This vegetarian korma recipe was one of the very first recipes I ever created. It’s based on a lamb korma recipe that my husband loves. I’m a bit more vegetarian than he is, so I was challenged to convincingly convert one of his favourite recipes into a meatless meal.
The result is one of my family’s favourite dinners. Rich, creamy and satisfying, I always make a double batch then freeze the leftovers. It’s perfect for a quick lunch or dinner.
Quick Vegetarian Korma
Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you. Since most of the chopping is done in a food processor or blender (affiliate links) it involves very little prep time. Also, if you don’t happen to have one of the spices, it’s fine to leave it out. It will change the flavour of the korma, but as long as you add cumin seed and most of the spices it will taste delicious.
Serving Options
The best thing about this korma recipe is that it’s actually a complete vegetarian meal without any added rice or grain. Serve it with a salad and you’ve got a nutrient-packed grain-free dinner. However, it’s equally delicious with other sides, especially if you’re looking for a heartier meal. Here are a few more serving suggestions.
- Rice: The traditional option for this saucy korma.
- Cauliflower rice: Personally, I’m not a huge fan of rice so I usually make rice for the kids then have cauliflower rice myself. I make a large batch, whenever cauliflower’s on sale and freeze it in individual servings.
- Naan bread: I am a huge fan of warm naan, especially my homemade gluten-free naan. (Honestly, my favourite GF bread ever!)
Vegetarian Korma with Black Bean and Mushroom
This rich and delicious korma is made with black beans and almonds for a complete vegetarian protein. It’s perfect on rice, with naan or all on its own!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Paste
- 1 ½ cups onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ½ tbsp ginger, chopped
- 1/2 cup of almonds
- ½ cup of vegetable oil (divided)
Spices
- 2 tsp cumin seed
- 6 green cardamom pods (whole pods)
- 1 ½ tsp ground mace (the outside of a nutmeg, can be replaced with nutmeg)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp paprika
Remaining ingredients
- 3 cups of button mushrooms
- 2 cans of black beans (1 1/2 cups dried beans, cooked)
- 1 cup cream (could use coconut cream as a vegan option)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt, to taste
- 1 cup plain yogurt (optional)
Instructions
- Place the almonds, garlic, ginger and onions into a food processer. Grind until they become a smooth paste. Add oil as needed to bring it all together.
- Heat the remaining oil in a large pot. Lightly fry the cardamom pods and cumin seed for 1 minute.
- Add the paste and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the rest of the spices. Cook the spices for another 2 minutes, stirring them into the paste.
- Add the mushrooms and saute with the spices, stirring while they cook for 5 minutes.
- When the mushrooms have started to release their liquids, add the cream, beans and salt and bring everything to boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
- When the korma is finished cooking it will have a nice, thickened sauce. Remove from the heat and serve with a spoonful of yogurt.
Notes
- If you can’t find bite-sized button mushrooms, then it’s fine to halve or quarter larger mushrooms.
- Korma freezes really well. I like to freeze it in pint-sized mason jars for a quick and healthy lunch option.
- For a less spicy korma reduce the amount of garam masala and chilli powder. My kids LOVE the less spicy version of korma!
- Coconut cream is a perfect replacement for the dairy in this dish. You can even use coconut yogurt instead of yogurt.
Keywords: meatless, vegetarian, healthy, grain-free, low carb, fall, winter
It makes delicious leftovers. I make a huge batch, then freeze it up to serve with fresh rice later on. Like those package curries only helthier!
★★★★★
Great! I love zero-waste homemade “instant” dinners.
This is good, but too much salt! I ended up having to add a caulifflower to dilute the salt. I suggest lowering the salt to one tsp, or recommending one tsp and add salt to taste. There was also a heck of a lot of oil. I admit, I saw no reason to put that much oil in it and didn’t. I did add some water though, so this was not the reason for the extreme saltiness.
Thanks for the feedback. This is the amount of salt that works for us. But I’ll reduce it to 1 1/2 tsp, to taste. I know saltiness depends on the type of salt. Cheers!