Navratan Kurma

I am a huge fan of kurma. Whats not to love about it? Its spicy, its yummy, its colorful and so easy to make. Unlike an usual person, I love my kurma with  idli, dosa and even curd rice. I make it a point to prepare some extra kurma everytime I prepare it, just so that I can relish it for a couple more times. Do you know that the kurma tastes awesome, when taken out of fridge and reheated? I dont know many other stuffs that tastes good when stored for later. While coconut based kurma had been a regular at home growing up, I couldnt imagine preparing a kurma without coconut paste or milk in it. One fine day while shopping, S had his eyes set on this ready to eat pouch of navratan kurma. Having not tried it at all, I had my apprehensions about it, that is on top of buying the ready made stuff. We ended up enjoying it a lot that day and thats when my search for this navrathan kurma recipe started. As always, this is my version of navratan kurma - I have altered it to suit our taste buds and can assure you that its finger licking good!

What I used - 

• Diced Vegetables - 2 cups (I used beans, carrots, cauliflower, green peas. Potatoes were missing!)
• Oil - 3tsp
• Finely Chopped Onion - ½ cup
• Tomato Puree - ½ cup
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1.5tsp
• Green Chillies - 3 (slit open)
• Milk - ½cup
• Red Chilli Powder - ½ teaspoon (and more if you need spicy curry)
• Garam Masala Powder - 2tsp
• Corainder Powder - 1tsp
• Jeera Powder - 1tsp
• Turmeric - ½ tsp
• Cashews - 8 to 10 (full ones)
• Badam - 4 to 5
• Raisins - 8 to 10
• Salt - to taste
• Water - as required
• Coriander - to garnish

How I made - 

1. Soak cashews, badams and raisins in little amount of water for 15mins or more.
2. In a large cooking pan, heat oil. Add the finely chopped onions and the green chillies.
3. Once the onions are pink and translucent, add ginger garlic paste and stir for 20secs.
4. Add the tomato puree (I used store brought - Homamade Tomato puree, but can be made at home too).
5. Let it cook until water evaporates. Add all the masala powders like Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Jeera Powder, Garam Masala and Turmeric.
6. Let all the powders cook until the raw smell is gone.
7. Mix half a cup of milk with half a cup of water and pour it into the cooking pan.
8. Put in all the diced vegetables, add salt and cover the pan with a lid. Meanwhile, grind cashews, badams and raisins into a smooth paste in a mixer grinder.
9. Cook until the vegetables are soft. Add the cashew-badam-raisin paste. Let the kurma boil for a minute and take it off the heat.
10. Garnish the kurma with chopped coriander and fresh cream, if desired. Serve hot with rotis.

Note:

• I used skimmed milk, and avoided paneer, yet the kurma was just awesome. You can use butter instead of oil and along with the cut vegetables, diced paneer cubes can be added too.
• Avoid raisins if you dont like the sweety touch to your kurma.