Navratan korma is made with 9 ingredients and consists of plenty of nuts, dry fruits, assorted vegetables, fruits, cream, a lot of spices and a few herbs.
½cupchopped pineappleor 2 to 3 pineapple slices - chopped
½tablespoonmelon seeds
1tablespoonmint leaves
a pinch of saffron strands
2teaspoonginger julienne
Instructions
Preparing nuts and seeds paste
Soak all the dry fruits and seeds in hot water for 30 to 40 minutes.
Remove the peels from the almonds and add the peeled almonds in a grinder or blender jar.
Then drain water from the remaining nuts-seeds mixture and also add them to the grinder jar.
Add ¼ cup water and grind to a smooth fine paste. Add more water if required while making the paste. Keep this paste aside.
Making navratan korma
Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pot or a deep pan. Add all the "whole spices" mentioned above and fry till they crackle and become aromatic.
Add the sliced onions and saute them till they turn golden stirring often.
Now add the ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chilies. Saute for a few seconds or till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.
Now add the nuts-seeds paste and curd. Mix well. When you add the curd then either keep the heat to low or switch off the heat. Make sure you beat the curd before you add and mix it quickly as soon as you add it.
Then add turmeric and red chili powder. Stir again.
Stir and saute for 3 to 4 minutes on a low heat. Do stir often so that the mixture does not get stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Then add the mixed veggies. Stir.
Next add 1 cup water. Season with salt. Mix very well.
Cover and simmer the veggies till they are cooked and fork tender. Take care not to overcook them.
Once the veggies are cooked, add the cream and stir it with the rest of the gravy. Switch off the heat.
Sprinkle garam masala powder. Cover and keep aside.
Garnishing navratan korma
Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a small frying pan. Add 6 to 7 blanched almonds (you can soak these almonds when soaking the nuts for the paste and then peel them).
Saute almonds till they turn a pale golden.
Take them to one side of the pan and now add 10 pistachios, 10 cashews, 10 walnut halves. Saute till the cashews turn a light golden.
Now add 1 tablespoon raisins and ½ tablespoon melon seeds. Saute for some seconds.
Then add ½ cup chopped pineapple cubes. Saute for a minute.
Next add 1 tablespoon mint leaves, a pinch of saffron strands and 2 teaspoon ginger julienne.
Saute for half a minute.
Serving navratan korma
While serving garnish the korma with the sauteed nuts, seeds and pineapple cubes. Serve it with indian flatbread like tandoori roti, naan, chapatis or parathas. It also goes well with cumin rice.
Notes
If you do not have melon seeds, still you can make the korma with the rest of the ingredients. Just increase 1 tablespoon of almonds and 1 tablespoon of cashew.
Always soak the poppy seeds before blending. Or else they take a lot of time to be ground finely.
Adding pineapple is optional. So don’t add pineapple if you do not like a sweet taste in a creamy dish. Instead of pineapple you can also add apples or grapes.
You can also add paneer in it.
You can choose your choice of mixed veggies or you can also choose to make navratan korma with a mix of 9 different veggies. You can add mixed vegetables like cauliflower, potatoes, green peas, baby corn, corn kernels, bell pepper, french beans, carrots.