Here in the UK, pretty much any “Balti”, “Tandoori” or “Indian” restaurant will feature a “Korma”. My general reactions to this word are (a) spelt wrong (b) wrong colour (c) tastes nothing like I remember it (if I decide to try it) (d) not coming back here again.
The kurma (right spelling) I do remember is my mother’s one and she often made it with chappati (unleavened whole wheat flat bread). As a child I remember not liking it very much – there was some flavour/spice in the dish I didn’t like. It was only when mum gave me the recipe for kurma did I realise what it was – aniseed/fennel seeds. It is the same reason I don’t like Sambuca or liquorice. Yucky aniseed! There are always ways about things you don’t like – my solution here has been to use the smallest amount of fennel seeds I could get away with. And this time, I did like my mum’s kurma.
The recipe falls in the category of “Over-the-phone” recipe which is more accurately an “over-SKYPE” recipe these days. The way it goes is this.
Me: Hi mum, I was thinking of Dish-blah that you used to make and wanted to make it.
Mum: Oh that – easy peasy (when you have made it for more than 30 years, sure)
Me: So, how do I make it ?
Mum: Chillies, coconuts, 10 more ingredients ………Got it ?
Me: Sure.
Mum: Do you want to write it down ?
Me: No, it’s all in my head
Growing up, mum always said to me that no one taught her how to cook. She just watched and learned. When it comes to recipes, I’ve never seen a single one written down by either my grandma or my mum. It is something that is communicated by word of mouth and remembered purely by repetition. So it is some sort of false pride deep inside me that says that if gran and mum can remember recipes, so can I. I try my best but in some cases, I have to resort to the neatly typed up recipes on my laptop. More recently of course, I have this blog to jog my memory. Enough blah,blah and now for the recipe.
Mum’s vegetable kurma
Can We Have Some Rasam ? 