Blogging Marathon# 63 -Journey through the cuisines: Day 26
State: Tamil Nadu
Dish: Zucchini Korma
April has come to an end, and with this recipe, we close our month long Mega Marathon that ran from A to Z and with recipes from four Indian states. I started with Gujarat, then came Maharashtra followed by Punjab and finally Tamil Nadu. With a lot of snack recipes to curries, sweets, savories and rice dishes, today brings a hard stop to the event. The letter today is Z and the obvious choice from Z would be zucchini in all cuisines. I am doing Tamil Nadu, so the green colored vegetable made its appearance in a korma.

Years ago when I was not so connected to food and recipes, I ordered a Vegetable Korma dish at a restaurant as they listed it under curries and I was looking for an alternative to vegetable makhanwala, vegetable kolhapuri and vegetable handi. What appeared was a lightly colored dish and on tasting it we realized it had coconut. I was so stunned to find that as I never expected a curry to have coconut in it! Little did I know that this dish is just written along with the other vegetables, it is actually from a different state and coconut is an essential ingredient in it!

Now with my knowledge much broader, I know what dish will have which ingredient. Not only that, now each of my recipes at home taste different as I understand the importance of coconut, poppy seeds and watermelon seeds in each of the curries. Earlier it would all taste similar with garlic, ginger, onion and tomato in all the curries!
So coming to the recipe, a Korma (from Turkish kavurma), also spelled kormaa, qorma, khorma, kurma, or qovurma, is a dish originating in South Asia consisting of meat or vegetables braised in a spiced sauce made with yogurt, cream, nut or seed paste. The most famous type of korma is the one with mixed vegetables in it, but adding just zucchini was a great idea too. The gravy was just like any other korma and the zucchini gave a crunch to the dish, with its slightly hard skin and tender flesh. I served it with Malabar Parathas, the flaky ones we can buy off the shelf. Along with that, was a bowl full of Yogurt Rice, a Tamilnadu special and the combination was perfect and we enjoyed a hearty weekend lunch.

Ingredients
Zucchini 2 medium
Onions 1 medium, diced
Tomatoes 1 medium, diced
Cashew nuts 1 handful
Fresh Coconut ¼ cup shredded
Curry Leaves 3-4
Mustard seeds a pinch
Bay leaves 1-2
Green chilli 3-4
Turmeric ½ tsp
Red Chilli Powder 1 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Cilantro

Method
Wash and dice the zucchini and set aside. In a pan heat a tablespoon of oil. Add chopped onions, cook them and then add tomatoes. Also add the cashew nuts and fresh coconut. Let the mixture cook till it becomes mushy.
Turn down the flame and blend to a smooth paste. Set aside. Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, let them pop and then add curry leaves, bay leaves and green chilli.
Next, add the zucchini and saute till it becomes little soft. Add the prepared curry, turmeric and red chilli powder. Mix well and cook covered till the gravy and zucchini comes together.
Turn down the flame, add cilantro and serve warm with Malabar Paratha and onions.



Padmajha says
Zucchini seems to be the star of the day! Lovely kurma Smruti. Enjoyed all your posts and loved your visual treats. It was great running this marathon with you.
MySpicyKitchen says
Korma looks very rice and even I cooked zucchini for the last day.. 🙂
Srivalli says
Awesome combination Smruti. What a fantastic marathon you got for us. I enjoyed each and every post you got ready. All your pictures make it so droolworthy too..Great job!
Scarlett Braden says
Congratulations on completing the challenge!
@ScarlettBraden from
Frankly Scarlett
Suma Gandlur says
I guess blogging makes us more creative. I would have never thought of using zucchini in a kurma recipe. Loved your dish choices this marathon from the four corners of the vountry.
cookingwithsapana says
Tamil version of Zucchini korma looks very flavorful.I totally enjoyed your 4 states series and loved all the recipes.Well done .
Gayathri Kumar says
That is a nice selection for z. Today zucchini rules the blogs. Delicious combination of parotta and kurma. Looks so inviting. I enjoyed all the virtual treats you gave this month...
Priya Suresh says
Wow kurma with zucchini looks absolutely irresistible, can take my eyes from your pictures, so tempting they are. Enjoyed thoroughly running this marathon with you.
Srividhya says
Zucchini is so versatile and it fits all cuisines. coconut based kurma sounds delicious.
Pavani says
Creamy & delicious looking zucchini kurma. Yumm!!
Amara’s cooking says
Korma with Zucchini!! Sounds yummy. Really innovative. Enjoyed all your dishes this month. Lovely presentation too:)
vaishali sabnani says
The zucchini korma is a interesting recipe, looks super tempting.