Cauliflower Kurma (Tamil Nadu Restaurant Style Cauliflower Chops) Recipe

When you visit a good veg restaurant in Chennai for dinner you will find it difficult to miss the sight and smell of a favourite dinner tiffin of the Chennai people, the 'Parotta-Chops' or in other words Paratha with yellow coloured kurma. This Kurma or Chops is typically made with Cauliflower as its key ingredient with almost a burji texture.
Fresh cauliflower is chopped into smaller florets and cooked along with a rich creamy gravy made up of cashew nuts and poppy seeds. Tomatoes adds to the tanginess of the dish and the fennel seeds gives the kurma it's authentic taste. A easy to make and refreshingly yummy side dish for your flat breads and tiffin.
Cauliflower Kurma is a tasty, healthy and popular side dish served along with appam, idiyappam, phulka or malabar paratha.
If you like this recipe, you can also try other kurma recipes such as
20 M
60 M
80 M
4 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 Cauliflower (gobi) , roughly chopped into smaller pieces
- 1 Tomato , finely chopped
- 15 to 20 Shallots , finely chopped
- 3 to 4 Green Chillies , cut lengthwise
- 4 cloves Garlic , grated
- 1 inch Ginger , grated
- 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)
- 1/4 teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera)
- Salt , to taste For the ground masala paste
- 4 teaspoons Fresh coconut , finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Saunf)
- 1 teaspoon Cashew nuts , approximately 6-8
- 1 teaspoon Poppy seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon Coriander (Dhania) Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Roasted Gram Dal (Pottukadalai)
- 2 Dry Red Chillies For tempering
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil
- 1 Cloves (Laung)
- 1 Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds
- 1 Star anise
- 1 Bay leaf (tej patta)
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
How to make Cauliflower Kurma (Tamil Nadu Restaurant Style Cauliflower Chops) Recipe
To begin making the Cauliflower Kurma recipe, soak the ingredients given under 'masala paste' in 1/4 cup of warm water for 20 minutes and then grind them to a fine paste using little water in a grinder.
Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the chopped cauliflower and cook them for 5 minutes and switch off the stove.
Drain the water and set aside the cauliflower.
Heat a wide pan or wok over low flame with coconut oil. Add all the ingredients mentioned under ‘for tempering’.
Now add the grated ginger, garlic, chopped shallots, tomatoes and a pinch of salt.
Keep stirring till the onions turn transparent and the tomatoes mushy.
Add turmeric powder, cumin powder and mix well. Add 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Now, add the boiled cauliflower and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes.
When the cauliflower is completely soft boiled, add the ground masala paste and salt.
Mix well and cook over low flame for another 5 minutes only.
Switch off and garnish. Cauliflower Kurma is a tasty, healthy and popular side dish served along with appam, idiyappam, phulka or malabar paratha.