Mushroom Kurma Mushroom Korma

My mushroom kurma is a little different than how it is traditionally made. It is an easy blend and cook curry that you are going to fall in love with. The freshly ground masala curry paste to make this korma is out of this world delicious.

What is Kurma?

Kurma or Korma is a South Asian Curry that is either braised with meat or vegetables. Thickening agents like yogurt, cream, coconut milk, and nuts are used to make this curry, making it deliciously rich in its taste. A vegetarian kurma can be made with vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms, peas, broccoli, french beans, and carrots. You can make a vegetarian protein-rich kurma using any beans. I particularly love to use Black chickpeas, black-eyed peas, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), and kidney beans.

What is Mushroom Kurma?

This recipe hails from Tamilian Cuisine, India. Mushroom Kurma is a delicious rich curry made with a special curry base prepared with onions, tomatoes, fresh/frozen coconut, poppy seeds, almond flour, Kashmiri red chili powder, and coriander seeds. This freshly made masala is further braised with other spices and aromatics, with mushrooms and served piping hot with a side of rotis, idlis, dosas, or plain rice.

What Type of Mushrooms to Use?

You can either use white button mushrooms or baby Bella (crimini) mushrooms for this recipe. These mushrooms are from the same family. Baby Bella Mushrooms are brown in color and are slightly more flavorful, as they are harvested a little later, hence the developed color and flavor. I also feel the brown color of baby Bella mushrooms blend perfectly with the Kurma and they absolutely render not just a delicious curry, but also a gorgeous curry. These two varieties of mushrooms are available plentiful in all the grocery stores, but if you cannot find these, Portabello Mushrooms works too.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Mushrooms - I am using mushrooms as the base vegetable of this curry because of their delicious umami and earthy flavors. If you don’t have mushrooms, you can use the same recipe to make this Kurma with Cauliflower or Potatoes, or Beans like Chickpeas or Red Kidney Beans. Onions And Tomatoes - The curry is made with a base of onions and tomatoes. They are blended together for the complex spicy, caramelized and tart flavors they have to offer. Aromatics - The holy trinity, that is our garlic, ginger, and green chilies are used in this curry, along with beautiful floral and citrusy undertones.

Spices - The basic ground spices from the Indian spice box are put to use. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Turmeric, and Coriander Powder. Coconut - You can either use fresh or frozen shredded coconut to make this recipe. If these are not available, you can use desiccated coconut. Please don’t replace shredded/ desiccated coconut with coconut milk. Coconut milk will completely change the flavor of this curry. White Poppy Seeds - Poppy seeds have a mild nutty flavor and are used as a thickening agent in the curry. If you don’t have white poppy seeds, you can skip adding them and substitute them with a teaspoon of almond flour. Coriander Seeds - The coriander seeds are ground with the curry base for their beautiful earthy, citrusy, and sweet flavors. You can substitute this with a teaspoon of coriander powder if you don’t have whole coriander seeds. Almond Flour - It is faster to make this curry with ingredients ready on hand, hence I like to use almond flour instead of waiting for my cashews/ almonds to soak and soften.

Cumin Seeds - I feel mustard seeds and cumin seeds are the heart of tempering curries in India. We use cumin seeds twice in this recipe, once to make the curry base and the second time for the tempering. Cilantro - We will be using fresh luscious finely chopped cilantro for garnishing.