Day Five - Gajarachi Bhaji (Carrot Bhaji)

Day Five Recipe for the 7 day 7 recipes marathon hosted by Nupur is Gajarachi Bhaji (which means Carrot Bhaji / Subzi)
I love carrots (and it has nothing to do with my recent .......ahem..........resolution to lose weight)
I specially love eating fresh raw carrots.....crunchy,tasty and filling.....without having to worry about gaining those extra pounds :)
Carrots are used a lot in salads, rice and deserts like carrot kheer and carrot halwa......Gajar ka halwa is legendary thanks to those umpteen hindi films where the "filmy ma" is always cooking gajar ka halwa for the "beta who passed his exams in first class" but in all the dishes carrots are mostly the sidekicks or at the most the second/parallel lead.
So I decided to give my favourite Gajar his "solo hero"project....... Gajarachi bhaji (Carrot Bhaji / Subzi)
This is again basically one of my mother's recipe ( yeah.......yes.....again) in which I added a few spices.
The additional spices are adapted from this simple recipe which Nupur had done of glazed butternut squash, Maharashtrian style(The original recipe is that of bhoplache bhaji) based on my suggestion to her previous post.(Thanks a ton Nupur)
I have used gajar (carrots) instead of lal bhopla (red pumpkin)
Here's how I did the "Gajarachi Bhaji"(Carrot Bhaji/Subzi)
Gajarachi Bhaji"(Carrot Bhaji/Subzi)
Ingredients -
Carrots - 6/7
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt as per taste
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon goda masala
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds/ til
1 teaspoon poppy seeds/khus khus
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek / methi seeds (optional)
pinch of sugar

For garnishing - fresh coriander leaves
Method -
Wash and peel carrots.Cut carrots into small pieces.
Heat one tablespoon of oil in kadhai / flat bottom pan.
When the oil gets heated,add mustard seeds .
When the mustard seeds start spluttering add cumin seeds ,asafoetida.
Add pieces of carrots and and turmeric powder (optional) & stir.
Add red chilli powder,salt,pinch of sugar,goda masala ,til,khus khus and methi seeds (optional)
Stir well and cover with lid. Water is not required to be added but ensure that the lid which covers the pan has water on it so that the bhaji does not get burnt.
The carrots get cooked very quickly so the bhaji is ready in quick time.

This bhaji tastes great and requires very few ingredients in it. No before hand preparations are needed and the dish gets cooked really fast........

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves
Serve carrot subzi hot with rotis/chappatis/phulkas.