Veg Kolhapuri is a delicious spicy mixed vegetable curry which has its origin in Kolhapur, a historical city in south-west Maharashtra. Kolhapuri food takes pride in being a robust cuisine and is particularly known for its hot and pungent flavors.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 45 minutes
  • Cook time: 35 minutes
  • Total time: 80 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Maharashtrian

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds ((safed til))
  • ½ teaspoon poppy seeds ((khus khus))
  • 2 tablespoon desiccated coconut
  • 4 to 5 black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 2 single strands of mace ((javitri))
  • 4 to 5 fenugreek seeds ((methi dana))
  • 1 pinch grated nutmeg ((jaiphal))
  • 1 small stone flower ((patthar phool or dagad phool) - optional)
  • 1 cobra saffron ((nagkesar) - optional)
  • 1 green cardamom
  • 1 black cardamom (- seeds kept and husks discarded)
  • 3 dried red chilies (byadgi/bedgi or Kashmiri red chilies, seeds removed)
  • 1 tej patta
  • ½ cup potato (- chopped in sticks or batons or 1 medium size potato)
  • ¼ cup French beans (- chopped in batons, or 8 to 10 French beans)
  • ⅓ cup cauliflower (- chopped, optional)
  • ⅓ cup carrot (- chopped in sticks or batons, about 2 small carrots or 1 medium carrot)
  • ⅓ cup green peas (- fresh or frozen)
  • 2 cups water (- for steaming vegetables in a stovetop pressure cooker or a pan/pot.)
  • 2 to 2.5 tablespoons oil (- peanut or sunflower oil)
  • ½ cup onion (finely chopped or 1 medium-sized)
  • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or 5 to 6 small to medium garlic cloves + 1 inch ginger crushed to paste in a mortar)
  • 1 tablespoon coriander leaves ((cilantro), chopped)
  • ⅓ to ½ cup tomato (- finely chopped or 1 medium-sized)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • ⅓ cup bell pepper (- sliced, about 1 medium green or red or yellow bell pepper, optional)
  • 1 to 1.25 cups water (or add as required)
  • salt (as required)
  • 1 to 2 tablespoon coriander leaves (- for garnish)

Method

Preparation

  1. First, rinse, peel and cut the vegetables into thick strips or batons. Place them in a steamer pan.
  2. Then steam the vegetables in an electric cooker, steamer or stovetop pressure cooker, adding water as needed for steaming.
  3. For steaming veggies in a stovetop pressure cooker, use a 3 litre cooker. Place a trivet in the cooker.
  4. Add 2 cups of water. Place a pan containing the chopped veggies on the trivet in the cooker.
  5. Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles until the vegetables are steamed well and fork tender. Let the pressure drop naturally and then only open the lid. Drain any water from the pan and set the steamed veggies aside.
  6. The vegetables have to be completely cooked and yet retain their shape.
  7. While the vegetables are steaming, gather all the ingredients required for making Kolhapuri masala.

Making kolhapuri masala

  1. Heat a pan on low heat and dry roast the spices on low heat - cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, stone flower, mace strands, pinch of nutmeg powder, bay leaf, cobra saffron, red chilies, green cardamoms and black cardamom seeds.
  2. Skip stone flower, cobra saffron and poppy seeds, if you don't have these.
  3. Once the spices become fragrant and lightly roasted, add poppy seeds, sesame seeds and desiccated coconut.
  4. Stir continuously and dry roast till the desiccated coconut turns golden. Take care not to burn any of the ingredients.
  5. Turn off the heat and set aside the pan.
  6. Stir the spice mixture a few times, after you set aside the pan, so that the residue heat does not brown the coconut too much. Or you can transfer the roasted spice mix onto a plate.
  7. Once the spice mixture cools, take them in a dry grinder or coffee grinder.
  8. Grind to a fine powder. A slight semi fine powder is also fine. The sesame seeds and coconut will release oil while grinding.
  9. Make sure to keep scraping the sides of the grinder jar and grind further. If you are finding it difficult to grind, add some water to make a fine paste.

Making veg kolhapuri

  1. Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions.
  2. Sauté the onions stirring often until they turn light golden or golden.
  3. Add ginger-garlic paste.
  4. Stir and then add chopped coriander leaves. Stir and sauté for some seconds, till the raw aroma of the ginger-garlic goes away.
  5. Next, add chopped tomatoes.
  6. Sauté till the tomatoes soften and you see oil leaving the sides of the pan.
  7. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and asafoetida.
  8. Stir and then add chopped bell pepper/capsicum. You can also skip capsicum if you prefer.
  9. Stir and sauté till the bell pepper is half cooked and yet have a slight crunch. About 5 to 6 minutes on a low heat.
  10. Add the ground Kolhapuri masala.
  11. Stir and sauté for a few seconds.
  12. Then add water. Season with salt as per taste.
  13. Bring the curry to a simmer.
  14. When you see some oil floating on top of the curry or gravy, add the steamed vegetables.
  15. Stir and simmer the gravy for about 2 minutes.
  16. Lastly, add chopped coriander leaves and give a final stir. You can also garnish with the coriander leaves.
  17. Serve Veg Kolhapuri hot with soft chapati, phulka or paratha. You can also serve this spicy vegetable curry with bread and steamed rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.