• Hotel Style Vegetable Kurma made in a pressure cooker on the stovetop. You can also make it in pan.
• Mix Veggie Korma made in an Instant Pot (Vegan).

Both the vegetarian korma recipes are with step by step photos and taste good. You can make either of them as per the cooking gadgets you want to use.

About Korma or Kurma

Korma is a curry dish that is popular in India as well as in Central Asia. The base of the curry can be coconut paste or coconut milk, yogurt, cream, onion or tomato paste or nuts & seeds paste or a combination.

In the North Indian and Mughlai cuisine generally, milk, yogurt (curd) and cream are added. Whereas in the South Indian versions, coconut is used along with some nuts and seeds.

There are many many variations of making a korma. The taste and the flavor vary with the cooking technique and the ingredients that are used in the korma.

Few such popular veg kurma variations

I have tried and tested a lot of vegetarian korma recipes before and most of them I felt lacked flavor, depth and taste. Now after making so many korma recipes, I have become an expert in preparing korma.

About this Hotel Style Vegetable Kurma

This veg kurma tastes awesome. It is not a sweet-tasting korma but has spiced and complex flavors. Green chillies are added to bring some heat in the dish. Though you can also use dry red chilies.

I have also added both coconut and yogurt in this south indian korma variation. The whole recipe has been made in a stovetop pressure cooker. If you have time then you can also cook the korma in a pan.

The vegetables can be of your choice (cauliflower, carrots, corn, baby corn, brinjal, peas, beans, potatoes). You can also add paneer (cottage cheese) or mushrooms or tofu to the korma. To make a vegan korma recipe, substitute dairy yogurt with vegan yogurt or skip adding yogurt.

This mix vegetable kurma recipe has some prepping work to be done and once you have everything ready, then you need to saute some ingredients and pressure cook.

Pressure cooking saves time. So I use a pressure cooker often. Though you can make the kurma in a pan too. Just add water as required.

This hotel style vegetable kurma is a weekend lunch on occasions. We like mixed veg curries a lot, so no wonder I make them also often. They are easy, healthy and nutritious. Serve with some soft chapatis and you have a satisfying meal.

You can also serve with poori or neer dosa or poha dosa or set dosa. Even plain soft dosa goes very well with mix veg kurma. Sometimes I also serve with steamed rice or appam or lachedar paratha or Kerala paratha.

How to make vegetable kurma

1. Soak 12 to 15 cashews in hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. Later drain and keep aside.

2. Rinse and soak 1 to 1.25 cups mediums sized cauliflower florets in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes. This step is optional and only to get rid of any insects or worms in the cauliflower. After blanching the cauliflower, drain them and keep aside.

3. Rinse, peel and chop the rest of the veggies – 1 medium potato, 7 to 8 french beans and 1 medium carrot. Also chop 1 medium sized onion finely and 1 medium sized tomato. Keep the chopped veggies aside.

Making paste for veg kurma

4. These are some of the spices and ingredients that will be ground to a paste for the kurma –

• 5 tbsp desiccated coconut or fresh coconut
• 2 tsp poppy seeds (optional) (khus khus)
• ½ tbsp roasted chana dal
• ½ tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 3 cloves + 2 green cardamoms + 4 to 5 black peppercorns
• 1 marathi moggu (optional) + small tiny piece of stone flower (optional)

5. Take all the above ingredients in a wet grinder jar.

6. Add the cashews, 2 green chilies (chopped), 3 to 4 medium sized garlic (chopped) and ¾ inch ginger (chopped).

7. Add ½ cup water and grind to a smooth fine paste. Keep aside.

Making veg kurma

8. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 2-litre pressure cooker. Add the chopped onions.

9. Stir and saute till the onions turn translucent or a light brown. Add 7 to 8 curry leaves and stir.

10. Next add the chopped tomatoes.

11. Then add ¼ tsp turmeric powder and ½ tsp red chili powder. stir well and saute for 2 to 3 minutes on a low flame.

12. Add the ground paste.

13. Stir and mix.

14. Saute stirring often for 4 to 5 minutes on a low to medium flame.

15. Then add 2 tablespoons fresh curd (yogurt). If you want, you can skip yogurt too.

16. Mix the curd very well with the rest of the masala.

17. Add the chopped mix veggies.

18. Mix the veggies with the rest of the masala and saute for 1 to 2 minutes.

19. Then add 1.25 cups of water. For slightly thin gravy you can add 1.5 cups water. If cooking in a pan, then add 1.5 to 2 cups of water. Stir well.

