Navratan Kurma: Curry of Nine Gems

'Navratan Kurma' means curry of nine gems..ie:nine vegetables, nine vegetables/fruits. Since I am all for the sweet and savory taste in any curry/kurma, I have used vegetables and fruits combo.Recently, I made this for my son's birthday bash and it was loved and devoured by all!The making of this Kurma is a bit of long process as it involves adding the vegetables and fruits at multiple stages. This is because different vegetables have different cook times and adding them all together would ruin the desired end result.  But this is an excellent side dish to flavored rice, Plain rice, Naan or Roti(Indian Flat Bread) and the joy of eating certainly supersedes the pain of making.

Ingredients(Adapted from Manjula's Kitchen):

• 1 cup each of Cauliflower florets,frozen crinkle-cut carrots, string beans, frozen green peas/lima beans, diced golden potatoes, green pepper, frozen corn kernels, chopped green apple, pineapple chunks
• 1 cup paneer(cottage cheese), cubed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup crushed canned tomatoes
  
• 1tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 3 green chillies, diced
  
• 1/2 cup of dry fruits and nuts (cashew, walnut, raisins)
• 1/2 tsp each of cumin seeds, turmeric powder, chilli powder, mango powder, garam masala
• 1 tbsp of coriander powder
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup of skimmed milk
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp cornflour
  
• 1 bay leaf
• Hing(asafoetida), a pinch
  
• Salt

Procedure:

• In a shallow fry pan, add a tbsp of oil and brown the paneer cubes. I prefer this to deep frying the paneer.Set the paneer cubes aside on a paper-lined plate. In the same pan, roast the dry nuts and raisins. Set aside.
  
• Heat the remaining oil in a saute pan and add hing, cumin seeds and bay leaf.
• Mix green chillies with ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder with a little water and make a paste.Add this paste to the pan and fry for a minute.
  
• Add cauliflower, carrots, green pepper, potatoes, green beans  to the pan. Add a little water and add salt.Cover up and cook for 8-10 mins with little water.
• Add the frozen green peas/lima beans, corn kernels, fried paneer,skimmed milk and stir gently. Sprinkle the garam masala and  mango powder. In a small pan, add the butter and the cornflour to make a roux. Add this to the vegetable. This helps thicken the mixture. Cover and cook for another 5 or 6 mins.
• Finally add the apple and pineapple chunks and simmer for another 5 minutes or so.
  
• Switch off the stove once the Kurma reaches the desired consistency. Gently mix it with the dry fruit and nut mixture.Garnish with Cilantro. 

Enjoy!