Delicious vegetable korma made with mixed vegetables and fresh korma sauce.

Big hearty chunks of veggies like potato, cauliflower, carrot beans simmered in a very flavorful south Indian style spice base. Best served with parotta, naan, rice.

What is Korma?

Korma is a variety of Indian curry where chunks of veggies or meat are cooked in a freshly made kurma paste with coconut and other select ingredients like cashews, poppy seeds.

This Indian veg kurma curry goes very well with rice, parotta, naan, roti. Vegan & gluten fee! Classic vegetarian & vegan variation for chicken kurma.

Vegetable korma is my all time favorite south Indian curry. This is a popular, delicious and most loved curry known as veg kurma in south India.

The ideal combination of this korma curry is parotta but we love this with steamed basmati rice and lachha parartha too.

A well made good korma is thick, creamy, is perfectly balanced with flavor flavor from various spices and contains chunks of veggies or meat.

A good kurma begins with best homemade korma sauce or paste. Now there are so many variations how this sauce is made.

Few whole spices are added, few are left out based on region, personal preference and that varies the taste of the finished dish.

Here I am sharing the tastiest vegetable korma recipe that I have been making since a decade. This is the recipe that my mom makes, which I have altered a bit to make it more creamy and rich.

This is one curry which is light yet rich, perfectly suited for special occasions and a wonderful comfort food as well. A bowl of piping hot veg kurma with rice is my idea of comfort dinner for a chilly night.

Read on get the recipe along with my tips, tricks and secret touch to make creamiest tastiest veg kurma.

This Vegetable Korma Is

Hearty, creamy & tastiest

Made with fresh korma sauce

Contains chunks of hearty veggies

vegan and gluten free

light yet rich & delectable.

Mixed veg curries are our favorite at home and I often make mix veg recipe, veg sagu, vegan stew with mixed vegetables. This veg kurma is another favorite.

Before going into the recipe, here are few things you need to know about south Indian veg kurma in case you have not tasted it or known about it

The base of this kurma sauce is coconut. Freshly grated coconut but these days I am making it with thick coconut milk, so much more creamy and rich korma!

This recipe is not made with cream or butter. All the richness and creaminess comes from coconut, poppy seeds. I add some almonds but that is totally optional.

Coconut is the base of this kurma paste, having said that you can totally make this recipe without coconut too. Lookout for my instructions in the notes section.

Now let’s get into the recipe right away. First off you need to make the kurma sauce.

What Is Korma Sauce Made Of?

As said above there are various ways to make korma sauce. While some recipes call for onions, cashews I prefer to make mine with the below mentioned ingredients. Trust me this sauce is more than delicious, this is authentic and most flavorful.

Typically these ingredients go in the making of korma paste.

Roasted Bengal gram or chutney dal– Pottukadalai in English is known as roasted Bengal gram. It is a very widely used ingredient in south Indian cooking especially for making chutneys or for thickening gravies. Here are also we are using it to thicken the korma paste and lend some volume & flavor.

This ingredient is very specific to Indian cooking, so if you are able to get it in the United States or other countries you can just leave it out and increase the quantity of almonds and grated coconut. You can also use cashews instead.

Almonds- Generally almonds are not used in this recipe. However I like to use some as they lend wonderful flavor and lends richer taste without making the korma very heavy. If you prefer you can use cashews instead of almonds.

Green chilies- For heat, increase or decrease as required. The quantity given in the recipe if for moderately spiced veg korma.

cumin seeds- for flavor, you can also add some fennel seeds and bolder flavor.

tomato– a small tomato for tangy taste and flavor. This is not tomato based curry. So do not add more. If you want to make white korma sauce you can just leave out tomato and some yogurt while making the curry. That will not be vegan though.

freshly grated coconut or coconut milk– Freshly grated coconut is the base of this curry. Instead of grated coconut you can use thick coconut milk for creamier sauce.

What Vegetables Go Well In Veg Korma?

Veggies that we generally use for veg pilaf or kadai vegetables go well here too. I usually add

potatoes

carrot

french beans

green peas

cauliflower.

You can also try baby corn, broccoli in this recipe.

Before adding to the curry base, you will have to prep the veggies a bit.

First off chop the veggies into big chunks for a hearty curry. You do not want veggies to loose shape or disintegrate in the curry.

Next before adding to the korma sauce the veggies should be partly cooked. You can either steam the veggies or pressure cook or saute in a bit of oil like I did.

I prefer to saute the veggies in oil and cook with a splash of water.

Tips To Make Best Vegetable Korma Curry

Nuts in kurma sauce– Use some nuts or poppy seeds in the sauce for rich taste. Adding a bit if poppy seeds make the korma paste very rich and creamy. I know poppy seeds are not preferred by everyone and in that case add nuts like almonds, cashews. You can also add melon seeds for creamy sauce.

Whole spices– This veg kurma gets its flavor only from whole spices, so do not miss them. If you one or two variet from the listed spices, it ok. If you do not have whole spices handy use 2 teaspoons garam masala powder while making the curry.

Saute the paste well in oil– To get the real flavor of this vegetable korma curry , saute the paste very well in oil until fat separates from the sides. For elevated flavor you can also add some ghee with oil, again it will not be vegan though.

Go easy on seasonings– This curry gets all its flavor from whole spices, green chilies and coconut. The only spice powders we add in this recipe are turmeric powder and a bit of red chili powder. If you don’t have whole spices you can add garam masala powder.

A splash of coconut milk increases the taste– Along with adding grated coconut in the korma paste, you can also add 2 tablespoons coconut milk in this recipe. It increased the richness and creaminess. You can also add almond milk in this recipe.

Step By Step Method

Preparing the vegetables

Rinse, peel and cut potatoes & carrots into big cubes. Chop beans lengthwise.

Shell green peas.

Separate cauliflower into florets.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add the chopped veggies.

Saute well for 5-6 minutes over medium flame.

Add 1/4 cup water and cover the pan.

Cook until water is absorbed. Remove the cooked vegetables to a pan and retain the oil.

Making korma sauce

Add 15 almonds, 3 slit green chilies, 2 tablespoons roasted gram dal, 2 teaspoons cumin seeds in a small blender jar.

To that add 1/2 cup grated coconut and 1 small tomato, chopped.

Grind to a very smooth paste.

Your korma paste is ready. You will get around 1 cup korma paste.

How to make vegetable korma

Heat the same oil we used for sauteing oil.

Add whole spices and saute for minute.

Next add chopped onions and saute for 2 minutes.

Now add the prepared korma sauce and saute for a minute.

Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and mix well. Add 1 cup water.

Now lower the flame and cook the korma sauce thoroughly until oil separates from the paste.

Once korma paste is well cooked, add sauteed vegetables.

Mix well and cook in medium flame for 3-4miutes.

If the curry is very thick, you can add some water at this stage and cook for 3-4 more minutes.

Add chopped cilantro leaves and mix well.

Serve vegetable korma warm.

Make Ahead & Freezing.

This vegetable korma keeps well for 2 days in refrigerator. Store in airtight container and reheat gently while serving.

The korma paste freezes really well. You can store in small portioned containers and thaw as required. To make vegetabe korma, remove the paste from freezer and gently reheat in some oil, add cooked veggies and mix.

Serving Suggestions

Serve vegetable korma with parotta, naan, roti or rice.

You can also serve this curry with ghee rice, peas pulao etc.

Recipe