How many of us have always longed to get that perfect hotel style taste at home when we make the veg kurma, a popular side dish for just about many dishes, dosas, chapatis, rotis, parathas, naan breads and pooris.? Well it is no big deal really , you can get it with the same taste and more vegetables, less oil and so light on the tummy too.

I have made both the white and red veg kurma frequently and everytime it gets better and better when I play around with some spices, making adjustments, substitutions, method and now I can say this one is almost 99 percent a copycat version of the famed Hotel Saravana Bhavan which is popular for serving this delicious side dish with their plate of pooris or chapatis. But it does come loaded with some fat, oil floating on top that always causes some discomfort.

Note :

While the hotel style recipe includes onions, ginger garlic , I have skipped using garlic and onions, so add them if you like.

Ingredients:

2 cups of finely diced veggies like potatoes. , cauliflower florets,carrots, green beans, Some green peas.
1/ cup of knol khol peeled and cubed to small pieces,
3tbsp chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

To prepare a purée

3 medium tomatoes , 1 green chilli.,small piece of ginger. , pinch of turmeric powder.

To soak and grind

1/4 cup cashew halves soaked in hot water
Almonds can also be used to substitute .
1/4 cup fresh/desiccated coconut
2tsp poppy seeds/ Khus khus

To roast and grind to powder

2 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves

1 bayleaf
2 cardamom or a tsp of cardamom powder.
1 tsp fennel seeds/ saunf
1 red chilly

Other ingredients

2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder ( skip if using onions and garlic in recipe )
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp fresh yogurt
Salt to taste.

Method:

1. Cook all veggies in an open pan or pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric powder, to 1 whistle . Take care not to over cook.

2. Purée the tomatoes , green chilly, ginger and turmeric , keep aside.

3. Grind the soaked Cashewnuts / almonds with coconut and 2 tsp poppy seeds. Grind to smooth paste.Keep aside.

4. Take a big pan , heat well, add oil, add the tomato purée , add the turmeric powder, chilly powder , pinch of asafoetida powder, coriander powder.

Keep sautéing the mixture on a low flame, when the oil comes up and the purée gets a nice shine and becomes aromatic ., add the cooked vegetables. Add salt as required. Stir well, add little water to lighten the almost dry gravy. When the vegetables look done well with a thickening gravy , add the ground spice powder . Stir well again and let mixture cook on a low flame. When all the raw smell of spices disappears, add the ground paste , and just before taking off from the gas add the whisked yogurt . Stir well again and remove.

garnish with cilantro leaves . Serve with rotis, Phulkas, Naan breads or even pooris.

Notes

1..If you wish to add onions , then after adding oil in pan sautée well , till onions are transparent then add the tomato purée .

2. For those who want to add garlic, you can do so at the time of making tomato purée . Add few garlic pods with tomatoes , green chillies , ginger and tur meric powder or best would be to add ginger garlic paste while sautéing onions .

3. Instead of adding fresh coconut or desiccated coconut while grinding cashew , you can add thick coconut milk in the end around 2 tbsp or 3 . This makes it creamy too just like hotel style.

browse my instagram for more videos and recipes . Follow my Instagram