Friday 8 January 2016

NAVRATAN KORMA


Navratan Korma.... prepared for the first time... What motivated me? Perhaps a worst tasted one that I ordered from a local restaurant during my Kolkata stay this time. More worse was that, it was for my brother who is quite choosy about food. For me too, food is all about good colour, texture and taste. I also believe in value for money. Hence, totally irritated with what I got, I made up my mind to try my hands on it. The sad part is I could not treat my brother with it, may be on my next visit. Miss my family back home and definitely my city.

For doing this Navratan Korma, I went through a number of recipes and then did it my own way. To keep it low caloric, I used yogurt and milk instead of fresh cream. There is less use of cream and cheese at my home. The vegetables I used are carrot, french beans, green peas, cauliflower. To them I added cashews, raisins and pineapple chunks. Let us see how we do it.

INGREDIENTS :[main]
Carrot : 1
French Bean : 5-6
Green Pea : 1/2 small cup
Cauliflower : 1small
Pineapple[cubed] : 1small cup
Cashew[halved] : 1tbsp
Raisins : 1tsp
Paneer[cubed] : 100-150gm[Indian cottage cheese]

INGREDIENTS :[the spice paste]
Poppyseed : 1tsp[substitute with white sesame seed if you stay in Dubai or Singapore]
Coconut[shredded] : 2tbsp
Tomato : 2small
Onion Paste : 1tbsp
Ginger Paste : 1tsp
Garlic Paste : 1/2tsp
Cumin Powder : 1tsp
Coriander Powder : 1/2tsp
Kashmiri Chilli Powder : 1tsp[this dish need not be hot, so I used Kashmiri Mirch]
Garam Masala Powder : 1/2tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp
Plain Yogurt : 1/2small cup
Milk : 1/2small cup
Salt : As required

INGREDIENTS :[final countdown]
Bayleaf : 1
Green Cardamom : 2
Cinnamon : 1two inch stick
Oil : 2tbsp
Ghee[clarified butter] : 1tsp

METHOD :
Wash and cut the vegetables into small pieces and keep separately. Rub them with salt. The carrot needs to be peeled.

Soak the poppyseed in warm water for an hour and blend to a paste along with the shredded coconut. Wash, cut and deseed the tomatoes, blend to get a paste. Get ready with the ginger, garlic and onion paste.

Heat oil and ghee in a wok. Temper with a bayleaf, green cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add the onion paste and saute for a minute or two. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2minutes.

Now add the poppyseed-coconut paste. Saute for a minute. Add the tomato paste, fry for 2 minutes. Add carrot pieces, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder. Stir well and cover cook for 2 minutes.

Add the cauliflower, french beans and stir. Cover cook for 1 minute. Open cover and add 1 small cup water. Cover cook for 2 minutes at medium to low flame.

Open cover, add the paneer cubes, green pea, cashews, raisin, stir. Blend together the milk and curd and pour over the curry. Let boil for a minute or two.

Add the pineapple cubes and garam masala powder. Stir and let cook for 1/2 a minute. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Garnish with a spoonful of milk-yogurt mix.

Enjoy with any kind of South-Asian bread!!


3 comments :

  1. A mixed vegetable-paneer curry in a tomato based gravy with use of a number of spices. A low caloric version of it.

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  2. Looks so delicious and healthy version of navratan korma..loved the idea of using healthy combo instead of cream :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much dear Jolly... always thankful chef

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