Recipe Navratan Korma ( 9 Precious Jewels)

[karadekoolaid]

This recipe is inspired by Mughlai cuisine and the desire of the Mughals for recipes rich in nuts, mild spices, exotic combinations and dried fruit. However, the ingenuity of the Hindu chefs created a "korma" (traditionally made with meat) which pleased the Emperor Akbar.
Ingredients
(For 6-8 guests)
2 medium onions
12 Cashew nuts
1-2 fresh green chiles
100 gms each: potato, cauliflower, green peas, carrot, green beans
8 cashew nuts
8 almonds, whole
100 gms paneer (or firm white cheese)
30 mls cream
1/2 tsp chile pepper, ground cumin, garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 cardamoms
1 stick cinnamon
2 bay leaves
3-4 whole cloves
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 tbsps raisins
100 gms fresh pineapple, cubed
Ghee for frying
Method

1. Cut the potatoes, cauliflower and carrots into small pieces, and cut the green beans in half.
2. Cook all the vegetables in salted water until just cooked. To ensure perfection, cook all the veg separately; but that´s up to you! Set aside.
3. Poach the onion, the chile peppers and the 12 cashew nuts in the same cooking water until soft. Blend the ingredients WITH the cooking water until you obtain a smooth, creamy sauce. Set aside.
4. Cut the paneer into cubes and fry briefly in ghee. set aside.
5. In the same ghee, put in the cumin seeds, cardamoms, cinnamon, bay leaves and cloves until they release their aroma. Now add the onion/cashew paste and the ginger, and stir for about 1 minute.
6. Add the chile powder, ground cumin, coriander powder and garam masala and mix well.
7. Now add the cooked vegetables, the cashew nuts and whole almonds, and the cream. Add a little water if necessary and heat through gently for about 10 minutes.
8. Finally, add the raisins, pineapple and paneer and heat through.
9. Decorate with pomegranate seeds and small cubes of red pepper, if desired (Optional)

 

[garlichead]

Looks great KK. I like, and will be giving this a go. Quick question . How much water is used and I ask because it becomes part of the dish/sauce or how much water should be retained for the sauce approx.

 

[karadekoolaid]

How much water is used and I ask because it becomes part of the dish/sauce or how much water should be retained for the sauce approx.

I can´t give you an exact amount; sometimes it´s not necessary to add extra water, sometimes it is. Depends on the heat, depends on how much water was actually used in cooking the vegetables, depends on the cooker, depends on all sorts of things. What you want is a creamy sauce for the veg/fruit/nuts, and when you look at that when cooking the veg for 10 minutes, you probably say to yourself "That´s enough" or "I think I might need a little more".

 

[Morning Glory]

Looks great! I really like the use of fruit with savoury (the pineapple and raisins).

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

This is a remarkable recipe, and I love the history. The flavors really sing the song of the region.

But, are the almonds and second set of cashews left whole? It works out to 1 nut each per person. And, whole nuts tend to sink to the bottom of something like this. Or, are they crushed? Sorry to nitpick, but I do want to make this some day.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I think the quantity/number of nuts in the recipe is an aesthetic thing, rather than "how-many-nuts-per-person". I always dump them in there, whole, but you could (a) split the nuts in half or (b) add double, or even triple the amount.
The recipe is "9 Precious Jewels" - and there are at least 9 ( maybe 10?) ingredients there, so mission accomplished.
Anything outside the 9 could be used as "garnish"