Navratan Korma

It is starting to feel like summer around here.  Last Saturday, I was outdoors for most of the afternoon, and I was sticky by the end of the day.

My bike ride to work yesterday wasn't as refreshing.  It was more humid and sweaty.  I like summer, but it has its drawbacks.

I had never eaten Navratan Korma before making it a couple of weeks ago.  I am a big fan on Indian food and paneer, so I decided to give this dish a try.

According to another blog called My Heart Beets, Navratan Korma translates to nine-gem curry.  

Another online source states that it means nine jewels, but I think nine jewels and nine gem are close enough.  The nine jewels are the plethora of vegetables in the dish.  

Korma is made with meat of vegetables braised in a yogurt or cream and water or stock.  The word korma was derived from and Urdu word that means braised.  It is a Mughal dish that can be traced back to the 16th century.

Kormas often contain coriander and cumin, among other spices.  This recipe has coriander, but no cumin.

I found this Navratan Korma recipe on allrecipes.com.  I used more paneer than directed.  I also used all heavy cream instead of a heavy cream and milk combination.  In short, I made this recipe less healthy.

The ingredients are 3 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1/3 cup cashews, 1 medium onion, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger, 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon cayenne, pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chopped carrots, 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper, 1/2 cup chopped fresh green beans, 1/2 cup green peas, 1 cup chopped potatoes, 8 ounces cubed paneer, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and salt to taste.

I added a tablespoon of oil to a large pan over medium heat.  I added the cashews and cooked them until they were golden brown.  I stirred regularly.  I then removed them from the pan.

I chopped the onion and added into the skillet.  I stirred and cooked the onion until it was soft.

I added the garlic paste and the ginger paste.  I cooked this mixture for another minute.

I added the cayenne pepper, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, and tomato sauce.  I cooked this for another minute or two.

I added the water, raisins, carrots, green bell pepper, green beans, and potatoes.  All these vegetables had been chopped.  I brought the curry up to a boil and let it simmer for twenty minutes.

I added another tablespoon of oil into a frying pan.  I cubed the panner and browned it in the frying pan over medium high heat.  I stirred regularly to brown all sides of the cheese.

I added the browned panner to the curry, among with the cream.  The recipe said to soften the browned paneer in hot water for two minutes, but I didn't do that.  I let this simmer for another three minutes.

I added the browned cashews and frozen peas.  I cooked this for another minute to warm the peas.  I also added salt to taste.

This was a scrumptious curry.  It has a little heat and was fully of warm and exotic spices.

The sauce was creamy and flavorful.

The paneer was caramelized and golden on the outside and tender in the inside.

The cashews were crunch and nutty.  The raisins were sweet and plump.

It was packed full of tasty, tender, and colorful vegetables.  

This was a fantastic recipe.  I am pleased with how well it turned out.

It has wonderful and appetizing flavors and textures.  I enjoyed it and would make it again.