Vegetable kurma

A great Indian coconut-based side dish and unbeatable match made in heaven for Rotis, Pooris and Parathas. The recipe for Kurma or korma varies from region to region and this recipe is the easiest of all.

My mum makes a similar korma every time she prepares Pooris. However, this modified version of her recipe looks so much prettier and the color is so pleasant. From our weekend shopping, the refrigerator was so full I had to pull out few veggies and plan for something "Mixed veggie". Well, I actually did not have many vegetables that can be added to kurma except Carrot, Bell pepper, Green beans and onions. I could not add Eggplant, Tomatoes, Ridge gourd, zucchini or mushrooms simply because that will not achieve my desired taste for this recipe.

You can add any veggies of your choice and also half a cup of green peas and cooked potato can make it more colorful. For a tinge of that restaurant style flavor, you can temper the Kurma with oil, cashew nuts, Red chillies and mustard seeds.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	100		Calories
Fat	14		%
Carbohydrates	1		%
Dietary Fiber	4		%
Sodium	10		mg
Vitamin A	6		%
Vitamin C	8		%
Calcium	4		%
Iron	10		%
Protein	0		Grams
Sugar	0		Grams

Ingredients
Chopped Vegetables of your choice	2 cups
Cashew nuts	A handful
Fresh grated Coconut	1/2 cup
Milk	1/2 cup or more
Green chillies	4
Coriander leaves	1/2 cup
Onion chopped	1
Oil	1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Fennel seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon	a small stick
Bay leaf	1
Star Anise	1
Ginger Garlic paste	1 teaspoon
Water	1/2 cup or more
Salt	to taste

* Soak Cashew nuts in a milk for 20 minutes. Grind fresh grated Coconut, Cashew nuts, Green chillies and Coriander leaves. 

* Add water or milk to make it a smooth paste. keep it aside.

* Chop and cook all the veggies except onions. 

* Heat oil in a pot and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, bay leaf and star anise. When mustard seeds starts to splutter, add chopped onion. Fry till the onion looks translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and give it a mix.

* Add cooked veggies and fry for a minute.

* Add the ground paste, water and salt. You can increase or decrease the quantity of water as per the thickness of the Kurma you want it to be.

* Bring it to boil and simmer it for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot. 

Bottle Gourd Halwa

Bottle Gourd Halwa also called Lauki ka halwa or Dudhi halwa is a lip smacking traditional Indian dessert. This is a simple and easy recipe which does not take more than 20 minutes to prepare.

First of all, this recipe is almost oil-free! yes, you heard me right. You will not require ghee/butter/oil to make this halwa. (except for frying the nuts and raisins) As usual, I was looking for a low calorie dessert for this weekend. While grocery shopping, I surprisingly stumbled upon Bottle gourds and was quite happy about it. My mom makes the best halwa with loads of ghee, jaggery and a whole lot of nus and raisins. She also adds roasted poppy seeds for that heavenly halwa. Making that similar halwa means consuming thousands of calories in one go and I was not ready to take that chance.

You may wonder why I think so much about calories all the time. It's just that, living here in Norway has changed our eating habits a lot. Making a pizza or a burger or even a potato looks so much easier than making an Indian meal from scratch. Weather is quite cold (getting colder each day) and junk food has never been more tempting. It is not always about putting on weight, it is about being healthy too. So, keeping a tab on calories may help us to keep track of how much junk we have eaten. Anyway, I made halwa anyway, but modified it as per my "Calorie choice"and it turned out to be amazingly tasty. I am definitely going to make it again soon!

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	114		Calories
Fat	6		%
Carbohydrates	0		%
Dietary Fiber	0		%
Sodium	0		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	12		%
Iron	0		%
Protein	4		Grams
Sugar	10		Grams

Ingredients
Bottle gourd	1 big
Milk	1 cup (250 ml)
Grated jaggery/Brown sugar	1/2 cup or more (as per your taste)
Vanilla essence	2 drops
Oil/Ghee	1 teaspoon
Nuts and raisins	Quantity of your choice

* Wash, peel and grate the bottle gourd. Do not throw the peel. You can make delicious chutney using bottle gourd peels.
* Cover and cook grated bottle gourd in milk till it turns soft and is completely cooked. You can pressure cook it if you are in a hurry.
* Add grated jaggery or brown sugar and mix well. The mixture will get dry and may stick to the bottom after a while. So keep stirring under low flame.

* Once the sweet smell of jaggery starts to develop, add vanilla essence and give it a mix. Remove from the flame and keep it covered.
* In a pan, heat oil/ghee and add raisins and nuts. Fry for 2 minutes and add it to the halwa. Stir and serve hot with or without Vanilla ice cream.

* You can add ghee while adding jaggery/sugar. It gives an extra flavor and aroma.
* You can also roast poppy seeds and add to this halwa. My mom adds poppy seeds and it tastes a bit different than this.