An Irish spice master shares a favourite korma recipe

Kitchen Cabinet: Sunil Ghai, of Pickle Restaurant, makes this veggie dish for his family

Vegetable dumplings with korma sauce. Photograph: iStock
Vegetable dumplings with korma sauce. Photograph: iStock

Sunil Ghai is a chef and the founder and owner of Pickle Restaurant on Camden Street and Tiffin by Sunil in Greystones. He grew up in northern India and his mother's home cooking has been a big influence on his cooking. Cultural identity is important to Ghai, who wants to bring an authentic north Indian dining experience to guests at his Pickle Restaurant. His food at home reflects his philosophy too. He enjoys cooking vegetarian food for his family. This dish is one of his favourites.

Sunil Ghai is the founder and owner of Pickle Restaurant on Camden Street and Tiffin by Sunil in Greystones

CARROT AND CAULIFLOWER DUMPLINGS WITH KORMA SAUCE

Sunil Ghai with his vegetable dumplings with korma sauce.
Sunil Ghai with his vegetable dumplings with korma sauce.

Serves three or four

Ingredients
250g grated carrots
250g grated cauliflower
200g boiled grated potatoes
Oil, for frying
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp ginger, chopped
1 tbsp coriander roots
1 tbsp green chilli
¼ tsp turmeric
Semolina (fine) for coating

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For the korma
250g onion, chopped
120g cashew nuts, soaked in boiling water for 25-30 minutes
80g melon seeds, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes
2 green chillies
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
6-7 cardamom pods
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
1 cinnamon stick
Pinch of saffron
½ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp tomato puree
100ml cream
50-60g butter

Method
1
To make the korma, take a deep pan, add oil and when it is hot add the whole spices. Wait until they start to crackle then add the onions and sauté for 10 minutes.

2 Next add all the nuts and seeds, tomato puree and the rest of the spices and continue to cook for a few minutes. Add water and bring to the boil.

3 When the cashew nuts are soft, take the korma of the heat. Blend everything and strain it through a fine sieve.

4 Put it back on the heat and cook it further for 10-12 minutes, until the sauce reduces. Finish by adding the cream and butter. Adjust the seasoning and sprinkle on a few saffron threads as a garnish.

5 For the dumplings, heat a pan or wok and add oil. When it is hot, add the cumin, ginger and green chilli and sauté for a minute or two. Add the grated vegetables and continue to cook on a high heat to remove the excess moisture from the vegetables. Add the spices and seasoning. Cook it well so that there is no moisture left. This should take about 25 minutes.

6 Let it cool down before adding the potatoes. Mix well and divide the mix into small round balls. Coat the balls with semolina and deep fry them (can you shallow fry in quite a lot of oil so the balls do not touch the base of the pan).

7 To assemble the dish, put three or four dumplings on a plate, heat the sauce and pour it over the top.

Kitchen Cabinet is a series of recipes from chefs who are members of Euro-Toques Ireland, who have come together during the coronavirus outbreak to share some of the easy, tasty things that they like to cook and eat at home #ChefsAtHome