Cozy Veggie Korma

Name: Cozy Veggie Korma
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons butter; 1 small onion, thinly sliced; 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced; one 1-inch piece ginger, thinly sliced; 6 cardamom pods; 1 tablespoon ground coriander; 1 teaspoon each turmeric and cumin; 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 2 gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 3 cups); 1 cup water; 2 cups green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces; 1-2 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces; 2 cups cubed paneer (optional); 1/2 cup heavy cream; 1/2 cup plain full-fat yogurt; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon garam masala; 1/2 cup of water (if needed); cilantro to garnish; rice for serving

29 reviews / 4.7 average

Cozy Veggie Korma! A boatload of comforting vegetables like potatoes, bell peppers, and green beans, and a creamy golden sauce with onion, garlic, ginger, warming spices. So comforting!

Updated by Lindsay Ostrom on April 19, 2022

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Yum! This was so easy to make, and smelt divine whilst being cooked. A very tasty korma 🙂 I used halloumi instead of paneer (as that’s what I had in the fridge already) and added some cashew nuts. Definitely adding to my ‘to make again’ list, particularly as it could be so easily adapted for whatever veg are in season.

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Let the record show: if I could eat this creamy, cozy, veggie korma for every cold-weather meal, I’d be a very happy person.

(Which, honestly, is kind of what I’ve been doing lately. A little here for lunch, a little there for dinner, a little the next day with some added paneer because I love myself…)

It’s important to know that this recipe has so much flavor, but it’s also not LOUD flavor. It’s like rich, cozy, mellow, could-keep-eating-forever flavor.

The base of this veggie korma is a boatload of comforting vegetables like fork-tender potatoes, bell peppers, and green beans, but the thing that makes it feel like a hug is that creamy golden sauce. We’re giving a gentle sauté to a careful amount of aromatic onion, garlic, ginger, cardamom, coriander, and other spices, and then adding a bit of cream and yogurt to make this the kind of recipe that lands in the perfect exciting-but-gentle flavor zone.

Scooped up hot over a pile of steamy basmati rice… oof. Game over. We can survive winter with this.

It’s the kind of big-flavor-cozy recipe where you can practically finish the entire pan in one sitting.

Direct quote from a family member on his second? third? plate piled high with veggie korma: “I feel like I could just keep eating and eating and eating this.”

Yes, me too, amen.

Watch How To Make This Recipe

Click here to see the step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!

I based this recipe off the Vegetable Korma recipe from a 2008 cookbook called Best Ever Indian Cookbook by Mridula Baljekar, which is just a gem of a book. It has always been one of my favorite sources for Indian recipes because of the step by step photos, and every recipe I’ve tried over the years has been awesome (and there have been many). The changes I made from the original include subbing some ground spices in place of whole spices and adjusting the veggie-to-liquid ratios a bit. For a more in-depth look at Indian food including influences, methods, definitions, and more, check out this amazing post called Indian Cooking 101 by our friend Anu from Simmer to Slimmer!

Common Questions About Veggie Korma

Can I substitute the heavy cream?

Yes! Canned coconut milk works well as a sub.

Could I make any spice substitutions?

The cookbook I studied up on recommended using whole spices when possible – for example, cinnamon sticks and dried red chile peppers, as this is the traditional way to build the flavor base in a lot of Indian cooking. I often don’t have cinnamon sticks or whole dried red chile peppers on hand, so I’m just sharing what I use instead which is ground cinnamon and red pepper flakes. But if you have the whole spices, go ahead and use them!

I can’t find paneer. What else can I use?

Tofu can work as an alternate vegetarian protein option.

How else can I use paneer?

I actually love it pan-seared and put on a salad! But it could be added to just about any curry recipe you love.