is extremely easy and can be made in a jiffy... The choice of vegetables is also dependant on you. Apart from the basic veggies used in chinese cooking like capsicum, carrot and beans,...you can add mushrooms, sweet corn, babycorn as well.

As the name suggests... the dish is sweet as well as sour. The sweetness comes from the tomato sauce and sugar, and the sourness comes from soy sauce and vinegar. The vegetables need to be blanced first and then stir fried on high flame... as is usually done in chinese cooking.
I have used celery in the recipe as i got it from an online supermarket easily. Though if you don't find celery... just skip it. Also i dint add aginomoto or msg in the dish since i dont't prefer using it when i am  cooking for kids. Aginomoto can be added if you wish so... as it adds to the taste of the dish.
The shape into which you want to cut your veggies is upto personal choice. Just maintain a harmony among the veggies i.e if you are cutting them in squares or slicing them thinly... all the veggies should be in similar size and shape. This helps in even cooking of the dish and also maintains the look of it.

Recipe of Sweet and sour vegetables:

Prep.time- 20 mins       Cooking time- 15 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 medium carrot sliced thinly
• Half of a cauliflower or broccoli cut into small florets
• 8-9 french beans sliced diagonally
• 1 medium onion, quartered and layers separated
• 1 capsicum, sliced 
• 3-4 button mushrooms
• 1 tbsp celery stalk chopped finely
• 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1/2 inch ginger, chopped finely
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp chilly sauce
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt as per taste
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp Gingely oil
• 2 tbsp spring onion greens for garnish.

Method:

1. In a large pot add carrots, beans and cauliflower or broccoli.Add enough water to cover them, add 1/2 tsp salt and parboil them. The veggies should be soft but not mushy. There should be a crunch in the veggies. Once done, strain and keep aside.
2. Now in a wok or kadai heat the oil. Once hot add the ginger and garlic and saute`for 1/2 a min. Then add the onions and continue to saute` them.
3. Add the blanced veggies, mushrooms and capsicum and continue cooking them in high heat. 
4. Add celery, salt and pepper powder and cook for 2 more mins.
5. Now stir in the tomato sauce, chilly sauce, vinegar and salt. Mix well.
6. Then add 2 cups of water and bring in to a boil.
7. As the water boils add the cornflour slurry and continue cooking. The gravy wil start to thicken immediately. Adjust salt and seasoning as per taste. Turn of the flame.
8. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.
   

Tips:

1. I have used gingely oil as its great for chinese cooking. You can use any vegetable oil instead.
2. You can add green chillies also if you want it to be little spicy.