Cauliflower Peas Kurma | Side dish for Chapati

I'm sure everyone is not yet come back from the cricket fever so am I. It was a awesome match and I was happy the boys in blue made it this time, proud of you guys. Chak de India!!

I saw this recipe from Mallika Badrinaths cookbook and tried it. And now this has become my keeper recipe for cauliflower peas kurma. Here goes the recipe from my kitchen....

Cauliflower Peas Kurma Recipe:

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower - 1 big flower
• Green Peas - 1/4 cup
• Onion - 1/2 cut lengthwise
• Tomatoes - 1/2 medium sized cubed
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped finely
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

Grind to a paste:

• Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Fennel-1 tsp
• Cashew- 5
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Gram dal(Pottukadalai)-1 tbsp
• Garlic -4 flakes
• Green chillies - 2
• Cinnamon- 1/2 inch piece
• Cloves - 1

Method:

1. Grind all the ingredients under 'to grind' with little water to a smooth paste and keep aside.
2. Chop cauliflower into small florets and pressure cook it along with peas with salt and turmeric powder only till half done.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add onions fry till golden brown then add tomatoes fry until raw smell leaves.Add chilli,turmeric powder and mix well.
4. Now add the ground paste and fry till raw smell leaves and oil seperates. Add 1/4 water(adjust according to thickeness) and allow it boil for 5mins.
5. Now add cauliflower and peas , mix well. Add water if required and allow the kurma to boil 3-5 mins.Garnish with coriander leaves and switch off.

I love kurmas with dosas, rice and chapatis...So if I make this for lunch I make the quantity a bit more to be enough for dinner too. Attimes , the lazy me preplans for dinner too :)

This is easy with just grinding without sauting and comes in handy for lunch. Ammas version of vegetable kurma is a bit lengthy process with sauting and grinding but still it has an unique taste. So I use the above recipe for cauliflower peas kurma and ammas recipe for veg kurma :)

My Notes:

• While cooking/pressure cooking cauliflower and peas, make sure its only half cooked else it will turn mushy while it gets boiled with the kurma.
• The qunatity of gravy is more in this method, so you can also use it as a sidedish for rice.
• The same method can be used for making vegetable kurma also.
• You can make the consistency a bit watery if you are serving it for rice.
• I used fresh cauliflower and peas, you can alternatively use frozen ones too.