KORMA MIXED VEGETABLE STEW

A hearty vegetable curry with a stew like consistency. You can also make Korma Mixed Vegetable Stew with a variety of other vegetables like eggplant, pumpkin, tomatoes or radish.

Ingredients

• Olive oil, coconut oil or ghee
• 2 whole star anise
• 3 cm cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 brown onions, quartered
• 1 jar Latasha’s Kitchen Kuruma Masala Paste
• 180 ml water
• 1 x 400 g tin Mutti roma tomatoes
• 1 x 400 ml tin Ayam brand coconut cream
• 400 ml water
• ⅓ cup raisins − optional
• Bunch of coriander leaves
• ⅓ cup roasted cashew nuts − optional
• 1 tsp Latasha’s Kitchen Garam Masala Powder − optional
• Salt to taste

Vegetables to prepare

• 1 medium head of cauliflower, steam a whole head of cauli and break into florets once cooled
• 4 royal blue potatoes, boil whole, peel and quarter
• 1 medium eggpant, diced into small pieces
• 250 g French, butter or snake beans, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 2 large carrots, cut into small chunks
• 1 cup frozen green peas − corn can also be used
• 2 green chillies, split − optional
• 2 or more cups of water

Method

1. Cook cauliflower and potatoes as directed above.
2. Heat a casserole pot with oil. Add cinnamon stick, star anise and bay leaves. When fragrant, add onions and fry until well caramelised, at least 10 minutes on low heat.
3. Next add Latasha’s Kitchen Kuruma Masala Paste and 180 ml water. Cook for 15 minutes on low to medium heat until a thick paste forms then add tinned tomatoes. Mix well and cook for another 5 minutes on medium to high heat then add eggplant, carrots, beans, peas and green chillies (if using), stir until well combined. Cook for 8 minutes on low.
4. Then add cooked cauliflower and potatoes, raisins (if using), coconut cream and 400 ml water. Mix gently and add additional 2 cups water to make a smooth gravy. Add more if preferred. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes and adjust salt to taste.
5. Garnish with roasted cashew nuts and coriander leaves. A sprinkle of Latasha’s Kitchen Garam Masala Powder is highly recommended.
6. Enjoy with rice or Indian breads.

Tips:

• Kuruma is one of those vegetable dishes where many types of vegetables can work well. For example sometimes I use mainly tomatoes, carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and green peas for a sweet tangy spicy orange coloured korma.
• I have also at times just made Korma with a mixture of long snake beans, potatoes, carrots and frozen peas. In this version I cut all three hard vegetables lengthwise instead of chunks.
• If you like potatoes, you could also make a milky, thick white creamy Korma by just using various types of potatoes with cauliflower, peas and cashew nuts.
• Another favourite way of mine when I feel like eating corn, is to use whole corn cobs, which I cut into 3 pieces with a cleaver. I make this version of Korma simply with corn cobs, peas and tinned tomatoes.
• And by the way North Indians refer to this dish as Korma while South Indians pronounce it as Kuruma. The North makes their Kormas rich with a combination of yoghurt, cream and crushed nuts like almonds while the South Indian version of Kurumas are generally lighter and spicier with the addition of coconut milk or cream, and a crushed fresh coconut masala mixture made with grated coconut flesh, cumin, back pepper, cashew nuts and green chillies.