Marinate... a Different Kind!! ( Specially for Vegetarians )

For all you veggie lovers out there..this one is for you! You can add any meat to it too, just make sure you marinate it well....

Now this Recipe is something we came up with when we wanted to organize a small BBQ during one of our picnics. Since we are vegetarians for whom taste plays a very important role in any kind of dish(indians, its all about the taste for us), we decided to do some trial error with different spices. So, this is what we came up with & it did turn out delicious... so, here it is...

Step 1: Ingredients & Supplies.

Ingredients:

1) 1/2 kg Yogurt
2) 1 tablespoon Garlic
3) 1 tablespoon Ginger
4) 3/4th tablespoon Green Chilies
5) Half bowl chopped Mint leaves
6) Salt to taste
7) 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Powder
8) 1/4 teaspoon Garam Masala ( It is readily available in market )
9) 1/4 teaspoon Dhaniya-jeera powder (Coriander - Cumin Spice Blend .... Now we make this at home but it is also readily available)
10)1/4 teaspoon Chili powder
11) 1/4 teaspoon Rock salt

Supplies:

For the Yoghurt:
1) Muslin cloth preferred (but you can use others)

For the Rest:
1) Knife
2) Kitchen Grater/ shredder
3) a bowl to mix all ingredients
4) a big spoon ( to help mixing)

This makes approx. 7 -8 skewers. Also, you can Increase or decrease the no. of spices as per your taste.

Step 2: Let's Start With the Curd !!

This is a very simple yet an important step.

Pour the yogurt on the muslin cloth and tie it up like shown. Then let it hang for an hour or two. Usually, we hang it on the sink tap.
This process allows the water in the yoghurt to drain out, leading to a nice solid yoghurt mass.

The importance of letting the water drain is so that the final mixture sticks to all the vegetables nicely, which would otherwise lead to a liquidy marination causing it to drip during the BBQ process.

Step 3: Chop Chop Chop N Grate !!

I like to keep all my ingredients ready before i start the mixing process and that's y...

Finely chop the Mint leaves & Green Chilies.

Finely grate Ginger & Garlic cloves.

Step 4: The Mixing Starts !

Place the curd/yoghurt into the bowl and mix it with a spoon.

Then add all the ingredients to it and mix it again.

Your marinate is ready !!

Step 5: Mix the Veggies, Barbeque It Then Go NOM Nom NOM Nom !

Mix all the vegetables in the marinate and refrigerate it for a couple of hours. This step, helps in enhancing the flavor a lot.

I used onions, Green chili peppers, Mushrooms And paneer(cottage cheese). You can add potatoes too, but i do not prefer them.

Put the veggies, in any order u like, on the skewers. We have a small grill, so i keep them short.

Now go ahead and BBQ them!!

Do not forget to let me know how it turned out !! Feel free to make any changes to the recipe. As i was saying, you can add chicken pieces to it too.

Serve it with a soda/ beer or orange juice..Happiii Barbecuing !!