Kerala Vegetable Kurma《喀拉拉邦蔬菜库尔马/Kurma vegetal de Kerala》

Kerala vegetable Kurma is eaten popularly at home and in restaurants in Malaysia. This vegetable Kurma is a stew of several vegetables simmered in thick spicy coconut based gravy which pairs well with basmati rice, chapati, appam, naan bread or other Indian bread.

Healthy Asian Cuisine.com

Ingredients

• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 large carrot, or 2 small carrots
• 1 tomato
• 1 big green chilli
• 1 big red chilli
• 200g/7oz cauliflower florets
• 70g/2.5oz fresh or frozen peas
• 500ml/2 cups diluted coconut milk
• 250ml/1 cup thick coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon oil for frying
• ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ½ teaspoon black pepper, plus more for additional heat

For the Spice Paste

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 pitted soft date, Medjool or other
• 2 long Jersey shallots or 4 small round shallots
• 1-inch ginger
• 3 tablespoons kurma powder
• 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 45ml/¼ cup water, plus more if needed

Other Spices (Whole and Ground)

• 12 fresh or dried curry leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick, about 2-3 inches (5-7cm) long
• 2 star anise
• 4 cardamoms

To garnish

• Coriander leaves, roasted cashews and/or slices of red chillies

Method

Step 1: Making the Spice Paste

1. Blend garlic, pitted dates, shallots, ginger, Kurma powder, coconut flakes and coconut until smooth.
2. Add a quarter cup of water to initial the blending.  Add more water if needed at the later stage.

Step 2: Preparing & Gathering Your Mise en Place

1. To prepare the vegetable, cut potato into big cubes, carrot into 1-inch pieces, cauliflower into florets, tomato into 4 and half the chillies in lengthways.
2. To dilute the coconut milk, add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1 ½ cup of water into a jug then stir to mix well.
3. Measure out 1 cup of thick coconut milk.
4. Gather dried curry leaves and other whole spices in a small bowl then set everything aside.

Step 3: Making the Kurma Curry

1. Add oil to a skillet over medium heat. Add curry leaves and fry for 20 to 30 seconds. Note: Fried curry leaves will enhance the leaves’ fragrances into the Kurma.  We used dried curry leaves, you can use fresh curry leaves if you could get them from the Asian grocery store.
2. When you can smell the curry leaves fragrance, add other whole spices such as cinnamon sticks, star anise and cardamoms.   Add the ground spices and mix in. Quickly add the blended paste (so the ground spices don’t burn) and mix in. Add a dash of salt, cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally until all ingredients are getting thicker.
3. When the blended paste is thickened and starts to get fragrant (roasted smell), add the potatoes and carrots. Mix in 2 cups of diluted coconut milk then cover and cook for 13 to 15 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are a bit soft.  
4. Add cauliflower florets, tomato cut in 4, green and red chilli then increase the heat to bring to a boil.
5. When the cauliflower is half cooked, throw in the peas.   Add the thick coconut milk; bring to a simmer until the cauliflower and peas are cooked. 
6. Add more coconut milk, vegan cream or some cashew cream for a creamier Kurma curry. Simmer for a few minutes. Garnish with roasted cashews, cilantro, or sliced red chillies or cayenne for heat. Serve hot with basmati rice, naan bread, chapati or other flatbread. Taste and adjust salt and flavour.