Vegetable Kurma/Korma

I found this delicious Korma recipe on RaksKitchen. It is a winner all the way, aromatic, flavour bursting and absolutely lip-smacking. Rakskitchen is a great looking food blog of vegetarian dishes, has tons of reliable recipes (you know it’ll work), lots of traditional recipes and some wonderful videos as well (I love the badusha video). I served this Korma with Idiyappam. This Korma would go beautifully well with poori or chappathi. I usually make korma with coconut milk and I’d long wanted to try a variant with ground coconut. I tweaked the recipe ever so slightly to suit my situation (I ran out of onions, so I used shallots for the masala paste, plus I added fennel seeds and cinnamon to the paste). The masala paste is the crux of this korma, the freshly ground fennel seeds and cardamom infuse the korma with a lovely aroma that wafts all over the house.

My daughter enjoyed the korma a lot and the korma was over by end of breakfast which is usually a great sign. Joint family life is all about signs (more on that later). I say end of breakfast because each one eats one by one in our house and only at restaurants do we eat together. My husband eats with the TV (his 3 absolutely indispensable “cannot live without” friends are TV, AC and S3) , my daughter is fairly well mannered at-least at eating – she eats seated, my son eats alongside a running tap in the garden (that’s his latest thing) and I eat by the stove. Whackos.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins:
Serves 5-6

Ingredients

Cauliflower - 1 small cleaned and cut into small florets
Green Peas – 1 cup
Potatoes – 2 medium chopped
Onions – 2 medium chopped fine
Tomatoes – 2 medium chopped fine
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Masala Paste

Coconut – half a medium coconut grated
Shallots/Sambar onions – 4
Fried gram dal/udacha kadalai – 1 tbsp
Garlic – 4 cloves
Cardamom – 2
Green chillies – 3
Red chillies – 3
Coriander seeds/Whole Dhania – 1 tsp
Cinnamon – ½ inch piece
Fennel seeds/Sombu – ½ tsp

Method:

1.      Grind together the ingredients called for under masala along with water to a smooth paste. Set aside.

2.      Heat oil in a kadai/skillet and add chopped onions and fry till translucent. Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry till mushy. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and mix well.

3.      Tip in the cauliflower florets, potatoes and peas, add just enough water to cover the vegetables. Add salt. Cover with a lid and cook on low till the vegtables are tender, about 15 minutes.

4.      Tip in the ground masala, mix well and let simmer covered for 10-12 minutes till the korma is a nice thick consistency and the masala is properly incorporated. Simmer uncovered for 1 minute. Serve hot with Poori, Roti or Idiyappam.