how to make vegetable stock at home | homemade vegetable broth

There are some things I have never and will never buy from the store: peeled garlic, vegetable stock, and baby carrots.  Peeling garlic does not take forever, chopping carrots into small pieces is not a big deal, and vegetable stock or broth - can be easily made at home.

make vegetable stock / vegetable broth at home

Here's how.
Use potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, capsicum, celery, onions, carrot, green peas, or whatever you wish.

Throw in whatever vegetables chopped randomly you have on hand in a pressure cooker.  Add water just until the vegetables are immersed.  Close the lid, place the whistle, and pressure cook on
- HIGH for ONE whistle to parboil the vegetables, or
- MEDIUM for TWO whistles to boil the vegetables.

pressure cook or boil vegetables on medium or high 

Let the pressure cool down, drain the water in a separate bowl and keep aside.  If you do not have a pressure cooker, you could boil whatever vegetables you want to use - on medium heat for about 30 minutes, then drain.

drain the water from boiled vegetables 

The drained water is now your simple, fresh, natural, nutritious, unsalted, unadulterated - homemade vegetable stock/broth that can be added to soups, curries, or gravies, and
     a) used in place of water to liquefy
     b) used for flavoring
     c) used because it is nutrition-packed

homemade vegetable broth / vegetable stock

Q:  What can you do with the remaining vegetables?

Throwing the boiled vegetables away would be the dumbest thing to do.

• If PARBOILED - the drained vegetables can be used to make a Mixed Vegetable Stir-Fry, or sautéed with rice to make Mixed Vegetable Fried Rice, or the vegetables can be cooked along with Tofu or Paneer, etc.  Or freeze and date them to use the parboiled vegetables later in some casserole dish, may be.

• IF BOILED - the drained vegetables can be mashed and cooked into a soup, or mash and use to make Pav Bhaji, or mash and form Vegetable Cutlets, etc.  Or freeze and date them to use the boiled vegetables later to add nutrition to another dish, may be.

The vegetable stock (or broth) can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days and can be easily frozen in small cubes or Ziploc bags and stored in freezer for months.  It is a good idea to write down what vegetables were used to make that particular stock.

I do not put herbs when I make vegetable stock, because I may not use those herbs in a recipe I need to use stock in.  I prefer making an all-purpose stock.  This vegetable stock however was a result of pressure cooking vegetables for Pav Bhaji, for which I needed potatoes.  You could omit potatoes when making the basic vegetable stock but they do add the starchiness that thickens the soup or gravy.  

Q:  What is the difference between vegetable stock and vegetable broth?
A:  Mostly stock and broth are terms referred to the ones made and used with meat.  Quick Google search shows several discussions over this question as stock being 'combination of vegetables/animal parts/herbs boiled in water' and broth being 'seasoned stock' or 'flavored stock' - probably with salt and other seasonings added to it.  Another discussion also explains as stock is made with bones whereas broth is made with actual pieces of meat.  While people generally use the terms stock and broth, as well as the product, interchangeably in the recipes (referring to meat) - I personally believe there is no difference in vegetable stock and vegetable broth and the both mean the same thing to me.

But I'd like to know your thoughts.
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