Vegetable Kurma is a very popular south Indian curry. Assorted vegetables are cooked in gravy made with coconut, tomato, onions, and spices. This versatile curry can be served with poori as breakfast, with paratha or rice as lunch/dinner.  I don’t know if the place still exists, but there used to be a small south Indian restaurant called Rau’s near my dad’s shop; I have tasted one of the best kurmas there apart from in my mom’s kitchen ofcourse. There are different variations of this curry. This recipe is my mom’s version of the kurma.

The spices for kurma gravy differ from region to region. I like the flavor of poppy seeds in this curry but unfortunately, poppy seeds are not available in Singapore. Another change you can make is to replace fresh coconut with thick coconut milk to make the gravy creamier. If you want thicker gravy, reduce the amount of water from 2/3 cups to ½ cup. I keep the gravy little runny as I like to eat this curry with plain rice too.

I don’t know the reason but most of the restaurants have the veggies cut in diamond shape for kurma. I usually avoid cauliflower in this curry but if you like cauliflower, do add it. It adds to the flavor of the curry. Some restaurants add mushrooms too. I stick to the veggies I like.

Vegetable Kurma tastes best with hot puris and rava dosa. You can also have it with plain rice, biryani, parathas, or naan.

Ingredients

Serves 3-4

• 1 carrot diced
• 5-6 green beans chopped
• 1 potato cubed
• ¼ cup green peas
• ¼ cup cauliflower florets
• ¼ cup thick yogurt
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 2/3 cup water
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ½ tp garam masala
• 2 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste

For Gravy (To be ground to fine paste)

• 1 tomato
• 1 onion
• 2 green chillies
• 2 red chillies
• 5-6 cardamoms
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 small piece ginger
• 2-3 pieces (appx 2 tbsp) coconut
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
• 2 tsp poppy seeds (khus khus) (optional)

Recipe

Grind all the ingredients for gravy to a smooth paste. If required, you can even pass the paste through a sieve to get a smooth paste. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add curry leaves. Once the leaves pop, add the gravy paste and cook for 2-3 minutes or till the fat separates. Keep mixing every few seconds. Add the turmeric, garam masala, vegetables, salt, and water. Mix well. Close the lid and cook for 2 whistles. Once the pressure is released, open the cooker and let the curry cool down for few minutes. Add the thick yogurt and mix well. Serve hot with puri or rice.