• Wash, peel (if necessary), and chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces for even cooking.

Cook the vegetables

• Steam cook the vegetables. The vegetables should not be over cooked. If you press it with your fingers, it should mash.

Sauté the Aromatics

• Heat oil or ghee in a large pan. Add cumin seeds and let them sauté and then add green chilli. Green chilli will give a nice flavour and spiciness to the recipe.
• Add ginger garlic paste and sauté until the raw smell goes off.  Instead of ginger garlic paste you can also add minced  ginger and garlic.
• At this stage add finely chopped onions. Sauté until it turn transparent. Do not caramalise the onions.
• If using tomatoes, add them after the hard vegetables have partially cooked, allowing them to soften and integrate into the mix.

Spice it Up

• Stir in the ground spices (turmeric, coriander, red chili powder, garam masala, cumin seeds powder) and a required amount of salt into the pan.
• Mix and sauté everything together well to release their flavours.
• Add the steam cooked vegetables and mix gently. Sprinkle water and cook for around five minutes. This helps the vegetables to absorb the flavours.
• If the vegetables are not steam cooked, then add the hard vegetables like carrot, potato first and then cauliflower, beans next and finally capsicum, peas at the last.
• Pour in a little water, cover the pan, and let the vegetables simmer on a low flame until they're cooked through but still hold their shape.

Finish with Garam masala

• Stir in garam masala towards the end of cooking for an aromatic lift. Adjust seasoning with salt.

Garnish and Serve

• Sprinkle chopped cilantro over the cooked sabzi. Serve hot with flatbreads like chappathi, naan, or with rice as part of a larger meal.