Baked Vegetable or Veg Au Gratin

Indore (a city in Central India and my hometown) is a food heaven. If you are an India-based foodie, Indore is a must-visit place for you, if only for its food. It has been more than a decade that I have left Indore but I always dream of visiting my hometown, especially since I now want to take my husband who will surely love the trip. Indore has a street called Chappan Dukaan (which literally translates to 56 Shops) and all these are food shops. You name it and you will find it here. Well, the reason that I am talking about Indore, and especially Chappan Dukaan, is because this is the place where I tasted the heavenly Baked Veggies (later on I got to know that it is also called Veg au Gratin). I vividly remember that my Dad’s office was near this place and I often used to ask him to get this dish as a take away only for me.

I tried Veg au Gratin in many other places after leaving Indore but nothing matched the taste. So I thought that why don’t I give it a try. The recipe is largely from my memory of the dish I used to love in Indore. For white sauce, I have adapted Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe that you can find here.

Baked Veggies

Ingredients for the White Sauce

• Onion, small or medium sized – 1
• Cloves – 4
• Bay Leaves – 2 or 3 (depending on the size of onion and the size of bay leaves)
• Milk – 2 1/2 cups
• Butter – 2 tablespoons
• Fine Flour – 2 tablespoons
• Salt and White Pepper – To taste

Ingredients for the baked vegetables

• Chopped french beans – 1 cup
• Chopped carrots – 1/2 cup
• Green peas – 1/2 cup
• Fresh Pineapple – 1 cup
• Chopped cauliflower – 1/2 cup
• Baby corn (optional) – 1 cup
• Salt – To taste
• Sugar – 1/4 teaspoon
• Grated cheddar cheese – To cover the dish
• Baking Tray

Steps for making White Sauce:

1. Peel the onion and wrap it with bay leaves using cloves to pin the leaves onto the onion. This is called Onion Cloute.
2. Heat the milk in a pan and add the prepared Onion Cloute to it.
3. Bring it to a boil then turn off the heat. Drain the milk in a bowl and keep aside to cool.
4. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
5. Stir in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Take the pan off the heat and gradually stir in the prepared milk to get a smooth sauce.
7. Simmer gently till it starts to thicken and season with salt and white pepper.

Steps for making Baked Veggies:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Cook the veggies (except pineapple) half-way through in water with salt and sugar on a high heat or in the microwave. Drain the vegetables and allow it to cool for sometime.
3. Add the pineapples in the drained vegetable and put all the vegetables in a baking dish.
4. Pour the white sauce over it. Make sure that the vegetables are totally immersed in white sauce.
5. Bake it for 10-15 minutes.
6. Take it out and cover it with the grated cheese and bake until the cheese melts and serve hot 🙂

In terms of veggies, you can add/remove as per your taste. But, do keep the pineapple as it adds a lot of flavor 🙂

I hope you enjoyed making and eating my version of Baked Veggies 🙂

I would love to know your experience 🙂