Boil water add salt to it. Add 3/4 cup carrot, 1 cup potato and 1/2 cup beans. Cook for 3 mins.
Then add 1/4 cup peas and 1/2 cup cauliflower. So the vegetables comes to 3 cups in total. Cook for 2 mins.
Drain and remove the vegetables. Do not overcook.
Drain water completely and set aside. You can use the drained water as vegetable stock for making soups. Set this aside.
Heat 1/4 cup butter - Let it melt. If you prefer you can add finely 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic and 2 tablespoon finely chopped onion.
Add 1/4 cup flour.
Keep whisking until no dry flour is seen.
Add 2 cups milk and keep whisking simultaneously to avoid lump formation.
Keep stirring until it starts to thicken.
Within few mins the sauce will start to thicken. Cook in low flame, Keep stirring. Once it starts to thicken switch to a spatula.
The sauce will will coat the ladle.
Add salt to taste, 1/2 teaspoon crushed pepper, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder and 2 tablespoon cheese.
After adding cheese it bubbles up and becomes more creamy and thick. This white sauce is called Bechamel sauce. Bechamel sauce is ready now.
Now add cooked vegetables.
Mix it well, cook for a minute then switch off.
The vegetables should be well coated with the sauce, the sauce should not be very thick it should still be goey like shown below.
Vegetables in bechamel sauce ready.
Preheat oven at 200 deg C for 10 mins. Transfer it to a baking dish.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup grated cheese to cover the top. Bake in preheated oven at 200 deg C for 20 mins. Change to grill mode for the last 2-3 mins to get a golden crusty top.
Veg Au gratin ready to be served. Perfectly done au gratin ready. Crusty top with a gooey white sauce with vegetables tastes out of the world.
Do try and enjoy. You can enjoy au gratin as such or with crisp toasted bread. Enjoy Au gratin hot!