Sometimes things get so busy that I am craving something comforting and flavorful like this Slow Cooker Navratan Korma.
Photo by Kate Lewis
Before I went vegan this was my favorite Indian dish – it’s creamy, slightly sweet and full of veggies, nuts and raisins. The traditional recipe uses yogurt, cream, and ghee – which makes it a landmine of dairy. It’s so easy to make it at home in your crockpot, and you’ll save a ton of money, so it’s all good.
Make sure to ask questions when you’re eating at a new-to-you Indian restaurant to ensure you’re really ordering vegan. Lots of dishes can usually be modified, and more places are even noting their vegan dishes on the menu.
What’s your go-to Indian comfort dish?
Navratan Korma is a creamy curry full of veggies, dried fruit, and usually cashews. I’m putting the cashews in via Cashew Cream, which thickens it up just right. It’s a decadent dish that even curry haters will love. This recipe is from my third book, Vegan Slow Cooking for Two.
Ingredients
- 1 cup 100 g cauliflower florets or (110 g) diced potato
- 1 cup 130 g chopped carrots or (140 g) winter squash
- 1/2 cup 75 g peas or (50 g) green beans
- 1/2 cup 90 g diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup 120 ml water
- 1/4 cup 22 g cooked onion
- 2 tablespoons 19 g minced bell pepper
- 1 tablespoon 8 g grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon 9 g raisins
- 1/4 cup 60 ml nondairy milk
- 2 tablespoons 30 g *Cashew Cream, vegan sour
- cream, or make your own Silken Tofu Sour Cream by pureeing with a little salt and lemon juice
- Salt, to taste
- 1 1/2 to 3 cups 293 to 585 g basmati rice, for serving
Instructions
- Add everything except the milk, cashew cream, and salt to the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours.
- Before serving, add milk and Cashew Cream (or substitute) and mix well. Add salt to taste. Serve over steamed basmati rice.
Notes
0.8 g saturated fat; 3 g protein; 17.6 g carbohydrate; 4.5 g dietary fiber;
0 mg cholesterol
Nutrition Information
Amount Per Serving Calories 126Saturated Fat 3gCholesterol 14mgSodium 518mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 3g
Photo by Kate Lewis
Amanda says
This looks pretty good! Quick typo correction, though: your 7th bullet point under the ingredients list just shows the page number, not an ingredient. 🙂
Kathy Hester says
Thank you s much for catching that! I’ve corrected it. You can use your usual recipe for cashew cream or tofu sour cream too.
Harvest says
If I wanted to add some tofu to this to add protein, when would I add that in? At the beginning or the end? I’m very new to using a slow cooker!
Kathy Hester says
You could add it either time really. If you don’t mind if the cubes mush a bit I’d say do it in the beginning just to save time later on. If you add it last you want to give it enough time to heat up – probably 20 to 30 minutes. I hope this helps!
Marcia says
What’s “page 19” mean? Looks beautiful and scrumptious, thank you!
Kathy Hester says
It means I shouldn’t cut and paste from a pdf when I don’t feel well 😉
It was just extra – you didn’t miss out on anything important.
Ruchama says
I love your cookbook and online recipes. We have to cook from Sunset on Friday to eat at about 1:30 p.m. on Shabbat (Saturday) some things do better than others. I find that slow cooking tomato based dishes almost always works, but not sure about some of the others; beans probably fine, not so much peas, and cauliflower or potatoes (perhaps the harder varieties? Any suggestions for really long cooking this would be appreciated (More tomatoes, might help. I usually use organic canned diced.
Kathy Hester says
Thank you Ruchama. I think cauliflower would do well cooking a longer time, most beans would get a little mushy but chickpeas would do well.
To cook this dish longer I would add the green peas or green beans 30 minutes before serving if at possible. I’m not sure if you are allowed to do that, so if you can’t use the green peas.
I would double the ginger, maybe up the spices too, and you will need more liquid – maybe 1/22 cup water? This may be a little too much, but if it’s too little it will burn.
If you make this please let me know and I’ll add in the longer cooking instructions as an option.
