Mixed Vegetable Kurma - Coconut Based Curry

This is a delicious, vegetable rich curry with a coconut base which forms the gravy. I ate this for the first time in a South Indian style restaurant with Uttapam (thick rice pancakes). I absolutely loved it. I  then started making it at home whenever I would have grated coconut on hand. I believe this has its origins in Karnataka. It is very different from the mixed vegetable kurma which is found in North Indian style restaurants where the gravy base is onions and tomatoes.

This pairs very well with phulkas, uttapams and is worth being on a feast menu when served with puris. If is also a great gravy accompaniment with simple pulao. I love this preparation and hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, cut into small cubes

15 green beans, finely diced

1 potato, cut into small cubes

¼ cauliflower, cut into small florets

½ cup peas

2 tbsp oil

¼ tsp cumin seeds/jeera

2 bay leaves/tej patta

salt to taste

water to form the gravy

For the gravy masala paste

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup fresh coconut

4-5 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger

1-2 green chillies (to taste)

¼ cup cilantro/coriander leaves loosely filled (approximately leaves yielding from 10-15 stems)

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp tamarind paste (soak tamarind in warm water and once it is softened, remove seeds and any fibers and extract the pulp from the tamarind)

1 tsp garam masala (optional)

water to grind the ingredients together to form a thick paste

Method

Blend all the ingredients listed under the fresh coconut masala paste into a fine thick paste. Cut all the vegetables into approximately similar sized pieces. To reduce the overall cooking time, you can steam cook these or cook these in the microwave till partially cooked. Do not overcook them. It is not necessary to semi-cook the vegetables. It will just take a little longer for the kurma to cook if raw vegetables are added. If using frozen peas, just thaw them. Do not cook them with other vegetables as thawed peas cook really quickly.

Heat a pan. Add oil and then cumin seeds and bay leaves. Once the cumin seeds crackle, add the coconut paste and cook it till the raw smell of onion and garlic goes away and it starts to brown slightly. Next add the cut vegetables – the carrots, beans, peas, potato and cauliflower. Stir to coat these in the coconut masala and let these cook for a few minutes. Then add about ½-1 cup of water to create a gravy, based on your preference. Add salt to taste. Let the vegetables boil till completely cooked.

Serve hot with chapati, puri or uttapam.

Tips

Do not use cold or frozen coconut directly when making the masala paste. Thaw it and warm it a little. If it is very cold, the oil will separate out during the grinding process. Also, use warm water to grind the masala. You can also add 10-12 cashews (not roasted, raw) to the paste to give it a richer taste.

Navratan Korma - A Royal Vegetable Dish

I wish all the readers of my blog a very Happy New Year. I hope 2013 brings you good health, happiness and great food. Since food tastes good only when the cook is happy, I hope each day of yours is filled with great joy which in turn will lead to tastier food.

I have been wondering what recipe I should start the new year with and I couldn't make up my mind. Should I start with a starter and follow through with a complete meal or shall I start with a decadent sweet? Well inspiration just struck and I sat down to pen down this wonderful recipe. This is a medley of vegetables, in a rich, flavorful sauce which is also a little sweet. The dish is called "Navratan Korma". "Navratan" means nine gems and "Korma" means a medley. So literally it is a dish which has at least 9 starring ingredients, mainly vegetables, fruit or dry fruit and paneer. It is cooked in a rich cashew based sauce traditionally with cream added to finish it off. I wanted to lighten the recipe. Also, as I was planning to serve this to many people, I did not want to use any nuts in case of allergies. It was a great success and I must say that I received the best compliments from my friend's nine year old who not only ate all the vegetables, but asked for seconds and told her Mom that this was one of the best vegetable curry she had ever tasted.

Ingredients
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 tbsp + 1tsp butter
3-4 canned whole tomatoes (puree it)
1 tsp corriander/dhania powder
red chilli powder to taste
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp corriander-cumin powder (dhania jeera powder)
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 green chilli, sliced into 2 pieces
1 potato, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup peas
1/4 cauliflower, florets separated into medium size pieces
1/2 cup  green beans, diced
6-7 baby corns, diced into 1 inch pieces (I used canned baby corn)
1/2 cup paneer, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
3-4 sliced of pineapple (I used the ones which are canned, but not in syrup)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup low fat milk
3/4 cup cream
salt to taste
1 cup water

Method
Heat 1 tsp butter in a flat pan, sprinkle some salt and shallow fry the paneer pieces till they are lightly browned on all sides. Keep aside.

Heat the butter in a pan which will be able to accommodate all the vegetables. Add the red onion and saute it till it is softened and translucent. Then add the ginger garlic paste, and the green chilli and fry this till the raw smell goes away. Next, add the tomato puree and cook this mixture for a few minutes. Stir and do not let this brown. Then add the turmeric, garam masala, dhania jeera powder and dhania powder. Stir and fry these spices for 2-3 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup water. Then, add the potatoes, green beans, carrots, cauliflower and red bell pepper and boil this for a few minutes, till the vegetables a partially cooked through. Then, add the rest of the vegetables, the corn, pineapple, and the peas. And finally add the paneer. Cook all of the ingredients together till the all the vegetables, especially the potatoes and cauliflower are cooked through. Then, in a small bowl, mix the milk and cream together and slowly add this mixture to the gravy. Add salt and raisins and boil for a couple of minutes. Serve hot, with some naan or tandoori roti. You can garnish this with some grapes.

Tips
Feel free to choose any combination of vegetables. You can use fewer than 9 ingredients as well. If you do not want the sweet tinge, then don't add the pineapple and raisins. If you want a richer gravy, then soak 1/4 cup of raw cashews for a couple of hours and make a paste of these cashews.  Add this paste along with the cream instead of milk. You can also add yogurt instead of cream. Make sure to whisk it till it is smooth.
I used canned baby corn and pineapple. If you use the fresh version, then remember the cooking time will increase and you should either add it in along with the potatoes (specially the corn) or may be semi-cook these in the microwave for a minute before adding to the gravy.
If you don't have canned tomatoes, then you can use fresh tomatoes. To peel them, boil water, then add the tomatoes to the boiling water. As soon as you see the skin is starting to tear up, remove these and put them in a bowl of cold water (ice water is preferred). It will be very easy to remove the skins then.