Navrathan Korma / Kurma

Navratan Korma is a dance of many flavors and spices. It is tangy, sweet, spicy and everything in between. Navratan literally means nine (nav) gems (ratan). The nine gems come in the form of eight delectable vegetables and the inimitable paneer! The vegetables include onion and tomato - the duo that graces most Indian gravies with its luscious texture and taste.

The eight veggies I used were - bell peppers (of different kinds), green peas, onion, tomato, beans, carrot, and broccoli. 

Broccoli?! - you might gasp. 

Well, why not? Potatoes are usually added instead of my insane vegetable selection, but I thought why not throw in some "good" veggie and take out the potato? But if it is unappealing to you, cauliflower is also commonly added. These days, many people add mushrooms too. But, my husband is not a fan of mushrooms, and I recently discovered that I'm allergic to some kinds. So,  I ended up using broccoli. Use any veggies that fit your fancy and that happen to be stowed away in the fridge.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 1 large onion, roughly diced
2. 1/2 green bell-pepper, cut into strips
3. 1/2 red bell-pepper, cut into strips
4. 200 grams paneer / 7 ounces paneer, thawed and cubed
5. 1 small head of brocolli, broken into florets
6. 1/2 cup carrots, cut into thick strips
7. 1/2 cup beans, chopped into long pieces
8. 2 tomatoes, pureed
9. 1 tablespoon tomato paste
10. 1/2 cup green peas
11. 1/4 cup almonds or cashews
12. 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (freshly crushed or ground)
13. 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
14. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
15. 1 teaspoon dhania powder / coriander powder
16. 2 teaspoons garam  masala 
17. 1/2 teaspoon clove powder
18. 1.5 teaspoons salt, or as needed
19. 1/3 cup yogurt
20. 1 teaspoon sugar
21.  1/2 cup milk / heavy cream
22. pinch of saffron
23. 2 tablespoons raisins
24. 2 + 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
25. 1/4 cup cilantro / coriander leaves
26. A squeeze of lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Do these in parallel to save time
1. Soak almonds or cashews in hot water for 15-20 minutes. When cool to touch, peel the almonds.
2. Boil the onion chunks for about 10-15 minutes until they are cooked and have no raw smell. Drain the water and let the onions cool.
3. Warm milk/heavy cream for a minute in the microwave. Add raisins and saffron to it. Keep aside
4. Meanwhile, pan fry the paneer cubes in a tablespoon of oil until at least two sides of the cubes are golden brown. Transfer fried paneer onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil
2. When onion is cool, grind to a smooth paste along with yogurt. Sprinkle some water if needed. Also separately grind the almond/cashews with a sprinkling of water to make a smooth paste and keep aside.
3. Heat remaining oil in a saucepan. When hot, add the ground onion-yogurt paste and fry on low-medium heat for a couple of minutes. 
4. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute on medium heat until it doesn't smell pungent.
5. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, clove powder and garam masala and fry for a minute. Clove adds flavor and heat, plus my garam  masala has enough heat for us, so I don't add any additional chillies. 
6. Add the pureed tomatoes and tomato paste and fry along with salt for 10 minutes on medium heat until the tomato gravy leaves the sides of the pan. 
7. Add the vegetables (except peas) and about 1.5 cups of water (just to immerse the vegetables and make sure they cook) and cook on low-medium heat for about 15  minutes with the pan closed. Periodically check and stir the gravy to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Since the vegetables cook at different times, I suggest adding carrots and beans first (with a little bit of water), make sure they get slightly tender and then add broccoli and bell pepper (with some more water) and cook them for 5 minutes or so. If you prefer, you can also steam the vegetables separately before adding them to the gravy. I just think the vegetables infuse more flavor to the gravy and also absorb more spice if they stew in the gravy without being cooked initially.
8. When the vegetables are cooked, add the almond/cashew paste and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes. This thickens the gravy
9.  Add milk or heavy cream (with raisins and saffron) and peas, and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. 
10. Finally add the fried paneer, sugar and coriander leaves and give a mix.
11. Remove from heat. Squeeze a little bit of lemon juice to bring all the flavors together.

Serve hot with rotis! This korma packs a healthy bunch of vegetables in every serving. Vegetables + flavorful curry + everyone's beloved paneer - how can it go wrong?