This vegan instant pot korma is an aromatic, delicious and lightly spiced red curry made with mix vegetables, coconut, cashews, dry red kashmiri chillies, herbs and spices.
1tablespoonroasted chana dal(roasted split & husked black chickpeas)
1tablespooncoriander seeds
3 to 4garlic(small to medium-sized) - chopped
1inchginger- chopped
3 to 4dry red kashmiri chilies or byadgi chilies - broken and deseeded. Replace with 1 to 2 green chilies or 1 to 2 dry red chillies of any other type depending on hotness, pungency
1teaspoonfennel seeds
1inchcinnamon stick
3cloves
2green cardamom
1teaspoonpoppy seeds(khus khus) - optional
a small tiny piece of stone flower(dagad phool or patthar ke phool) - optional
½cupwater for grindingor add as required
Other ingredients
3tablespoonsoil- sunflower oil or peanut oil or any neutral tasting oil
⅓cup chopped onions or 1 medium-sized onion
8 to 10curry leavesor 1 small to medium tej patta (indian bay leaf)
⅓cup chopped tomatoes or medium-sized tomato
¼teaspoonturmeric powder(ground turmeric)
1 cupcauliflower florets
½cup chopped carrotsor 1 medium to large carrot or 80 to 90 grams carrots
¼ to ⅓cupchopped french beansor 40 to 50 grams french beans
½cupgreen peas- fresh or frozen
1potato(medium to large) or 80 to 100 grams potatoes
¼ to ⅓cup chopped capsicum(green bell pepper) - optional
4 to 5white button mushrooms- optional
1.5cupswater
saltas required
1 to 2 tablespoonschopped coriander leaves(cilantro) - for garnish
Take all the ingredients mentioned under the list "spice paste" in a grinder.
Add water and grind to a smooth paste. If required you can add more water while grinding.
Keep the ground paste aside.
Rinse, peel and dice all the veggies.
Sautéing
Switch on the instant pot. Press the sauté button on less or normal mode for 10 to 15 minutes. When the instant pot displays hot, add 3 tablespoon oil. Add the chopped onions and curry leaves. You can also add 1 small to medium tej patta (indian bay leaf) instead of curry leaves.
Sauté onions till they soften and turn translucent. No need to brown the onions.
Add chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder. Mix very well and sauté tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the ground coconut & spices paste. Mix very well.
Sauté masala paste for 8 to 9 minutes on the Low mode of sauté option. keep on stirring often so that the masala paste does not stick at the bottom of the steel insert pan. The masala paste will thicken and look glossy after it gets cooked well.
Add the diced vegetables. At this step you can also add 2 tablespoons curd (yogurt). You can use either dairy yogurt or almond yogurt or cashew yogurt.
Stir and mix very well. Deglaze after adding vegetables. Stir very well and scrape any ingredient stuck at the bottom of the steel insert pot. The moisture from the veggies will help in deglazing.
Press the cancel button. Add 1.5 cups water in the grinder or blender jar. Close lid and swirl and shake the jar. So the masala stuck beneath the blades and the sides of the jar gets mixed with the water. Keep aside.
Add this masala mixed water. Mix very well and deglaze if required.
Instant pot cooking
Cover ip with its lid. Position the valve to its sealing position. Use the pressure cook or manual mode and set the timer to 5 minutes on high pressure.
Wait for 3 minutes once you hear the beep after the pressure cooking is done. Then give a quick pressure release. Open the lid.
Give a stir. Check the taste and add more salt if required. If the consistency of red korma looks very thick, then add some hot water. Mix well.
Serve this mix vegetable korma garnished with some coriander leaves with roti, paratha or poori or rumali roti or steamed rice. Also serve some lemon wedges.
Notes
Cooking tips
Consistency: you can make a thick or medium consistency gravy by adding less or more water.
Burn sign: while pressure cooking if you get burn sign on the display, then lift the valve and release all the pressure. Remove the lid. Add ½ cup water. Mix very well and pressure cook for 4 minutes on high pressure.
2 tablespoons of fresh curd or yogurt can also be added with the raw vegetables. You can even use vegan yogurt like almond yogurt or cashew yogurt.
Consistency: if the korma gravy has a very thick consistency after pressure cooking, then add some hot water. Mix very well.
Instant pot 6 quart: The recipe is made in a 6 quart instant pot. You can easily make it in a 3 quart instant pot. For making in a 8 quart instant pot, you will need to add more water.
Stone-flower: Since stone flower is strongly aromatic spice, use a very tiny piece.
Substitutions
Almonds can be used instead of cashews.
Roasted chana dal can be skipped.
In place of poppy seeds use melon seeds or poppy seeds can be skipped.
Adding stone flower is optional and can be omitted.
Curry leaves can be replaced with 1 small to medium tej patta (indian bay leaf).