Navrattan Kurma

I am usually dissapointed at Indian restaurants here...i guess because i know what the real deal is. It is rare that we eat at indian places because i get mad when i see a badly prepared dish served and charged to boot...i am usually forgiving when it comes to bad food cooked by a person at home but not an establishment who claim to know how to cook and serve great food....

But, last week i was really bored to cook..which seriously is rare for me and ordered indian food to go. When we order carry-out jeeves and me order dishes we never make at home so it was navrattan kurma for me (as he is not a fan sweet-hot combo) and bhendi-fry for him (yuck!) and malai kofta for us ( coz i will grossly overeat it if i make it at home :)..well..the navrattan kurma was delicious..just like i always imagined gum-paste would be...my childhood desire was seen through by the good desi folks at the restaurant who made me realise that i was wise to stay away from tasting it at a tender age...grr..I really can never understand how can people serve bad food!!

But, now my heart was set on the kurma and when sra announced the event of making grindless gravy...i decided to give this a go.....and i was pleased with the results....

Now navrattan means nine gems...well i do not know if these were gems...but combination of veggies, fruits and nuts nuts came to nine...err...plus some lil extras for taste enhancement :)


Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 1/2 cup- diced
2. Carrots - 1/2 cup - diced
3. Beans - 1/2 cup - cut in thirds
4. Peas - 1/2 cup
5. Butternut squash - 1/2 cup
6. Cauliflower - 1 cup - floweretts
7. Pineapple - 1/2 cup (i used tinned - medium diced)
8. Raisins - 1/4 cup
9. Cashews - 1/4 cup

Onions - 1 meduim - finely chopped
Tomato - 1 large - finely chopped
Ginger - 1 medium pc.
Garlic - 3
Green Chilly - 3
Fat free milk - 1/2 cup
Curry Leaves - 4 - torn

Jeera - 1 tsp.
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp.
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp.
Salt - to taste

Grated paneer - 2 tbls
Oil - 1 tbls

Method:

1. Boil all the veggies 1-6 with the reqd. salt and keep aside. Make sure they do not get mushy...

2. Make a rough paste of the ginger-garlic-green chilly (GGG) in the mortar-pestle..add about 1/4 tsp salt to help it along.

3. In a large pan, heat oil, add the jeera, then add the GGG paste. When it starts to smell really nice :) add the onions which are diced really fine and cook on meduim flame till soft.You can add some of the pineapple juice to help along..if the onions start to brown.

4. Add the tomatoes with the turmeric powder, raisins and cashews and cook on medium flame till the tomatoes and onions turn to a pulpy mess...you can mash it lightly with the back of your ladle to help the process.

5. Add the cooked veggies and pineapple. Add the red chilly powder, garam masala, curry leaves and salt if needed and cook this mix till it is thick but not dry.

6. Add the milk and let it cook for a few more minutes and switch off the gas.

7. Garnish it with grated paneer and eat with rotis.

Notes:

1. Dice the onions and tomatoes really small...else u have to put a little muscle in the kadhai while cooking..it is up to you where u want to put the effort.

2. If you do not have a mortar-pestle..chop the GGG very finely..it will do.

3. The paneer grating is purely optional...but it does absorb some of the extra liquid...and is yummy too ;)

Here is my entry to the
Grindless Gravy event hosted by sra of When my soup came alive