VIRUNDHOMBAL

This Mushroom Kurma is a simple, flavourful one-pot recipe that can be prepared within 20 minutes. It has a light, well-balanced gravy without heavy cream or cashew paste, making it perfect for everyday cooking. During our recent Christmas long weekend trip to Ilanji, we tasted this delicious mushroom kurma in a small hotel near Virudhunagar. Because of heavy traffic in Madurai, our lunch got delayed and it was already around 4 PM. Most hotels had no meals available, so we stopped at a small roadside restaurant. There was no crowd, but the food turned out to be surprisingly good. We ordered parotta and mushroom kurma, and the gravy was incredibly tasty. I enjoyed it so much that I asked the cook about the recipe. He kindly shared the base gravy ingredients, which inspired me to recreate this kurma at home. This mushroom kurma has the perfect consistency—not too thick and not too watery—making it ideal for parotta, dosa, chapathi, and idiyappam. If you prefer light, flavourful gravies o...

 A rich, flavorful and aromatic South Indian gravy made with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and freshly roasted spices. This gravy pairs perfectly with idli, dosa, idiyappam, parotta or steamed rice. This year during the summer holidays, we planned a ladies’ trip to Pondicherry. Early in the morning, we started from Chennai and reached Pondicherry just in time for lunch. Since it was a long weekend, the place was fully crowded. After lunch we relaxed at the resort, laughed, chatted, and enjoyed ourselves. By evening, we headed to the beach – but with heavy traffic on the beach roads, we could spend only a little time there. When dinner time came, we began searching for restaurants, but everywhere was crowded. Finally, we decided to go to Karaikudi Chettinad restaurant. Even though it was far from the beach, we went by walk through the buzzing streets. That walk itself turned into a fun memory – moving slowly through the festive crowd, chatting and laughing all the way. Once seated, we...

Looking for a delicious and guilt-free curry that doesn’t compromise on taste? Try this Oil-Free Vegetable Kurma – a wholesome, light and flavorful South Indian-style kurma made without a single drop of oil or dairy. This kurma is a perfect blend of fresh vegetables, onions, tomatoes, whole spices and a fragrant coconut paste. Everything is pressure cooked together to lock in the flavor and nutrition, resulting in a creamy, aromatic kurma that pairs beautifully with chapati, dosa, idiyappam, aapam and even plain rice.  Why You’ll Love This Oil-Free Kurma: No Oil Used – Completely free from refined oil or ghee, yet rich in taste Dairy-Free – No curd, cream, butter or milk – making it light and vegan-friendly Easy to Digest – Steamed vegetables and natural spices support better digestion Wholesome & Nutritious – Packed with vitamins, fiber and healthy fats from coconut Perfect for Healthy Eating – Ideal for weight-watchers, post-illness recovery, or clean eating diets Simple Ingr...

Easy Vegetable Kurma - an easy one pot kurma that's ready in 30 minutes and tastes good for chapathi, poori, parotta, idiyappam, aapam and ghee rice. I have been making this easy vegetable Kurma for many years and it is a favourite of mine. If you like vegetable kurma with mild flavours, give this a try. Personally, I like to experiment with vegetable kurma recipes a lot because they are our evergreen side dish for chapathi and poori. Nothing can beat vegetable kurma for chapathi. This easy vegetable kurma is also incredible, similar to my hotel vegetable kurma with little variations in the method.  How to make Easy Vegetable Kurma Before you start making this kurma make sure you have all the ingredients prepared and ready to go. Dice all the vegetables and chop the onions and tomatoes. Prepare fresh ginger garlic paste, grate fresh coconut. Soak the dry green peas for 6 hours.  To make the process easy, I suggest preparing the kurma in a pressure cooker or pressure pan. It re...

Chana Kurma is a very popular side dish in South Indian cuisine and differs from Chana masala. I have already posted chana and potato kurma which is also a famous dish in South Indian cooking.  This kurma is similar to it,but have different flavours and little rich too.Cashew nut is the additional ingredient, that gets added in this chana kurma, which will not include in the chana potato kurma and chana masala. A pinch of black pepper powder is added in this kurma, which is not added to the other kurma dishes. I prepared this kurma as a side dish for beetroot poori and it was so delicious. Like most kurmas, this chana kurma also includes the combination of garamasala and coconut cashew paste. This kurma comes together easily, with minimal chopping works. The essential step to make a good kurma with good taste is frying the spices, onions and tomatoes well in the oil. Wait until you see oil seperates for each step.Use garamasala powder depending on your taste. Start with 1/2 tsp of...

