Navratan Korma (Mixed veggies and pineapple in a sweet and tangy curry)

Navratan Korma

Navratan Korma as the name suggests is a sweet,creamy  and tangy curry of nine main ingredients : vegetables,cheese ,fruits and nuts all cooked together in a tomato and cream gravy  .It makes a great party dish .There are many ways of making a Navratan korma and with different combinations of veggies but I really love the recipe below .It's really simple too !!

Ingredients :

2 cups mixed vegetables chopped

(cauliflower,beans,carrots,peas and corn)

8-10 cashews

8-10 raisins

1 small 8 oz can of pineapple chunks in pineapple juice

1/4 th lb paneer cubed (Indian cottage cheese)

1/4 cup tomato sauce /puree

2 green cardamom seeds,5 peppercorns,3 cloves roughly ground together

1 tsp ginger grated
1 tsp garlic grated
4 tbsp heavy cream or 1/4th cup Half n Half
2 tbsp Olive oil
1tbsp curry powder(yellow mild)
1/2 tsp cumin pwdr
1 tsp coriander pwdr
1/2 tsp turmeric pwdr
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions :

Heat olive oil in a non-stick vessel. Roughly grind the cardamom seeds,cloves and peppercorns with a mortal and pestle .Add the ground spices  to the oil and let sizzle for 10 secs.Add the grated ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds.Now add  the tomato sauce ,turmeric pwdr,curry,cumin and coriander pwdrs and stir and  cook on a low flame till oil seperates from the mixture .Add the vegetables and stir and coat them well with the sauce.Add 1/4 th cup water,cover and cook on a medium-low flame till the veggies are tender but not mushy around 15-20 mins .In a seperate frying pan saute the cashews and raisins for 1 min and keep aside  . Add more oil to the pan and fry the paneer peices to a golden brown color. Add the heavy cream or Half anf Half (which is half milk and half cream ) to the vegetable sauce  and simmer for 5 mins .Add cashews and raisins and the whole can of pineapple chunks with juice (if using fresh pineapple also add 1 tbsp sugar )and the fried paneer pieces and simmer on a low flame for 5 mins.Serve with naan or rice.

the sauce after adding and cooking the veggies

This dish is being sent to Festive Foods-Rakhi /Raksha Bandhan

This dish is also being sent to Jay's -Letz Relish Paneer event