Cooking by the season
Pakistani vegetable cooking follows the market closely. Winter is the best time: cauliflower, carrots, peas, turnips, spinach and mustard greens are cheap and sweet, and it’s the season for sarson ka saag with makki ki roti. Summer brings okra, bitter gourd, tinda, bottle gourd and eggplant. Cooking what’s in season is cheaper, and the vegetables simply taste better.
Dry sabzi or with gravy?
Most everyday sabzis are dry: the vegetables cook in their own steam with a little masala clinging to them, and they’re scooped up with roti. Aloo gobi, bhindi and shimla mirch aloo are made this way. Others, like aloo matar, have a light shorba for eating with rice. The recipe tells you which, and the difference is mostly how much water goes in.
Fixing the three common problems
Mushy vegetables: too much water or too much stirring. Cook covered on low heat, add no water unless the pan is catching, and turn gently with a flat spatula. Slimy okra or arvi: moisture is the cause. Dry them completely after washing, fry them uncovered first, and add tomatoes and salt only afterwards. Bitter karela or methi: salt them, leave them for half an hour, then squeeze out the bitter juice before cooking.
Vegetables with lentils or meat
Many Pakistani dishes combine a vegetable with daal or meat to make it more filling: lauki chana daal, palak gosht, shalgam gosht. You’ll find those in the daal and meat sections, but they’re worth knowing about if you want vegetables on the table without serving a separate main dish.