Mixed Vegetable Kuruma / Kurma for Pulao | Indian Curry Recipes

As a home cook, my simple dream is to provide healthy wholesome food to my family yet spend less time in the kitchen. Sounds confusing I know, it may not come true everyday, but is possible some days. One of those days are when I make this universal side dish, Vegetable kurma. It is a multi-purpose accompaniment to almost all the Indian main courses, Idli, dosa, rice, Poori, Chapathi, Paratha. I make it in the morning for dosa, and it pops up for lunch with Thengaipal Sadham and does not fail to make an appearance for dinner with chapathi. Now that is a win-win for me.  It is also a great way to use up all those leftover veggies before you go on a trip :).

Ingredients:
Serves - 4-6
Potato - 1
Turnip - 1
Carrots - 2
Cauliflower florets - 1 cup
Peas - 1/2 cup
Onion - sliced thin - 1 cup
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
To Grind:
Garlic - 5 cloves
Green Chillis - 4 or 5
Grated Coconut - 4 tbsp - heaped
Khus Khus - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Fennel seeds / Sombu - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1 tsp

Method:
Make a smooth paste of the ingredients under 'To Grind' in a blender. Cut the vegetables in little, almost equal sized pieces. Boil them in salted water, about 4-5 cups until done. Drain and reserve water. Heat oil in a kadai and add the sliced onions. Fry until they are soft and add the ground masala with salt and half a cup of water. Allow it to cook for about 2 minutes. Now add the water from the vegetables and allow it to boil. When it starts to boil, simmer for about 5 minutes and add the vegetables. Continue to simmer in low heat until the desired thickness is achieved. Serve with chapathi, idli, dosa or rice.
Pressure cooker method:
Heat oil in a pressure cooker add add the onions. Fry until they are soft and then add the cut, raw vegetables and salt. Add the ground paste and about 4-5 cups of water. Cover and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Open after the pressure is dropped. Serve.