My dad is a wonderful cook. He would cook once or twice a week for us whenever he was in town. He would make me and my brother stand near the kitchen counter and teach us how to do things in the kitchen. He was patient, never rushed anything and always willing to teach and learn. He would sit patiently for hours grinding and sharpening his knives. He does it for me even today whenever he visits me.
He believes that getting children into the kitchen at a very young age is the only way to get them interested in food. He is in his early seventies now as I write this post and he still cooks whenever he visits me. A very simple man who firmly believes that he belongs to a generation which still believes that it takes 100 Paise to make a single Rupee. I love you daddy. This recipe is a house favorite. We call it as Chapati kuruma. Its a perfect side dish for roti, poori, ghee rice or pulao. There is a lot of nostalgia going on in this recipe.
Lets do my Dad’s Vegetable kurma before my eyes brings in the water works. Shall we?
There is going to be some prep involved. Once done the recipe progresses quickly. Crank up the food processor/mixie as we need to make some puree/paste. We need ginger-garlic paste, cashew-khuskhus(poppy seed) paste , coconut paste and tomato puree.
Next contender – Vegetables. Just pick up whatever veggies you have in your fridge. I used the classic veggies like potatoes, peas, beans, carrot and cauliflower. A cup of each. Boil them until AL-dente and keep aside.
Now lets play with the fire.
Heat oil in a wide skillet and when the oil is shimmering add the spices (cinnamon,cloves and cardamom), onions and saute until translucent. Add in the ginger garlic paste and salt and saute until you can see streaks of oil coming out of the mixture. That’s a sure sign that the garlic mixture is cooked.
Now add in the tomatoes and the spice masala. The spice masala includes turmeric, coriander powder, red chilli powder and black pepper. Reduce the flame to low and let it cook for 10 minutes. Now add the boiled veggies and cook for a couple of minutes. Now last add in the cashew-khuskhus paste and the coconut paste and cook for a mere minute or two. Don’t let it boil for long after adding these two pastes. Just a minute or two on simmer and take it off heat and garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves.
Serve hot with roti or pulao.
- 4 Big Ripe Tomatoes
- 2 inch Ginger
- 10 Cloves Garlic
- 10 Whole Cashewnut
- 3 Tablespoon khus khus /white poppy seed
- 4 Tbs shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Red chilli powder
- 2 teaspoon Coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon pepper powder
- 1 cup Potatoes diced
- 1 cup Peas
- 1 cup Cauliflower florets
- 1 cup Carrots diced
- 1 cup Beans diced
- 2 Tablespoon Oil
- 2 inch bark Cinnamon
- 3 Cloves whole
- 3 Cardamom Whole
- 2 Red Onion Chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
- 500 ml water
- The paste: Grind the ginger and garlic with a little water into a smooth paste and set aside. Grind the tomatoes to a smooth puree. No need to strain. Set aside. Grind the cashew and khus khus with a little water to a smooth paste and set aside. Grind the coconut with a little water to a smooth puree.
- Boil the veggies until Al-dente. Reserve the water used for boiling.
- In a wide saute pan, heat the oil until shimmering. Add in the cloves,cardamom and cinnamon.
- Add in the onions and fry till translucent.
- Add in the ginger garlic paste, salt and fry until little streaks of oil come out of the mixture.
- Now add in the tomatoes and the spice masala mixture and let it simmer in low flame for 10 minutes.
- Now add in the boiled veggies and the reserved water and boil for a couple of minutes.
- Add the cashew-khus khus paste
- Add the coconut paste
- Boil for a mere minute after adding the above two pastes. Do not let it boil for long.
- Remove from heat and garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with Chapati or Ghee rice.
The post South Indian Mixed Vegetable Kurma – My Dads Recipe appeared first on Kannamma Cooks.