20. Add salt as per taste.

Pressure cooking veg kurma

21. Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles or for 9 to 10 minutes. When the pressure settles down on its own, open the lid. If you find the gravy to be thin, then you can simmer for some more minutes. If the gravy looks thick, then add some water and simmer for a few more minutes. The consistency of veg kurma should be medium – neither thin nor thick.

22. Add 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves. Stir.

23. Serve veg kurma with pooris or chapatis or appam or plain paratha.

More Veggie curry recipes

This recipe post is from the archives (Dec 2015) and has been republished and updated on 6th June 2020.

About this Instant Pot Vegetable Korma

This Vegetable Korma made in the Instant Pot is an aromatic, delicious and lightly spiced red curry. It is made with mixed vegetables, coconut, cashews, dry red chillies, herbs and spices.

Making korma in the instant pot saves cooking time and gets done quickly. This red korma recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

Why this veg korma recipe works

1. Cooking in IP: when cooking thick gravy recipes like korma, it is important to add enough amount of water so that you do not get the burn sign. The amount of water added in this recipe works very well and you do not get the burn sign when pressure cooking.
2. Taste & flavor: This recipe of korma has a complex taste and flavor. It is not an overly sweet version but a spiced one. Dry Kashmiri red chillies impart a lovely red color to the korma. The addition of coconut also gives a nice subtle sweetness that gets balanced with the pungency and heat of the spices.
3. One pot cooking: the entire recipe has been cooked in the instant pot. If you have time then you can also cook the korma in a pan.
4. Vegetables: Can be of your choice (cauliflower, broccoli, corn, carrots, eggplant, green peas, baby corn, beans, potatoes). You can also add paneer (Indian cottage cheese) or tofu or white button mushrooms. I personally love the taste and texture of mushrooms in korma gravies.

This veg korma is best served with Indian breads like roti, chapati, Kerala parotta, paratha, naan and poori.

The next good option is to serve this red korma is with steamed rice, cumin rice or Kashmiri pulao. You can also have this curry with bread or dinner rolls.

How to make Instant Pot vegetable korma

Preparation

1. Take all the following ingredients for making the spice paste or masala paste in a grinder jar.

• Nuts and seeds: 6 tablespoons grated fresh coconut or desiccated coconut, 6 whole cashews, 1 teaspoon poppy seeds.
• Spices: 1-inch cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 3 to 4 Kashmiri red chillies and a tiny piece of stone flower (optional).
• Herbs: 3 to 4 medium-sized garlic (chopped) and 1-inch ginger (chopped).
• Lentils: 1 tablespoon roasted chana dal (roasted split and husked chickpeas).

2. Add ½ cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. You can add more water if required while grinding.

3. Rinse, peel and dice all the veggies. I added carrots, french beans, potatoes, cauliflower, peas and some white button mushrooms (optional).

Sauteing

4. Switch on the instant pot. Press the sauté button on less mode or normal mode for 10 to 15 minutes. When the instant pot displays hot, add 3 tablespoons oil. Add ⅓ cup chopped onions and 8 to 10 curry leaves. You can also add 1 small to medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf) instead of curry leaves.

5. Sauté onions till they soften and turn translucent. No need to brown the onions.

6. Add ⅓ cup chopped tomatoes and ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder.

7. Mix very well and sauté tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes.

8. Add the ground coconut & spices paste.

9. Mix very well.

10. sauté masala paste for 8 to 9 minutes on the Low mode of the 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.

11. Add the diced vegetables. You can also add 2 tablespoons curd (yogurt) at this step. You can use either dairy yogurt or almond yogurt or cashew yogurt.

12. 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.

13. 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 get mixed with the water. Keep aside.

14. Add this masala mixed water to the veggies. Mix very well and deglaze if required.

Pressure cooking

15. Cover IP with its lid. Turn the valve to its sealing position. Use the pressure cook or manual mode and set the timer to 5 minutes on high pressure.

16. Wait for 3 minutes once you hear the beep after the pressure cooking is done. Then give a quick pressure release (QPR). Open the lid.

17. Give a stir. Check taste and add more salt if required.

18. Serve this vegan korma garnished with some coriander leaves. Drizzle some lemon juice on top of the red korma before having it with Indian breads like roti, parathas or pooris or rumali roti. It also taste delicious with naan bread or cumin rice or steamed rice.

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