Capsicum And Potato Kurma/ Curry With Coconut

          Kurma is a coconut based gravy, usually made with potatoes, cauliflower or a mixture of vegetables and it goes well with rotis, pilafs, idlis, dosas or even plain rice. It's a rich curry, but I try to make it a little lighter by reducing the quantity of coconut added and replacing it with some shallots. For today's kurma, though I have added potatoes, I have also added some capsicum which gives it a unique flavor..

Need To Have

• Capsicum - diced, big pieces, 11/2 cups
• Potatoes - Boiled, peeled and diced, 11/2 cups
• Tomato - 1 medium, diced into big pieces
• Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cinnamon - 1" piece
• Cloves - 2
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Chopped Coriander - 1 tableapoon
• Salt - to taste

To Grind

• Onion - 1 small
• Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoons
• Green Chillies - 2 or 3
• Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Cashews - 4
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Chopped Ginger - 1 tablespoon

Method

           Grind together all the ingredients given under ' to grind ' into a smooth paste, adding a little water.

          Heat oil, add the cinnamon and cloves, when it starts sizzling, add the curry leaves and mix for 1/2 a minute. Now add the capsicum pieces and saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Then add the ground paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. Saute it well, till the raw smell of garlic and onion goes, if the paste sticks to the pan, sprinkle some water and keep sauteing, should take about 5 to 7 minutes.

          Now add the potatoes and tomatoes, mix once and add about 1/2 a cup of water, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Then remove the lid, mix in the garam masala and cook for a minute. Finally add the coriander leaves and switch off.

Note
Use only green capsicum for this kurma, the other colors might make the dish a little sweeter.
You can also add some white poppy seeds along with the other ingredients for the paste.
After adding the tomatoes, if you don't mix it too much and cook it after adding the water, the color of the kurma remains a nice yellow, instead of the orange color, also I have used only green chillies and no chilly powder for the same reason.
You can replace green chillies with red chilly powder if you want, but don't skip the coriander powder.
If you need a little more sourness, can add a little lemon juice at the end.
If you want a richer kurma, double the quantity of coconut and also add a tablespoon of curd while sauteing the paste.