Indian sauce... but what veg?

[CorporalChicken]

Okay... I tried making a raw curry earlier using a similar recipe to the one I'd use to make normal heated curries previously. I tried using raw cauliflour but it didn't seem right.

Spices (Mashed into a paste with the Pestle n' mortar)
Turmeric, Garam Masala (a spice blend), Cumin Seeds, Garlic, Chili, Methi (Fenugreek) plus Coriander (optional)

Sauce
De-stalked plum tomatoes and juice blended with the ground spices above, a little onion and some cauliflour. Creates a lovely golden brown sauce.

Veg
Small florets of cauliflour, some bell pepper and optional celery

Make the top two, blend together and mix into the veg and marinate.

The sauce tastes authentic (even cold), but seems far too strong in contrast with the cauliflour being crunchy. I did think of using squash, but couldn't get hold of any in time. The veg needs to be soft or it tastes too odd. Can anyone suggest a way of softening a suitable vegetable as to keep it raw, or maybe an existing vegetable that can blend well with an Indian sauce without extra prep?

Thanks :)

[SparklePlenty]

Your sauce sounds wonderful. How about dehydrating some veggies for a few hours---mushroom get nice and warm and soft when done for a few hours, try zucchini, onion.....ooooohhhh, this is sounding really good now, maybe cabbage,spinach,....I may have to try this soon!

[CorporalChicken]

I have no dehydrator. I am poor, LOL.

Chunks of courgettes though... that's a great idea, thanks!

[Indi]

maybe some fruit might help :)

[CorporalChicken]

I did think of that, but I'm stuck in raw newbie mode where I'm kind of wary of mixing fruit and veg!

If you can suggest anything I'll give it a go! :)

[Sheryl]

You can also massage some coconut oil into broccoli and leave it for a couple of hours... it goes soft! And yummy!

Cheers,
Sheryl

[exurb]

other than dehydrating, massaging and marinating are two techniques to soften veggies.

If you want to try it, you could add some tamarind to that curry sauce - it's available in blocks at Asian stores, usually under a dollar, and lasts quite a while, gives a real nice taste. I also add ground cardamom pods. I sort of made a raw version of this Patak's curry paste I used to buy, and those two ingredients were key.

If you need a cheap dehydrator, the American Harvest works quite well, I think it's about $29.99 at Walmart.

For veggies, I like to also add peas, carrots, whatever else, sometimes broccoli.

[Bobbie]

mushrooms, sprouted lentils...

marinated onion, peppers...not authentic indian but soft and taste nice....

chopped sugar snap peas and baby corn
chopped green beans

^ not too crunchy

oh and also putting cauliflower in the food processor until its the size of grains of rice....or using soaked or sprouted rice/quinoa/millet