Veg Kolhapuri is a delicious spicy mixed vegetable curry which has its origin in Kolhapur, a historical city in south-west Maharashtra. Kolhapuri food takes pride in being a robust cuisine and is particularly known for its hot and pungent flavors.
First, rinse, peel and cut the vegetables into thick strips or batons. Place them in a steamer pan.
Then steam the vegetables in an electric cooker, steamer or stovetop pressure cooker, adding water as needed for steaming.
For steaming veggies in a stovetop pressure cooker, use a 3 litre cooker. Place a trivet in the cooker.
Add 2 cups of water. Place a pan containing the chopped veggies on the trivet in the cooker.
Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles until the vegetables are steamed well and fork tender. Let the pressure drop naturally and then only open the lid. Drain any water from the pan and set the steamed veggies aside.
The vegetables have to be completely cooked and yet retain their shape.
While the vegetables are steaming, gather all the ingredients required for making Kolhapuri masala.
Making kolhapuri masala
Heat a pan on low heat and dry roast the spices on low heat - cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, stone flower, mace strands, pinch of nutmeg powder, bay leaf, cobra saffron, red chilies, green cardamoms and black cardamom seeds.
Skip stone flower, cobra saffron and poppy seeds, if you don't have these.
Once the spices become fragrant and lightly roasted, add poppy seeds, sesame seeds and desiccated coconut.
Stir continuously and dry roast till the desiccated coconut turns golden. Take care not to burn any of the ingredients.
Turn off the heat and set aside the pan.
Stir the spice mixture a few times, after you set aside the pan, so that the residue heat does not brown the coconut too much. Or you can transfer the roasted spice mix onto a plate.
Once the spice mixture cools, take them in a dry grinder or coffee grinder.
Grind to a fine powder. A slight semi fine powder is also fine. The sesame seeds and coconut will release oil while grinding.
Make sure to keep scraping the sides of the grinder jar and grind further. If you are finding it difficult to grind, add some water to make a fine paste.
Making veg kolhapuri
Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions.
Sauté the onions stirring often until they turn light golden or golden.
Add ginger-garlic paste.
Stir and then add chopped coriander leaves. Stir and sauté for some seconds, till the raw aroma of the ginger-garlic goes away.
Next, add chopped tomatoes.
Sauté till the tomatoes soften and you see oil leaving the sides of the pan.
Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and asafoetida.
Stir and then add chopped bell pepper/capsicum. You can also skip capsicum if you prefer.
Stir and sauté till the bell pepper is half cooked and yet have a slight crunch. About 5 to 6 minutes on a low heat.
Add the ground Kolhapuri masala.
Stir and sauté for a few seconds.
Then add water. Season with salt as per taste.
Bring the curry to a simmer.
When you see some oil floating on top of the curry or gravy, add the steamed vegetables.
Stir and simmer the gravy for about 2 minutes.
Lastly, add chopped coriander leaves and give a final stir. You can also garnish with the coriander leaves.
Serve Veg Kolhapuri hot with soft chapati, phulka or paratha. You can also serve this spicy vegetable curry with bread and steamed rice.
Notes
If you have readymade Kolhapuri kanda-lasun masala or the Kolhapuri masala, then add about 2 to 2½ tablespoons of it.
The elements of heat and pungency in this Veg Kolhapuri can be increased or decreased depending on the type of red chili you add.
Any vegetables of your choice can be added to this spicy curry. The vegetables should be cooked completely, yet retain their shape.
The veggies can be steamed in a pan or pot or in a stovetop pressure cooker. You can also choose to steam vegetables in an Instant Pot or an electric pressure cooker if you have one. Add water as needed, depending on the size of your pan or equipment used.
In case you don’t have stone flower, cobra saffron or poppy seeds, you can skip using them.
Desiccated coconut can be swapped with dry coconut or copra. If out of desiccated coconut or dry coconut, you can opt to use frozen or fresh coconut.
The curry consistency can be adjusted by adding less or more water.
You can also add some paneer cubes to the curry if you prefer.