Two words send a chill down my spine. Say mixed vegetables, and I break out into a cold sweat. The words immediately throw up a picture of a dish of peas, cauliflower florets, potatoes, and often carrots cooked into a mushy pulp. This is a dish I order in a restaurant or a dhaba only when I have to, for the vegetables are mixed to a point that you can no longer say what is what.

Yet, mixed vegetables can be delightful. Think of Kerala’s ‘aviyal’, North India’s ‘annakoot’, Bengal’s ‘shukto’ and ‘charchari’, and Gujarat’s ‘undhiyu’ or ‘undhiyo’. These are mixed vegetables, with variations in the tempering. Some are cooked with coconut, some with panch phoren, others with powdered spices. You can see the vegetables in the dish, get to taste each one individually — and together as a tasty unit.

When I think of mixed vegetables, I get enveloped in the taste and flavours of ‘undhiyu’. Aunty Urmila, our friend’s much-loved mother, was known for her ‘undhiyu’. Even though it is essentially a winter dish, she’d cook it for us on summer evenings, too. The word comes from the way the dish is cooked. ‘Undhu’ in Gujarati means upside down. The dish is cooked in a pot that is sealed, and then buried in the ground under burning coal or embers. These days, of course, there are simpler ways of making ‘undhiyu’, including in a slow cooker. What makes a mixed vegetable dish different from an ordinary vegetable dish? It is the mix of vegetables that makes it special. We get a plethora of vegetables in different seasons. All these dishes have at least five vegetables. ‘Charchari’ is usually cooked with chopped pumpkin, wax gourd, radish, potatoes, raw bananas and some greens.  ‘Aviyals’ consist of 10 or more vegetables. The veggies in that dish have to be firm. So, there is always yam, drumsticks and green bananas.  A few pieces of raw mangoes during the season are added too. Freshly grated coconut is mixed with curd and cumin powder and then added to the ‘aviyal’, which is finally topped with coconut oil and curry leaves.

The Bengali ‘shukto’ looks similar but  is different in taste. Among the many vegetables is the bitter gourd giving it a mildly bitter taste. A bit of milk gives it a pale colour, and a light and sweet touch to complement the bitterness. Milk is used in Odisha’s ‘santula’ too. ‘Mahura’, another Odisha dish, is prepared with local vegetables and lentils.

The king of mixed vegetables is ‘annakoot’, prepared and eaten on the second day of Diwali. In many homes, it is cooked with 56 vegetables, and sometimes even 65. Various kinds of green leafy vegetables go into it, along with potatoes, sweet potatoes, brinjal, cauliflower, radish, colocasia, gourds, broad beans and so on. In a big pot, add oil, asafoetida, bay leaves and cumin. Add grated ginger and green chillies. Sauté the vegetables. Add the greens — spinach, fenugreek and so on — towards the end, and then some tomatoes, dried pomegranate seeds and salt. Cooks will tell you that there is a way of cutting and cooking the vegetables. Many are chopped in uniform sizes. The harder vegetables go into the pot first, and then add the softer ones and the green leafy. The dish must look good, with veggies of different colours making a rainbow hue.

Clearly, a good mixed vegetable dish is bolstered by science and art. And, no, it’s not mush.

Potatoes                                     100 gm Sweet potatoes                          100 gm Green banana                            100 gm Radish                                         100 gm Baby brinjal                               100 gm Broad beans                               50 gm Drumsticks                                 50 gm Bitter gourd                                50 gm Green papaya                             50 gm Fried matter dal balls (bori)   2 tbsp Ginger paste                              1 tbsp Mustard paste                           1 tbsp Milk                                              3 tbsp Maida                                           ½ tsp Bay leaves                                    2 Panch phoren (roasted)            1 tsp Radhuni (wild celery seeds)     1 tsp Water                                            As needed Mustard oil                                  For sautéing Ghee                                              1 tsp Salt and sugar                              To taste

Peel the potatoes, papaya and green bananas. Scrape the radish and remove the sides of the beans and drumsticks, and the brinjal stems. Cut the vegetables lengthwise into 1-inch pieces.

Heat oil in a pan. Add radhuni and bay leaves, and then the potatoes, green bananas and bitter gourd. After 3-4 minutes, add the other vegetables. Stir well.

Add the ginger paste and mustard paste. Pour some water and let it simmer. Season with salt and sugar. Add the fried bori. Cover and cook. When the water has evaporated and the veggies are cooked, mix maida in the milk and stir it in. Add roasted panch phoren and ghee. Serve with rice.