This vegan and simple “Vegetable Korma” is fantastic with Idiyappam, Dosas and even with rice or parathas!
The first time I had Idiyappam or string hoppers was moons ago, and that was in Bangalore in a small South Indian restaurant. It was served with a spicy chutney and a mixed vegetable korma. I instantly fell in love with this combination; the Vegetable Korma they serve is something I never had. It had a certain creaminess to it but a slight pungency and a kick to it. At that time I had no idea what that spice so I never made this preparation.
Vegetable Korma is made with fresh coconut, cashew nuts and a few secret ingredients which are not so secret anymore. 🙂
So a few weeks ago, thanks to COVID-19, a lot of new restaurants are doing food deliveries, and I ordered food from one of the restaurants I had never had food from. It had this korma, which was pretty decent, and at the first bite, I was suddenly nostalgic. After tasting it over and over again, I understood the main spice, which is the highlight of this Vegetable Korma. It was the stone flower or kalapasi or dagad phool! So I decided to create my recipe.
I love adding crunchy vegetables to this Vegetable korma!
To give this Vegetable Korma more texture, I like to add vegetables like baby corn, long beans and capsicum. But you can add whatever veggies you want.
If you like South India recipes, give these recipes a try.
Do check out my YouTube channel for cooking videos.
So give this recipe a try!
Vegetable Korma
Ingredients
For the curry:
- 2 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 4 or to taste green chillies
- 2 medium potatoes large diced
- 1/2 cup red capsicum large diced
- 6 baby corns cut in small rounds
- 1 tomato medium diced
- 1/2 cup long beans cut it 1/2 inch size
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 1 each bay leaf, star anise, stone flower, green and brown cardamom
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp or to taste salt
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander for garnishing
For curry paste:
- 3/4 cup freshly grated coconut
- 6 cashews
- 3 candlenuts or macadamia nuts optional
- 1 tsp each fennel, coriander seeds
- 4 cloves
- 1/2 tsp peppercorns
- 1 inch stick of cinnamon
Instructions
- Make a paste of onion, ginger, garlic and chillies. Keep it aside. Make the paste of all the ingredients listed for curry paste with 1/2 cup of water. Keep it aside.
- Heat oil and add all the whole spices listed for the curry and let them splutter. Add in the onion paste and fry for 7-8 minutes. Add in some salt so the onions cook faster.
- Whilst the onions are cooking, parboil the long beans, baby corn separately.
- Once the onion is cooked, add in the coconut paste and cook further 5-6 minutes.
- Once the coconut paste is cooked, you will see the oil releasing from the sides. Add in the turmeric, red chilli powder and mix well. Saute for another 2 minutes.
- Add in all the vegetables and 1 cup of water. Simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust salt.
- Garnish with coriander and serve with Idiyappam or dosas.
2 Comments
How much desiccated coconut would you use to replace the fresh coconut?
Hello Swati,
I would use 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut as it expands after adding water.