Vegetable (Navratan) Korma

May 3rd, 2007 filed under Paneer (Indian Cheese)

Vegetable Korma is a delicious combination of several vegetables in a creamy sauce. It is often served in Indian restaurants. Korma can be served with any Indian bread or rice.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups chopped vegetables (cauliflower, green peas, carrot, green beans, red bell pepper)
• 1/2 cup chopped fried paneer
• 3 tablespoons oil
• Pinch of asafetida (hing)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 seeded finely chopped green chili
• 1 tablespoon shredded ginger
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric Haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor powder)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Garnish:

• 1/2 cup seeded and chopped tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

Method:

1. Mix the shredded ginger, green chili, coriander powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper with 2 tablespoons of water and set aside.
2. Mix cornstarch with milk and set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away oil is ready.
4. Add the asafetida and cumin seeds. After cumin seeds crack, add the bay leaves and the spice mixture. Fry for a few seconds until the spices start separating from the oil.
5. Add the cauliflower, green peas, carrot and green beans. Mix well and cover the pan. Let the vegetables cook on medium heat for about 7 to 8 minutes. The vegetables should be cooked just about half way.
6. Add the bell pepper and paneer. Mix well. Add the milk/cornstarch mixture and cook until the vegetables are tender. Add more milk if needed for more gravy.
7. Turn off the heat. Mix in the garam masala, amchoor powder and cilantro.
8. Place the vegetable korma in a serving dish and garnish with chopped tomatoes. Enjoy!

Substitutions and Variations:

1. Substitute any vegetable, for example potatoes, cabbage, corn, and mushrooms or other vegetables. Four to six vegetables are a good number to use.
2. Tofu can be used instead of paneer.
3. For the gravy, you may replace 1-cup milk with 3/4 cups cream for a richer texture. Blending 1/4 cup cashew nuts with 1-cup milk will also give the gravy a richer texture.

63 Responses to “Vegetable (Navratan) Korma”

1. Harini says:

   July 19, 2010 at 2:00 pm

   Hi Aunty,

   Your recipes are wonderful and so delicious !!

   I do not have cornflour at the moment… Can you pls tell me wat substitute I can use for this recipe instead of cornflour??

   Thanks Aunty

   Reply
   • Manjula Jain says:

     July 19, 2010 at 6:23 pm

     Harini,
     Roast the 1 tablespoon of gram flour (basen) and add to the gravy that will provide the thickness to gravy or use heavy cream.

     Reply
2. Garima says:

   June 18, 2010 at 7:07 am

   Manjula Ji…your recipes are wonderful!! I often keep trying them as I need to keep making new dishes for my two sons! And its great that they are all vegetarian! Could you please show/tell us how to make vegetable burgers with loads of veggies so that they are both healthy and tasty.
   Many thanks.

   Reply
3. Lavanya says:

   June 17, 2010 at 9:15 pm

   This website is really gr8 . i have impressed my inlaws and my hubby with these recipes.Can anyone letme know what are the different thickening agents thatcan be used in an vegeterian subji.

   thanks

   Reply
   • Manjula Jain says:

     June 17, 2010 at 11:46 pm

     Lavanya,
     You can use corn starch, arow root, Basen, cashew powder or cream as a thickening agents.

     Reply
4. Some Old Favorites « Run, Eat, Live says:

   May 25, 2010 at 1:55 pm

   [...] Vegetable (Navratan) Korma This is an excellent Indian food recipe.  If you’ve never tried Indian food, this recipe is a great introduction.  It’s a mixed vegetable dish that, coupled with rice, will make a filling meal.  This recipe is from Manjula’s Kitchen, a web site of videos made by and Indian woman who provides recipes and teaches how to cook them at the same time.  Everything I’ve ever made from this site is amazing, which is hard to find for Indian food recipes outside of restaurants. [...]

   Reply
5. Cheshta says:

   April 8, 2010 at 12:30 pm

   You are just amazing…Since the time I am here in america and whatever I have cooked its because of you. Youre doing a great Job…Kudos and lots of best wishes

   Reply
6. NISUPTA BHATTACHARYA says:

   March 1, 2010 at 9:30 pm

   HI, MAM MANY OF UR RECIPES ARE A REAL HIT, JUST CAME ACROSS UR SITE RECENTLY.WELL MY QUERY IS WHAT IS RED CAYENNE PEPPER AND WHAT DO WE CALL IT IN HINDI, SO THAT I CAN HUNT FOR IT EASILY IN INDIA.

   TAKE CARE AND GOD BLESS U MAM……..

   THANKS,

   NISUPTA BHATTACHARYA

   INDIA(CHENNAI)

   Reply
   • Hari says:

     May 6, 2010 at 2:28 pm

     Nisupta,

     It is basically “Lal Mirch” in hindi. You can simply look for images of red cayenne pepper on google (search for images), you will see that it is similar to “Lal Mirch” in whole.
     Hope this helps.
     Hari

     Reply
7. Prabhu says:

   February 6, 2010 at 8:51 pm

   Vasudha,
   You can buy Nancy’s Organic Whole milk yogurt (here in the US). It works well for this recipe.

   Reply
8. Vasudha says:

   February 4, 2010 at 7:39 am

   How to make thick curd(yogurt)?

   Reply