Navratan (Nine Gems) Korma and Naan
One of my favourite vegetarian dishes at the now defunct Indian restaurant I used to visit, was Navratan Korma, a somewhat sweet and creamy curry. The term navratan means "nine gems" and refers to the total of nine vegetables, fruits and nuts used in the dish. Most commonly, cauliflower, peas, carrots, beans and potatoes are used as well as cashew nuts in two forms (ground and incorporated into the gravy for thickening and fried broken pieces as garnish) and pineapple chunks. However, you can replace the vegetables as desired or add more. And if all you can get is brazil (or macadamia) nuts, go for it. A handful of golden raisins or diced dried apricots can replace the pineapple but still add that touch of sweet flavour.
The ubiquitous onions, garlic and fresh ginger, ground to a fine paste, are also used as a thickener to the gravy though some versions use cream, a slurry of water and cornstarch, yogurt or coconut milk. One version I saw used ground tomatoes in the gravy but I prefer a paler gravy so I replaced the tomatoes with a small amount of tomato paste for a touch of colour only. I was also going for a more yellow tone but ran out of turmeric powder.
Meat versions using lamb, chicken or shrimp are popular but I decided to stay vegetarian and add the 8 oz of fried paneer cubes that I had intended for mattar paneer a while ago. There are many recipes for this dish. This is just one attempt to reproduce the one I've had. It's close but needs some tweaking. :)
Navratan Korma (Nine-gem Curry) - serves 4
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup (or 8 oz) paneer (cottage cheese) cubes (1" cubes)
1/2 cup cashews, broken into bits or brazil nuts (blanched and peeled)
2 medium-sized onions chopped and ground to a fine paste
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp tomato paste
Spice mixture
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
Vegetable mix that follows (or 1 cup of parboiled potatoes and 3-4 cups frozen vegetable mix, par cooked)
1 cup peeled, cubed, parboiled potato
12-15 french beans, tops and tails removed, parboiled
2 medium carrots chopped into small cubes and parboiled
1/2 cup green peas, parboiled
1 cup cauliflower florets, parboiled
1 medium-sized red or green bell pepper, seeds removed and cut into 1" squares
1 cup pineapple cubes
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste (start with 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper (use black if you don't have any white)
1-2 cups cold water or as needed
In a small saucepan, cover the cashew pieces with 1 cup cold water, bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Transfer the cashew pieces to a small food processor and grind into a smooth paste. You may want to add a tablespoon or so of the coconut milk or water to assist.
Heat a deep pan to medium and add 1 tsp of cooking oil to it. Now add the paneer cubes and fry on all sides until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside on paper towels, for later use. (If using cashew nuts for garnish, you may toast them briefly in the oil after removing the paneer, and then drain them well.)
In the same pan, add the remaining cooking oil and heat. Now add the onion, garlic and ginger pastes and fry till slightly browned. Add the tomato paste and fry for another 1 minute.
Add all the spice powders and fry the masala until the oil begins to separate from it. Stir often to keep the masala from sticking to the pan and burning.
Now add 1 cup of warm water to this masala and mix well. Cook for 1 minute.
Add all the vegetables, pineapple, paneer, coconut milk and cashew mixture. Add enough water to barely cover the vegetables. Mix gently but well making sure not to mash or break the pieces of the vegetable. Cook till veggies are done but not limp (they must be al dente!)
Season with salt to taste and white pepper, stir and turn off heat.
Serve with hot Naans (leavened, tandoor-baked Indian flatbread).
Additional note: I found the gravy wasn't as smooth as the one from the restaurant and a bit heavy so next time I'd probably replace the 1/2 cup of coconut milk with 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup cream, reduce the amount of cashew nuts used to 2 tbsp and use them as garnish.
