India is the land of curries. There are thousands of curries
and various adaptations of the same curry. Each region and each family have
their own version. It might be surprising to know you wouldn’t catch a cook in
India using Madras curry powder. It simply doesn’t exist in India. What we have
are masala powders, similar to curry powder, each designed for a different
curry. Masala powders can be a combination of roasted or unroasted spices
depending on the curry one is making. It can also be a freshly ground spice
paste.
Coconut paste, freshly grated coconut and coconut milk are
commonly added in Southern curries. They are much lighter.
Not all curries are full of sauce. We do have a lot of dry
curries too.
Today's recipe is a Tomato kurma. This is not a typical Korma style curry. This is more of a cooked chutney than curry. This goes well with Tiffin items like Idly ,Dosa and Rotis, but not with rice. In this recipe you can alter the amount of fennel seeds and cinnamon to suit your personal taste. Same goes with chili.
Grind coconut & chutney into a paste. |
Fry the spices, onion, ginger, garlic & green chili. |
Add the tomato and cook until mushy. |
Add the ground paste. Mix well. |