1 porotta kurma please!
That’s my standard tiffin order in the south, and with good reason! Porotta kurma is one of those classic dishes that just w.o.r.k.s. South Indian porottas are really famous; they’re soft, they’re flaky and they have more layers than a Wachowski siblings movie.
Porotta beef fry is a Kerala classic but to me, the OG accompaniment to porotta will always be vegetable kurma. Thanks to my vegetarian roots, I grew up eating porotta with vegetable kurma. Sure, as a child I merely dipped my porotta in the kurma, avoiding all those nasty vegetables.(Hello, pumpkins masquerading as potatoes, how dare you?). I have since realised the errors of my actions and now happily scarf down any vegetable thanks to the delicious gravy it swims in!
Korma or Kurma? Porotta or Paratha?
Korma is a Mughlai dish that is made with yoghurt, spices and meat. Kurma is the South Indian version which uses coconut, nuts and poppy seeds as a base along with spices and vegetables to make a delicious and hearty curry. Despite poppy seeds appearing on every other South Indian Kurma recipe, I actually don’t use it all! It began as a convenience thing – because I couldn’t get my hands on it, but eventually I felt like the curry tasted pretty great without it too!
As for the porotta vs paratha debate? C’mon. There’s a reason why it’s spelled that way.
One-Pot Wonder
Yessss! This is another one pot (and one mixer) dish! What’s more, since you make this in a pressure cooker, the entire thing is over in less than 20 minutes. What takes the longest is simply finding all the ingredients! While the recipe calls for carrots, beans and potatoes in equal measures, you can always replace them with any veggies you like. Green peas, cauliflower and pumpkin work great too. Just be sure to keep the vegetables to a total of 1 cup for a good gravy to vegetable ratio.
Don’t worry if you can’t get your hands on great South Indian porotta, because this kurma is also fantastic with idiyappam (string hoppers), dosa, appam or even just plain old chapati.
What to Eat Kurma With?
Idiyappam – Rice noodles, or string hoppers also go really well with kurma
Dosa – If you think dosa and chutney just isn’t filling enough, then kurma will be your favourite.
Appam – Kurma is flavourful enough to stand up against the mighty appam!
Chapati – It’s easy, simple, healthy and tastes fantastic.
Porotta – The absolute best accompaniment is porotta of course. My favourite way to eat is to rip up the porotta into tiny bits and then pour enough kurma to drench the bits. Let it stand like that for a few minutes until the porotta soaks up all that flavour. It’s messy, but absolutely delicious!
No matter the accompaniment, I guarantee you’ll love this curry, veggies and all!
Vegetable Kurma
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
To Grind
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 3 Almonds
- 3 Cashews
- ¼ Cup Shredded Coconut (heaped)
- ½ Tbsp Puffed Chana Dal (Pottukadalai)
For the Curry
- 1 Tbsp Ghee
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 Onion
- ½ Sprig Curry Leaves
- ½ Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 Tomato
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- ¼ tsp Chilli Powder
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Mixed Vegetables
- 1 Cup Water (and more if needed)
- 2 Tbsp Coriander Leaves (chopped)
Instructions
To Grind
- Add the fennel, almonds, cashews, coconut and roasted chana dal to a small mixer and pulse until everything starts to break down.
- Add the 1/4 cup of water and blend till you get a coarse paste. Set aside.
- Prep your vegetables. Chop them into roughly 1 inch cubes.
- Add the ghee to a heavy pressure cooker on medium-high heat.
- Once the ghee is hot, add the cumin seeds and fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the onions and curry leaves and fry till the onions start to brown.
- Add the Ginger Garlic paste and sauté until the pungent, raw smell of the paste dissipates.
- Add the tomato and fry for a minute.
- Add all spices to the mix along with the salt.
- Add the chopped vegetables to the cooker and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add your blended coconut-fennel mix to the vegetables. Clean out the mixer with 1 cup of water to make sure you get every last bit of that lovely mix! Add it too the cooker.
- Taste the curry for salt and adjust if required. You can also add more water if needed.
- Cover and pressure cook on high until the first whistle, about 5-7 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low after the first whistle and cook for 3 minutes.
- Take it off the heat after 3 minutes and let the steam release naturally.
- Open the cooker and add the coriander leaves.
- Serve with a pile of soft porottas!
Check out these other amazing one-pot dishes!
