Navratan korma step-by-step recipe with video and photos.
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About this recipe
Navratan means nine gems - in this dish, it's nine vegetables and fruits. A combination of nuts, paneer (cottage cheese), and your favourite vegetables in a mild creamy gravy is a match made in heaven. This mildly spicy medley of vegetables and paneer is very flavourful and aromatic.
You can use an array of vegetables to make this dish. Here, I have used potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, peas, beans, and capsicum. These vegetables plus paneer, pineapple, nuts, and golden raisins are the 'nine gems' I have used to make this curry. You can replace potatoes with sweet potatoes if you prefer. The vegetables I have used here works really well. You may, however, choose to experiment with other vegetables like baby corn, broccoli, mushroom, etc.
What is Korma
Korma or qorma is a dish that originates from central Asia and is made with yogurt, nuts, and cream or milk (or coconut milk). Korma has its roots in Mughlai cuisine and can be made with either meat or vegetables.
This curry is very mild and uses mostly whole spices. It is a great alternative if you prefer mildly spiced curries. Korma is usually associated with "shahi" which means royal and that is the main characteristic of any korma. Korma is also a popular dish in Indian restaurants, vegetable korma being one of the most common dishes.
Ingredients
Vegetables: I use mix vegetables consisting of potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, beans, peas, and capsicum. I parboil all vegetables except for capsicum as parboiling the capsicum will turn them mushy.
Nuts: I make a paste with almonds and cashew to make the curry creamy and rich. I also use a few chopped almonds and cashew in the curry to add texture.
Whole spices: The whole spices I use are black cumin seeds (shah jeera), cinnamon, black cardamom, cardamom, cloves, mace, and bay leaves.
Onions: I boil the onions along with the nuts and make a paste for the curry base.
Ghee: This dish tastes best when made with ghee; however, it can be replaced with any cooking oil of your choice.
Pineapple and paneer: Pineapple adds a mild sweetness to the dish. You may either add paneer directly or you may shallow-fry them before adding.
Tips for making best navratan korma
Parboil the vegetables and discard the water. We do not want any vegetable to overpower this rather mild dish.
Do not parboil the capsicum. Capsicum cooks very quickly and if you parboil the capsicum, they can turn very mushy.
Do not skip the pineapples even though it is an optional ingredient. They add a mild sweetness to the dish making it very flavourful and delicious.
Soak the poppy seeds before grinding it. This will help in grinding it into a smooth paste.
I make this dish creamy by using nuts and poppy seeds. However, you may also use cream to add richness and creamy texture.
Serving suggestions
Navratan korma goes very well with both rice dishes and flatbread. Since it is quite mild, it tastes very good with biryani too. Here are some dishes you can pair this royal dish with.
Pair this with flatbreads, pulao, or simply steamed basmati rice. Without a doubt, this royal dish is here to please!
Click here for more curry recipes.
Bonus
This dish is:
- rich, royal, and restaurant-quality
- loaded with vegetables
- perfect for parties and celebrations
- mildly spiced
Step by step instructions
1. Parboil the potatoes, carrot, peas, cauliflower, and beans
2. Boil onions and soaked nuts for 2-3 minutes. Drain and let the onions cool down completely
3. Heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a small pan and fry the remaining almonds, cashew, and raisins
4. Grind together the onion, yogurt, cashew, almond, and poppy seeds to make a smooth paste
5. Heat ghee, add shah jeera and whole spices
6. Add the ginger paste and green chillis and cook for a couple of minutes
7. Add the ground paste and mix
8. Cook on low to medium heat until the oil starts to separate from the gravy
9. Add capsicum and 1 cup of water. Simmer for 2-3 minutes
10. Add all the parboiled vegetables, salt, pineapple, and paneer. Mix gently
11. Once the vegetables are cooked, add garam masala
12. Add the fried almonds, cashew, and raisins
Recipe card
Navratan korma
Ingredients
- 1 large potato cut into cubes
- 1 large carrot cut into cubes
- ½ cup cauliflower
- 8-10 green beans
- ½ cup peas
- ½ cup capsicum (I used a mix of red and green)
- ½ cup pineapple chopped
- ½ cup paneer cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoon raisins
To Grind:
- 1 medium onion coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 8-10 cashew
- 8-10 almonds
For the gravy:
- ½ teaspoon shah jeera
- 3-4 cardamom
- 1 black cardamom
- 3-4 cloves
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 bay leaf
- 1-2 mace
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 2 green chilli chopped finely
- 2 tablespoon yogurt lightly beaten until smooth
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 3 tablespoon ghee
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Parboil the potatoes, carrot, peas, cauliflower, and beans. Set aside
- Soak 6-8 almonds and cashew in water for 30 minutes. Peel the skin of the almonds
- Roughly chop the remaining almonds and cashew. Heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a small pan and fry the remaining almonds, cashew, and raisins. Set aside
- Soak poppy seeds for 30 minutes
- Boil water and add the onions and soaked nuts. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and let the onions cool down completely
- Grind together the onion, yogurt, cashew, almond, and poppy seeds to make a smooth paste
- Heat a thick bottom pan and add ghee
- Add shah jeera and let it splutter. Add the whole spices and fry for 1-2 minutes till aromatic
- Add the ginger paste and green chillis and cook for a couple of minutes
- Add the ground paste and mix
- Cook on low flame until the oil starts to separate from the gravy. Keep stirring at regular intervals to make sure the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Add capsicum and 1 cup of water. Simmer for 2-3 minutes
- Add all the parboiled vegetables, salt, pineapple, and paneer. Mix gently
- Simmer until the vegetables are cooked
- Add garam masala and mix. Add the fried almonds, cashew, and raisins. Mix gently
- Serve hot
Video
Click here to watch navratan korma web story.
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