And because Eva recently posted a naan recipe that sounded like it was doable (my previous attempts have been disappointing) I decided to make a batch to serve with the korma by using my oven at 500 deg F and baking the naans for 5-6 min. The first two naan were rolled out a bit thicker than I would have liked and didn't develop the brown bubbles of Eva's before I turned them. However I was concerned that the bottom would get too dark so after 4 minutes, I flipped them over and baked for a couple more minutes. The second batch, which I rolled a bit thinner, ended up sticking though they browned and puffed as well as the first batch. Sigh ... very inconsistent results.
Still puffy naan on the right
The ubiquitous onions, garlic and fresh ginger, ground to a fine paste, are also used as a thickener to the gravy though some versions use cream, a slurry of water and cornstarch, yogurt or coconut milk. One version I saw used ground tomatoes in the gravy but I prefer a paler gravy so I replaced the tomatoes with a small amount of tomato paste for a touch of colour only. I was also going for a more yellow tone but ran out of turmeric powder.
Meat versions using lamb, chicken or shrimp are popular but I decided to stay vegetarian and add the 8 oz of fried paneer cubes that I had intended for mattar paneer a while ago. There are many recipes for this dish. This is just one attempt to reproduce the one I've had. It's close but needs some tweaking. :)
Navratan Korma (Nine-gem Curry) - serves 4
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup (or 8 oz) paneer (cottage cheese) cubes (1" cubes)
1/2 cup cashews, broken into bits or brazil nuts (blanched and peeled)
2 medium-sized onions chopped and ground to a fine paste
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp tomato paste
Spice mixture
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
Vegetable mix that follows (or 1 cup of parboiled potatoes and 3-4 cups frozen vegetable mix, par cooked)
1 cup peeled, cubed, parboiled potato
12-15 french beans, tops and tails removed, parboiled
2 medium carrots chopped into small cubes and parboiled
1/2 cup green peas, parboiled
1 cup cauliflower florets, parboiled
1 medium-sized red or green bell pepper, seeds removed and cut into 1" squares
1 cup pineapple cubes
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste (start with 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper (use black if you don't have any white)
1-2 cups cold water or as needed
In a small saucepan, cover the cashew pieces with 1 cup cold water, bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Transfer the cashew pieces to a small food processor and grind into a smooth paste. You may want to add a tablespoon or so of the coconut milk or water to assist.
Heat a deep pan to medium and add 1 tsp of cooking oil to it. Now add the paneer cubes and fry on all sides until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside on paper towels, for later use. (If using cashew nuts for garnish, you may toast them briefly in the oil after removing the paneer, and then drain them well.)
In the same pan, add the remaining cooking oil and heat. Now add the onion, garlic and ginger pastes and fry till slightly browned. Add the tomato paste and fry for another 1 minute.
Add all the spice powders and fry the masala until the oil begins to separate from it. Stir often to keep the masala from sticking to the pan and burning.
Now add 1 cup of warm water to this masala and mix well. Cook for 1 minute.
Add all the vegetables, pineapple, paneer, coconut milk and cashew mixture. Add enough water to barely cover the vegetables. Mix gently but well making sure not to mash or break the pieces of the vegetable. Cook till veggies are done but not limp (they must be al dente!)
Season with salt to taste and white pepper, stir and turn off heat.
Serve with hot Naans (leavened, tandoor-baked Indian flatbread).
Additional note: I found the gravy wasn't as smooth as the one from the restaurant and a bit heavy so next time I'd probably replace the 1/2 cup of coconut milk with 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup cream, reduce the amount of cashew nuts used to 2 tbsp and use them as garnish.
And because Eva recently posted a naan recipe that sounded like it was doable (my previous attempts have been disappointing) I decided to make a batch to serve with the korma by using my oven at 500 deg F and baking the naans for 5-6 min. The first two naan were rolled out a bit thicker than I would have liked and didn't develop the brown bubbles of Eva's before I turned them. However I was concerned that the bottom would get too dark so after 4 minutes, I flipped them over and baked for a couple more minutes. The second batch, which I rolled a bit thinner, ended up sticking though they browned and puffed as well as the first batch. Sigh ... very inconsistent results.
Still puffy naan on the right