Today we are going to see the collection of kurma dishes here. Kurmas are an all time favourite side dishes for chapathi, poori, parotta and dosa. It's delicious and flavorful with a thick rich coconut based gravy. Coconut based gravies are popular in South Indian cuisine. A few added spices like cinnamon, cloves, fennel, cardamom etc and ginger garlic gives flavour to the kurma. I always prefer to cook kurma with  mild flavours in less oil. Though the variety in kurma is endless, here is a look at some of the kurma recipes on our blog. 1. Vegetable Kurma - Hotel Style  Vegetable Kurma (Carrots, beans, potatoes and green peas in rich coconut paste) Vegetable kurma is a family favourite dish for everybody. This vegetable kurma and chapathi is our weekend special during our childhood days.  The classic combination of carrots, peas, beans and potatoes is enriched with coconut masala paste and other spices. Recipe Here 2. Soya Chunks and Green Peas Kurma Soya ...

Chickpeas and potato kurma - prepared with chickpeas(kondaikadalai), potato and flavoured with onions, tomato and whole garam masala. A perfect side to chapathi, poori, dosa and aapam. Kurmas are especially a special dish in Tamil Nadu with different varieties. In most of the South Indian restaurants this chickpeas potato kurma is served as a side dish for chola poori. My son Siva like this chickpeas kurma for poori very much. Most of the time I prepare potato masala or chana masala for poori but now a days Siva is asking me to prepare this kurma for poori. The best kind of kurmas are the ones with a correct balance of flavours without much oil. I learned these tips with lots of experiments with kurma. For this kurma there is no need to add cashew nuts, poppy seeds or any other fresh creams for a thick consistency. The onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and whole garam masala is ground to a thick paste along with fresh coconut. The fennel seeds add a mild sweetness to th...

German cabbage or turnip cabbage called as noolkol. This turnips are not as popular as some other vegetable such as cauliflower or carrots, but they are nutritious and make a wonderful addition for kurmas or sabjis. For a long time my husband asked me to prepare side dishes with this turnip and he said, try to remove the strong flavour from the turnips. So after few experiments I found this recipe and it was a big hit. To remove the strong flavour from this turnip I have cooked the chopped turnips along with finely chopped green chillies. Apart from regular coconut masala paste, I have also added a thick coconut milk for more flavours. I had some cooked chick peas, so I added in this kurma. There is no need for any additional spice powders. This turnip kurma was so amazing, prepared by using both traditional coconut paste and the coconut milk. This kurma will be definitely a favourite for all those who want to include healthy vegetables, using only healthy ingredients. If you d...

Beetroot kurma - thick creamy pink colour gravy for chapathi, poori and dosa. This kurma would surely impress your kids with its beautiful colour. I like to prepare kurma with different combinations. Based on the coconut paste, this kurma is also prepared, with easy cooking methods. Usually we add cashew nuts or fried grams in the coconut paste and then the masala paste is prepared. But for this kurma, I add the cashew nut paste at the end. The grated coconuts are ground along with tomatoes, ginger and a few spices and sauted in the oil. Then the cooked beetroots are added and then our basic ingredients like chilly powder, garam masala powder are added to the kurma. Finally the cashew paste and milk are added for thickening the kurma. Checkout my other Kurma recipes Paneer Kurma Hotel Vegetable Kurma Cauliflower Kurma Mushroom Kurma Carrot and Green peas Kurma

Paneer Kurma is a delicious kurma made with paneer cubes in a creamy coconut gravy. This Kurma is very easier to prepare for your dinner. After preparing this Kurma, it will be your family's favourite. Most of us are familiar with paneer. They are an easy to cook ingredient in gravies so there is no pressure cooking or soaking work for this kurma. Unlike most kurmas, some grinding work is required for this kurma with classic spices, tomatoes, onions and coconut. In this kurma I have sprinkled few kasuri methi leaves to enhance the flavour. This kurma will pair well with chapathi, dosa, parotta and jeera rice. The paneer cubes combined with the coconut gravy gives a tasty side dish for your dinner. Instead of ordering gravies from outside, you can quickly prepare this delicious kurma within 20 minutes.  If you are planning to prepare for a get together or dinner party, you can easily double this recipe. Now let's see how to prepare this Paneer Kurma with step by step instr...

Cauliflower Kurma  Kurmas usually involve the whole spices, onions, tomatoes and the coconut paste. This Cauliflower Kurma also includes the same ingredients, but lots of chopped small onions and chopped garlics which add a unique taste and flavor in this dish. This Kurma pairs well with poori, roti, parotta, aapam and dosas. It even tastes good for ghee rice and vegetable pulav. This kurma is one of my all time favourite dish. The preparation work and the ingredient lists are very simple. The only thing that takes time in this dish is chopping the onions and garlics finely. If you do not have small onions, replace it with the regular onions. For this Kurma choose cauliflowers which are tightly packed. The thickness of the kurma is also similar to many kurmas but the taste of the cauliflower kurma is more unique than many other kurmas. The cauliflower florets are precooked for few minutes and then you have to cook them well in the coconut paste. With a perfect combinatio...