Delicious South Indian Style Instant Pot Vegetable Kurma with vegetables, fresh ground coconut masala and flavorful fennel seeds made in Instant Pot – a delectable side for chapati, poori and brinji rice.

Vegetable Kurma

Most of the vegetarian restaurants in Tamil Nadu serve chapati and parotta along with veg kurma, and this veg kuruma is entirely different from the Navratna kuruma or any other kurma varieties that you get from the other parts of India.

Fennel seeds and coconut play a significant role along with other spices. That fresh ground coconut masala, as always adds a unique flavor which makes this kuruma lip-smackingly good.

You can find a lot of recipes for vegetable kuruma on the internet and like every other dish, each household has their own version too. I have tasted quite a few versions of this kuruma. Thanks to my friends and their moms. :-) This is one of our friend’s recipe. Thanks to my friend JV for sharing her family kuruma recipe with me.

Kurma Quick Meal

You can prepare this Instant Pot Vegetable Kurma in Instant Pot or in a pressure cooker. I went with Instant Pot. (no wonder) Once you have veggies chopped, it is easy to put together. I served this with my Rotimatic masala roti, and it was a combo made in heaven. I am so happy that I can prepare quick, fresh, healthy and wholesome meals with these modern kitchen gadgets.

Recipes with Leftover Kuruma

You can use the leftover kurma and prepare veg kothu chapati or veg kothu parotta. You can even use it as a side for idli, dosai, veg brinji, veg quska, and poori. Guess what, I usually prepare this in a large quantity so that I can have it along with other tiffin items too. I am sure I have leftovers. :-)

Ingredient Variations

You can prepare this kuruma with just one veggie like potato or cauliflower and call it potato kuruma or cauliflower kuruma. I used mixed vegetables but don’t fret if you don’t have many veggies. Just prepare with what you have in hand. You can even replace veggies with soya chunks.

I went with the ratio of 1:2 for red chili to coriander powder. It’s the fennel and the coconut combination that adds the unique flavor. You can adjust the spices according to your preference and also add garam masala for more flavor.

Other Kurma Recipes from my Archives

Instant Pot Vegetable Kurma Recipe

Ingredients:

Onion – 1 (finely chopped)
Tomatoes – 3 (finely chopped)
Ginger – Garlic paste – 1tsp
Mixed Veggies like potatoes/carrots/beans/cauliflower/peas – 5 cups
Salt – 2 tsps (heaped)
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Dhaniya/Coriander powder – 2 tsps
Oil – 2 tbsps
Water – 2 cups (1 cup + ¼ cup + ¾ cup)
Chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsp
To Grind:
Shredded coconut – 1 cup
Poppy seeds – 1 tbsp
Fennel Seeds – 1 tbsp

Prep-Work:

Grind coconut, poppy seeds, and fennel seeds into a smooth paste adding ¼ cup of water. I used ¾ cup of water to rinse the mixer jar, and I added that to the kuruma.
Chop the onion, tomatoes and the veggies. You can chop the veggies roughly into chunks.

Steps:

Pressure Cooker Method:

Heat the pressure cooker or pressure pan and add oil.
Once the oil is hot add the chopped onions.
As the onions become translucent add the chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, and salt.
Cook the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes.
Now add the red chili powder and dhaniya powder.
Saute for 3-4 minutes or until the raw smell of the spices weans away.
Add the vegetables and mix well.
Add the ground masala and the remaining water.
Pressure cook it for up to 2 whistles.
Let the pressure release and garnish it with cilantro and serve hot with Chapati.

Instant Pot Method:

Set the IP in saute mode and add oil.
Once the oil is hot add the chopped onions.

As the onions become translucent add the chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, and salt.

Cook the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes.
Now add the red chili powder and dhaniya powder.

Saute for 3-4 minutes and now add the veggies and mix well.

Then add the ground masala and remaining water.

Set the IP back to manual mode and cook for 5 minutes on a high-pressure method.

Let the pressure naturally.

Finally, garnish it with cilantro and serve hot with Chapati.

Notes:

You can vary the veggies and adjust according to your preference as I mentioned above.
As always, adjust the salt and spices.
You reduce the amount of coconut if required. You can use ½ cup of grated coconut and add 2 tbsps of roasted gram dal and 1 more tbsp of poppy seeds or melon seeds.

📖 Recipe

P.S.: Republishing the old post posted in 2012 with fresh content and new pictures. Find more delicious ideas like this Instant Pot Vegetable Kurma on my Instagram.

Instant Pot Vegetable Kurma | Kuruma | Korma

Vegetable Kurma

Kurma Quick Meal