Vegetable Korma ~ Welcoming the New Year with Moms Mixed Vegetable Curry with Whole Spices and Nuts

Happy New Year 2010. Hope you all had a very good start in this new year and we wish you all good health, happiness and prosperity!!

I want to head start with Moms famous recipe, The Mighty Vegetable Kurma! Sometimes. out of the blue i badly crave for Moms spicy Mixed vegetable kurma and chapathi. This curry is very aromatic with freshly ground spices and herbs like Mint and Cilantro. Also mom adds KhusKhus( poppy seeds aka gasa gasalu ) , cashew nuts and Almonds to bring that rich and nutty flavor to the curry! This recipe is directly from Moms kitchen and it cant be bet!

Ingredients:

• 4 small red potatoes
• 1/2 tender small bottle gourd
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 large red onion
• 2 medium carrots
• 15-20 green beans
• 1/3 cup baby green peas6-10 cashew nuts
• 3 tbsp poppy seeds5-8 almonds
• cilantro mint
• 4-5 cloves1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamom
• ghee/butter

How to:

• Chop carrots, beans, potatoes, squash and tomatoes into small chunks.
• Chop onions length wise and keep aside.
• Add carrots, beans, potatoes, squash and peas in a steam basket, add water into the pressure pan. keep this steam basket and pressure cook for 1 whistle. You can even microwave each veggies. The basic idea is to cook them with out making them mushy.
• In a blender or jar, finely ground khus khus( poppy seeds ), cashew nuts, cloves, cinnamon,cardamom , red chillies into a very fine paste and keep aside.
• In a heavy bottomed pan, add butter( ghee ) or oil, once the oil is heated add whole spices cardamom,. cinnamon stick, cloves and bay leaf, fry for few seconds and then add chopped onions. Once the onions are fried to golden hue, add ginger garlic paste, fry until the raw smell disappears. Now chopped tomatoes and cook until the oil separates from the gravy, add the khus khus, almonds and cashew nuts paste and fry for a minute.
• Once the paste is cooked, add the boiled vegetables mix well and cook covered for 5 mins.
• You can either add milk or water to get to required consistency( i prefer milk over water as it bring slight sweetness and a subtle taste to the curry ) and then cook well.
• Garnish with chopped mint and cilantro.

Note:

This would be great for kids along with fresh rotis. This vegetable korma has a very good serving of veggies and please tone down the spices when cooking for kids. You can add any vegetables of child's preference to this curry to make it kid friendly!! My friends daughter loves Raisins, so i add some raisins, badam and kaju along with other vegetables!

Serving Suggestion:

Serve with a good cup of fresh homemade yogurt and sliced onions, cucumbers and tomatoes sprinkled with some salt, pepper and lime juice. Also you can serve with a slice of fresh lemon tobe squeezed over the curry! Don't forget the rotis!!

Moms Spicy Vegetable Kurma is on its way to:

• Monthly Mingle: Fruits and Vegetables
• Kids Delight: Wholesome Breakfast