Tawa Sabzi

The Tawa Sabzi recipe is an exciting assortment of vegetables cooked on a tawa in combination with the most flavorsome and aromatic spices and served as an appetizer or gravy dish at a weekend get-together or upcoming festival celebrations and potluck parties!

This mouth-watering recipe of Tawa Bhaji is a popular dish on the Indian wedding buffet menu that captivates the attention of every food lover.

It is a blend of vegetables that is either stuffed or coated in a spicy masala, which makes it a superbly delicious dish.

Now, doesn’t this recipe look interesting? Oh, sure it is!

The best part is that your choice of vegetables for this recipe entirely depends on you. Preparing this recipe at home makes it a convenient task because you are at liberty to use any vegetable from your refrigerator.

What is Tawa Sabzi

Tawa is the Hindi name for a heavy iron griddle that is slightly bigger than the chapati tawa. Sabzi is the Hindi name for vegetables. Together this means ‘vegetables cooked on a griddle.’ 

Tawa Sabzi is an array of seasonal veggies spread separately around a hot tawa/skillet, with the onion-tomato masala placed at the center of the skillet.

When requested, the particular vegetable is brought to the center and tossed into the masala. It is then served to the guests right off the hot tawa with a generous sprinkle of chaat masala and garnishing. 

It is a perfect party dish that can be customized according to individual preferences when mixing it with spices and masala.

Reasons You’ll ♡ Tawa Sabzi Recipe

This Tawa Sabzi Masala is a fantastic dish that reminds one of wedding food. Usually served at marriages and parties, this recipe is also great for delighting your family and friends during get-togethers and house parties.

The reasons to love this recipe are many —

• Easy to prepare
• Assorted veggies make it healthy
• Customized to suit vegan diets
• Can be turned into a no-onion-no-garlic recipe, and
• Leftovers can be easily stored for later use.

As a bonus, this party’s favorite tawa subzi dish can also be prepared with air-fried vegetables, making it a healthier option than deep-fried ones.

Tawa Sabzi Ingredient List

Vegetables — A blend of assorted vegetables makes this recipe a fantastic dish. You can add any vegetables of your preference. I have added bitter gourd (karela), pearl onions, Okra (bhindi), brinjal (baingan), and Potato (aloo) to make my delicious tawa vegetable platter.

Spice mix — Coriander powder, roasted cumin seeds powder, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, and nutmeg powder make a splendid mix of spices that render superior flavors and genuinely make this recipe an irresistible dish. 

Red chili — Red chili powder brings the required heat to the Tawa sabzi.

Turmeric powder — A beautiful yellow color delivered by turmeric adds charm to the tawa sabzi recipe making it super tempting.

Blend of Spices — When sprinkled over the prepared dish, a subtle tanginess is contributed by the amchur powder, chaat masala, and pomegranate powder.

Garam masala powder — Intensifies the spiciness and renders more spicy flavors to the recipe.

Asafoetida/ hing — Added to the recipe as it has digestive properties and helps better digestion.

Onions — Make the base for the masala and lend this tawa sabzi recipe a depth of sweet, savory, and intense flavors.

Ginger/ garlic paste — Adding ginger-garlic paste is essential for enhancing the recipe’s taste, as it is one of the key ingredients of any savory dish. 

Curd/ yogurt (beaten) — Used for marinating karelas.

Tomatoes — Pureed tomatoes lend creaminess and a subtle tangy flavor to the recipe. 

Cream — Optional, but it brings creaminess and richness to the recipe.

Kasuri methi — Fenugreek leaves (dried) are crushed and added to the masala by the end of the preparation. It delivers a mouth-watering flavor to the dish, taking it to another level.

Ghee — Homemade desi ghee or any neutral oil can be used for cooking the masala and frying the veggies.

Recipe Tips and Variations

Bitterness from a bitter gourd — Marinating bitter gourd in curd ensures that the bitterness is eliminated. Rub the bitter gourd with curd and set it aside for 30-40 minutes to let the curd work on it. The salt-curd mixture helps draw out the bitter juices from the bitter gourd.

Vegan marination — Skip using the curd for marinating karela if you want it vegan. Instead, apply salt, rub it all over and keep them aside for 20- 30 minutes. But before this, scrape off the peel, slit the karela and deseed them. The karelas are ready for vegan marination.

Veggie options — This recipe is completely customizable, and you can use any veggies of your choice, keeping the masala the same. You can use veggies like big green chillis (Mirchi), Arbi, tinda, etc., besides the ones I have used in this recipe. 

Making a healthier recipe — Traditionally, all the veggies used in this recipe are deep-fried, but you can air-fry them if you want a more nutritious recipe. Air-frying them will reduce the added fats and cooking time while delivering the desired crispy texture. Another option using less oil is to shallow-fry the veggies on medium-high flame till they crisp up and attain the crunch we are looking for. 

Steaming the veggies, a healthy option — Another excellent option for turning this recipe healthier is to steam the veggies. However, you have to compromise on the crispiness of the veggies. If you prefer making crispy veggies, shallow-fry or air-fry them to get the desired result.

Frying duration varies — Some veggies get tender sooner than others; therefore, be careful about the time while frying them. Overfrying them may spoil their texture and taste.

Preparing the right consistency masala — When prepared, the consistency of the masala is thick, so it may not be able to coat the veggies properly. Diluting the masala with water will ease the process. While assembling the partially cooked veggies on the tawa, sprinkle some water to dilute the masala so that the veggies can get smeared with masala easily and the coating is perfectly done. 

Cooking options — Traditionally, this Tawa Sabzi is cooked over a large iron tawa/ griddle. But, if you don’t have a tawa of that size, you can also cook the veggies in a pan. They will turn out to be great this way too. 

Working smart to save time — The cooking time for karela and baby potatoes will be longer than the other veggies. To speed up the cooking process, you can parboil the baby potatoes until tender and then shallow-fry them until they are crispy as desired. You can toss them into the masala and cook them till perfectly soft.

Onions for extra crunch — I have opted for pearl onions for my tawa sabzi recipe, but if they are unavailable in your area, you can go for the regular ones. Just quarter the regular onions and add them to the Tawa Sabzi for some extra crunch.

Make the recipe kids-friendly — To make this recipe perfect for picky eaters, you may add fried paneer chunks. I can assure you your kids will love to dig into this savory.

To speed up the cooking — Homemade tawa fry masala tastes just amazing, but if you are on a time crunch, try considering the store-bought tawa fry masala. 

No-onion, no-garlic recipe — You can simply skip the onions and garlic from the recipe while keeping the rest of the ingredients the same. You will still have a delicious tawa fry sabzi to devour.

Let me know what you think!

If you are wondering what to serve your guests this weekend, I suggest you try this recipe. It is easy, can be made in advance, and will be loved by your guests.

So, don’t contemplate any further and give this delicious tawa fry sabzi a try! Carve a perfect Tawa Sabzi Masala to entice your loved ones.

Should you make this Tawa Sabzi masala recipe, please let me know your thoughts by sharing your comment below. And don’t forget to share it with your family and friends.

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