Ruchama says
Thanks. I’ll let you know. We can’t add the green peas while the dish is cooking, so what we do in cases like this is defrost the peas on Friday, keep them in the refrigerator and then take them out an hour or so before lunch. We take the slower cooker of the heat and then dump in stuff that needs to be added but is itself cooked or eatable. I rarely cook frozen peas used in recipes; I always try to just add defrosted to most dishes.
BTW I grew up with a southern Mama, so overcooked green beans are something I’m used to and don’t mind, although I don’t do them that way myself. On the other hand right now the green beans on sale are usually old and tough and would probably benefit from a long slow cook!! 🙂
Susan says
Is it 1 cup of cauliflower?
Kathy Hester says
It is 1 cup – hopefully you caught the last mistake ; )
Sarah says
This recipe is delicious. I’ve made it from your cookbook. I love your books, and I wanted to thank you for writing them. They were a godsend when my fiance and I first turned vegetarian and vegan soon after.
Kathy Hester says
Thank you so much!
Nancy Nurse says
Hi, looks fantastic and I want to try it in my new instant pot… any idea how to do that?
Kathy Hester says
I haven’t cooked a mostly veggie dish in the instant pot yet, so I can’t really give you any hints. However, there is a great veggie instant pot group on Facebook that’s very active and can probably give you some great advice:
Nancy Nurse says
Hi, can this be done in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker?
Kathryn Grace says
I only recently discovered your site, and I’m stoked to find it! This recipe looks divine, and I love that you included all the variants–that’s so how I like to cook, mixing it up with what I have on hand. I shared this with my Facebook peeps today as Recipe of the Day on a page I curate called Cooking with Whole Grains & Real, Whole Foods. Can’t wait to try it myself.
Kathy Hester says
Thank you so much!
Sara says
This looks so yummy! I recently saw this recipe after getting your cookbook from the local library but I didn’t have a chance to make it before I had to return the book. I’d like to make it for a potluck this weekend, so if I quadruple the recipe to make in my large crock pot, would that affect the cooking time at all? Also, is this recipe spicy or mild? I love spicy but some of the party guests do not. Thanks!
Kathy Hester says
This is not spicy at all so it will be fine for all your guests. I’m not sure what size your large slow cooker is, but if it’s a 6 or 8 quart that should work.
Jane says
What does cooked onion mean? I presume they’re fried?
Kathy Hester says
When I’m using my small slow cooker a lot I pre-saute the onions in a batch of 1 large onion at a time and freeze what I don’t use in tablespoon-sized ice cubes so I can just toss them in later. You could also use about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon onion powder instead if you’d rather not bother with such a a small amount of fresh onion.
Brett says
Kathy, I’m going to make this tomorrow for the first time and am wondering about the cook time in the crock pot. 7+ hours seems a long time for a dish made entirely of vegetables and I’m worried that they will all fall apart when they cook for that long. Thanks so much!
Kathy Hester says
I haven’t had any trouble cooking it this long, but if you are concerned check it a few hours early and see if the veggie are tender enough for you.
Robin Fetter says
This recipe was a total lifesaver on a day I didn’t think I needed saving! Long story, but it involved chasing my dog for miles on the most humid day of the year after he bolted from the house…Needless to say, I was super thankful I made a double batch (my household has 5 people including myself!) of this korma earlier that morning before I was too sweaty and exhausted to think about dinner!!! Don’t worry, the dog is back at home and my family didn’t leave any leftovers which means I will be making this again in the near future! Thanks for the yummy recipe Kathy 🙂
Winifred Mahowa says
In the recipe there is ‘1½ to 3 cups (293 to 585 g)” CANT TELL WHAT THE INGREDIENT IS
Kathy Hester says
There was a line break and below that it says basmati rice. I’ve put it back where it belongs.
Lori says
Would love to give this a try but what is Cashew Cream?
Kathy Hester says
You an get a recipe here:
Dawna says
This looks amazing! Do you suppose that coconut cream would be a good substitute for cashew cream?
Kathy Hester says
I think it would work for sure.