A simple South Indian style vegetable kurma recipe without any onion or garlic – a perfect side for roti, pulav, and biryani varieties! Learn how to make this veg kurma on a stove-top pressure cooker with step-wise pictures.
When I can make pulav, chana masala, and biryani and bharta without onion and garlic, why not veg kuruma or veg kurma. As you all know, we try avoiding onion and garlic on festive and auspicious days, and I have shared quite a few recipes without any onion or garlic. Now it’s time for the kurma.
While roti and kurma are a popular combo, we love our kurma with idli, dosa and I also serve it with pulao and biryani varieties. Like sambar, we use kurma for breakfast or lunch, or dinner, depending upon the dish. This time I made this kurma for dinner and served it with roti.
Stove-top pressure cooker veg kurma
Every time I share Instant Pot recipes, I get a recipe request for a stove-top pressure cooker recipe. So I made this kurma in the stove-top pressure cooker. The recipe is very straightforward. There are three significant steps involved in this kurma.
- Prepare the ground masala
- Saute the tomatoes and the ground masala
- Add the vegetables and pressure cook with the ground masala.
Ingredient used
Except for the black stone flower, all the other ingredients are readily available. Black stone flower or kalpaasi is optional, but it adds a nice flavor.
For the masala – We use coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin powder, coriander powder, roasted gram/pottukadalai, green chilies, fennel seeds, mint leaves, and turmeric powder to prepare the masala. I usually add all the spice powders and blend them too.
To Temper – We need oil, and I recommend using coconut oil, cumin seeds, and bay leaves for tempering.
Tomatoes and other vegetables: Along with tomatoes, you can use vegetables of your choice. You can use green beans, carrots, green peas, cauliflower, potatoes, turnips, chayote squash, zucchini.
Apart from these ingredients, we need salt, water, and cilantro.
Dietary specifications and serving suggestions
This veg kurma is vegan, nut-free, and gluten-free naturally. You can serve this kurma with idli, dosa, poori, roti/chapati, pulav, or biryani. Yes, it’s such a versatile side dish!
I haven’t tried freezing this kurma, but I have stored this in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Now without any further ado, let’s see how to make this veg kurma.
No onion, no garlic veg kurma recipe with step-wise pictures
Grind the kurma masala
- In a mixer jar, add all the ingredients given under “To grind.”
- Grind it into a smooth paste by adding one cup of water and set the paste aside.
Prepare the kurma
- Heat the pressure cooker or pressure pan and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and bay leaves. Let the cumin seeds sizzle and add the tomatoes.
- Cook the tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes, and then add the ground kurma masala and salt.
- Let the masala and tomatoes cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the raw smell of the spices goes off. Make sure to mix the tomato-kurma masala in between. Now add all the vegetables and one tbsp of cilantro.
- Rinse the mixer jar with one more cup of water and add it to the kurma.
- Mix the ingredients well, and pressure cook the kurma for two whistles. Let the pressure subside naturally. When the pressure is all gone, open the pressure cooker and mix the kurma well. It’s optional, but I always add one more tbsp of cilantro and bring it to one boil. That’s it. Kurma is ready. Serve it with roti or pulav or dosa.
Recipe notes
- Adjust the spices and salt to taste. Reduce the green chilies and add red chili powder for more color.
- Add veggies in your hand, and adding country vegetables always enhances kurma flavor. But I did not add any.
- You can also add ½ tsp of garam masala towards the end when bringing the kurma to a boil.
- The black stone flower is optional, but if you have, do add it.
- You can reduce tomatoes to 100 grams and increase the coconut measure to ½ cup. And for the tangy flavor, add a tsp or two of lemon juice.
- The cinnamon barks that I used were very thin, so I used 2-inch.
Explore other side dishes for roti
Loved this recipe?
If you try this mixed vegetable kurma, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it ASAP. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest or Instagram or join my Facebook Group for recipe updates and simple Indian meal ideas.
📖 Recipe
No Onion No Garlic Veg Kurma | Easy Pressure Cooker Vegetable Kurma
Equipment
- mixer jar or blender
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup = 240ml; 1 tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml;
To grind
- ⅓ cup coconut
- 3 green chilies
- 5 mint leaves
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2- inch cinnamon bark refer notes
- 2 green cardamom
- 3 cloves
- ¼ tsp fennel seeds
- ¼ tsp black stone flower powder or a small piece of black stone flower
- 2 tbsp roasted gram
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 2 cups water divided
Other ingredients
- 2 tsp oil coconut oil preferably
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 200 grams tomatoes chopped
- 450 grams mixed vegetables I used ten green beans, two carrots, two potatoes, ¼ cup peas, and cauliflower
- 1.5 tsp salt heaped or to taste
- 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
Grind the kurma masala
- In a mixer jar, add all the ingredients given under “To grind.”
- Grind it into a smooth paste by adding one cup of water and set the paste aside.
Prepare the kurma
- Heat the pressure cooker or pressure pan and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and bay leaves. Let the cumin seeds sizzle and add the tomatoes.
- Cook the tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes, and then add the ground kurma masala and salt.
- Let the masala and tomatoes cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the raw smell of the spices goes off. Make sure to mix the tomato-kurma masala in between. Now add all the vegetables and one tbsp of cilantro.
- Rinse the mixer jar with one more cup of water and add it to the kurma.
- Mix the ingredients well, and pressure cook the kurma for two whistles. Let the pressure subside naturally. When the pressure is all gone, open the pressure cooker and mix the kurma well. It's optional, but I always add one more tbsp of cilantro and bring it to one boil. That's it. Kurma is ready. Serve it with roti or pulav or dosa.
Notes
- Adjust the spices and salt to taste. Reduce the green chilies and add red chili powder for more color.
- Add veggies in your hand, and adding country vegetables always enhances kurma flavor. But I did not add any.
- You can also add ½ tsp of garam masala towards the end when bringing the kurma to a boil.
- The black stone flower is optional, but if you have, do add it.
- You can reduce tomatoes to 100 grams and increase the coconut measure to ½ cup. And for the tangy flavor, add a tsp or two of lemon juice.
- The cinnamon barks that I used were very thin, so I used 2-inch.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Tried this recipe and it came out fantastic! What would you recommend for the instapot settings?
Sure. You can try 5 minutes high pressure and release the pressure naturally. Thanks, glad you liked the recipe.
The addition of coconut makes up for everything in there. Love the flavors there.
Thanks :-)
I love these kurmas Srividhya…they surely make my dinner ideas very easy..good that you got to make a no onion no garlic version!
Thanks Valli.
I am sure this kurma tastes wonderful even without the addition of onion and garlic. The spicy base adds lots of flavor to this curry.
Yes it did. Thanks Suma
This is a great recipe. I do make similar one on stove top but using pressure cooker makes life easy. Great one-pot recipe.
Thanks Radha.
Nice. Method of preparation explained in simple terms
Thanks a lot.