'I see this as a no-waste dish because you need a little bit of everything,' says chef Asma Khan

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Our cookbook of the week is Ammu by Asma Khan, owner of London’s Darjeeling Express and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table. Over the next two days, we’ll feature another recipe from the book and an interview with the author.

To try another recipe from the book, check out: Buttermilk chicken pakoras and shami kabab (stuffed meat patties).

A mix of vegetables stands in for sapphires (yellow and blue), rubies, pearls, hessonite, emeralds, diamonds, corals and cat’s eye in navratan korma. The royal dish takes its name from a South Asian style of jewelry based on a nine-gem arrangement. “It’s a royal dish,” says Asma Khan. “And it is usually a sign that we took a lot of trouble to put together all these vegetables for you.”

Navratan korma’s name may be regal, but Khan also sees the dish’s practical side. Studded with nine colourful vegetables, you can use any combination of fresh or frozen that you have to hand.

Khan suggests using red, yellow and orange bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, baby corn, snow peas, cabbage and spinach. Or parboiling green beans, squash and root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and potatoes, and then adding red pepper, peas, corn and broccolini.

“I see this as a no-waste dish because you need a little bit of everything. And so many of us have things that are lying around our kitchen or in the fridge: one single carrot, one random half-eggplant,” says Khan.

Navratan korma is ideal for celebrations but that shouldn’t stop you from making the nourishing and satisfying dish anytime you have an assortment of fresh and frozen vegetables.

“I want to inspire people. I want someone to take this book and make it their own and adapt it to what they have,” adds Khan. “If they’ve got a glut of beans in their garden, make something like this where you can add the beans with other bits and pieces you have. And it’s a beautiful, gorgeous-looking dish.”

2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) mixed vegetables 6 tbsp vegetable oil 1 in (2.5 cm) piece of cassia bark (or cinnamon stick) 2 green cardamom pods 1 clove 1 large bay leaf 2 large onions, cut in half and thinly sliced 3–4 garlic cloves, crushed 2 1/2 in (6 cm) piece of fresh ginger, grated 2 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp chili powder 1/2 tsp sugar 2 tsp salt 1 cup (250 g) full-fat Greek-style yogurt 14 oz (400 mL) can thick coconut milk 2 tbsp ground almonds

Cut all the vegetables into evenly sized pieces and set aside on a tray.

Heat the oil in a pot over medium–high heat. Add the cassia bark, cardamoms, clove and bay leaf, then immediately add the onions and fry until golden brown.

Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 1 minute. Then add the ground coriander, chili powder, sugar and salt and stir for 2 minutes.

Add the yogurt, lower the heat to medium and stir until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add all the vegetables, stir and cook until tender. If the vegetables start to stick, add a splash of water. When they are cooked, add the coconut milk and ground almonds, and stir until the gravy thickens.

Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving. This korma goes very well with any kind of rice or pulao, and is a great accompaniment for meat or fish.

Recipe and image extracted from Ammu by Asma Khan (Interlink Books, $45) Photography by Laura Edwards.

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