Badami Vegetable Curry
Mixed vegetables in a creamy almond gravy with onion, ginger, and garlic. A North Indian badami curry in the vegetable korma family, without coconut or fruit.
Equipment
- Blender
- Heavy-bottomed pan or kadhai
Ingredients
For the almond paste
- 1/3 cup almonds about 20 to 22
- 8 cashews
- 1/2 cup just-boiled water for soaking
- 1 green chilli stemmed, optional, for the blender
For the vegetables
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- 1 carrot medium, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup green beans cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 potato small, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup green peas fresh or frozen
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt for the boiling water
For the gravy
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon ghee or unsalted butter or more oil
- 1 onion medium, sliced
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt whisked, or 1/3 cup coconut yogurt
- 1/2-3/4 cup reserved vegetable water as needed
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
To garnish
- fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 tablespoon slivered almonds
- 1 teaspoon ghee or cream optional
Instructions
Soak and blend the almonds
- Pour 1/2 cup just-boiled water over the almonds and cashews. Soak 20 minutes. Drain, saving 1/3 cup of the soak water.
- Pinch the almond skins off. They should slip. Discard the skins.
- Blend the peeled almonds, cashews, green chilli if using, and the 1/3 cup soak water until completely smooth. Scrape the sides once. The paste should look pale and silky, not gritty.
Parboil the vegetables
- Bring 3 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil.
- Add potato and carrot. Cook 4 to 5 minutes until they just start to give.
- Add cauliflower and green beans. Cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the cauliflower is almost tender but still holds its shape.
- Add peas for the last minute. Drain, saving 3/4 cup of the cooking water. The vegetables should be about 80 percent done. They will finish in the gravy.
Cook the onion base
- Heat oil and ghee in the pan over medium heat. Add sliced onion and a pinch of salt. Cook 5 to 6 minutes until soft and lightly gold, not brown.
- Add ginger and garlic. Stir 30 to 45 seconds until the raw smell fades.
- Take the pan off the heat. Cool 3 minutes. Blend the onion mixture with the almond paste until smooth. Add a splash of reserved vegetable water only if the blender stalls.
Finish the curry
- Return the blended gravy to the pan over medium-low heat. Add turmeric, coriander, cumin, Kashmiri chilli, and salt. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the paste thickens and smells toasted, not raw.
- Take the pan off the heat. Whisk a spoon of the hot gravy into the yogurt, then stir the yogurt into the pan.
- Add the drained vegetables and 1/2 cup reserved vegetable water. Return to a gentle simmer. Cook 5 to 7 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the gravy coats a spoon. Add more vegetable water if it is too tight.
- Crush kasuri methi between your palms. Stir it in with the garam masala. Simmer 1 minute. Do not boil hard.
- Taste for salt. Garnish with cilantro, slivered almonds, and a teaspoon of ghee if you want a glossy top. Serve hot with roti, thepla, or jeera rice.
Notes
Peel the almonds. Skins make the gravy speckled and slightly bitter.
Parboil the vegetables in stages so the potato cooks through and the cauliflower does not collapse.
Temper the yogurt with a spoon of hot gravy before it goes in the pan. Direct heat splits it.
Frozen peas go in during the last minute of the boil. They do not need a head start.
For a vegan pot, use oil only and swap the yogurt for coconut yogurt or 1/3 cup unsweetened plant milk. Simmer 1 extra minute to thicken.
For Jain cooking, skip onion and garlic. Bloom 1/4 teaspoon hing in the oil, then blend the almond paste with 1 small tomato or 2 tablespoons yogurt for body.
Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge. The gravy thickens overnight. Loosen with a splash of water or milk when you reheat on low.
Potato can turn mealy after freezing. Freeze the gravy without potato if you want a batch in the freezer for up to 1 month.
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