Vegetable Kurma Recipe

           I have taken a very long break from my blog posts. I was looking forward to make a come back soon. So, here comes a post on Vegetable Kurma. 

     Very very rarely I order for a vegetable kurma at any hotel, as I dislike its overwhelming spiciness in the aroma as well as its taste. Also, this dish has never been tried at home, till I made it all by myself a few months back, upon a demand from a friend. Though I am still not hooked to its spiciness, I find it manageably okay to have, once in a while. I love it for the colorful combination of vegetables. It involves a lot of vegetables and a little lengthy process but the outcome is worth the effort. It makes a rich side-dish for roti, chappathi, phulka, poori and so on.

Prep Time: 25 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins + pressure cooking vegetables ||  Serves: 4 || Category: Side-dish

Ingredients:

1. Cardamom - 2

2. Cinnamon - 1 small stick

3. Cloves - 3 

4. Bay leaf - 2

5. Jeera (cumin seeds) - 2 tsp

6. Oil - as required

7. Potato - 1

8. Carrot - 2 medium size

9. Beans - 10

10. Cauliflower - 10 florets

11. Green peas - 1 fistful

12. Onion -  1 big

13. Tomato - 2 small

14. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp

15. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

16. Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp

17. Garam Masala - 1 tsp

18. Curry leaves - few

19. Corriander leaves - few

20. Salt - as required

21. Coriander powder - 2 tsp

22. Lemon juice (or) sour thick curd - 1 tbsp (optional)

23. Green chilli - 1 or 2

For grinding into a paste:

24. Grated coconut - 3 tbsp

25. Fennel seeds (perunjeeragam) - 1 tsp

26. Poppy seeds (kasakasa) - 3/4 tsp

27. Cashews - 6

28. Roasted split gram (pottukadalai) - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Cut all the vegetables (potato, carrot, beans) into small cubes, wash them. Cut the cauliflower into bite sized florets and immerse them in hot water for 5 mins, adding salt and turmeric powder. 

2. Pressure cook all the vegetables for 2 whistles adding little water. Grind all the ingredients mentioned for the paste, with sufficient water.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin seeds and saute them for a min. To this add the chopped onions, green chilli, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and saute until the raw smell goes off.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes, red chili powder, garam masala and saute until the tomatoes turn mushy.

5.  Add the ground paste to the onion tomato mixture and saute until the raw smell goes off.

6. Add the cooked vegetables and some water to adjust the consistency of the gravy. Add required amount of salt, green peas, curry leaves, coriander leaves and switch off after one boil.

Suggestions:

• Can either cook the vegetables in pressure pan or parboil them in a vessel separately.
• Lemon juice or curd is optional. I have not added them as I did not want tanginess.
• Using a variety of vegetables gives a very good flavour. Especially the cauliflower and peas.
• Adding more amount of poppy seeds gives a drowsy feel.
• Combination of vegetables added is entirely based on availability and one's preference.

Makes a very good combo with roti, chappathi, puri, phulka etc.