Vegetable Stew is a Kerala Style veg curry where veggies are cooked in coconut milk and very mild spices. It goes great with appam and rice. Here is how to make it.
How can you define the most comforting day of your life?
Well, if you ask me I would say chilling in my cosy bed, watching one of my favourite movies and a delicious bowl of satisfying food.
When it comes to satisfying, I don’t mean fancy, just something that is made at home, healthy and is bursting with flavours.
One such meal is this Vegetable Stew with some Appams on the side.
Just perfect! The best part, it is loaded with vegetables, making it extremely nutritious too.
This meal is vegan and gluten free, so if anyone looking for an easy option like this, here is your dish.
Vegetable Stew, a South Indian Kerala recipe that is made in almost all the households.
It has a lots of vegetables and the base is made of coconut milk which is spiced with subtle spices.
It tastes the best with Appam or even with Steamed Rice.
It is also a great way to use up your leftover vegetables in the fridge.
I often make this stew when I have a few of everything in my fridge.
Here are some more South Indian Veg Curries that you can make for your everyday meals – Moru Curry, Veg Kootu Curry, Mambazha Pulissery, Veg Kurma and Ulli Theeyal.
What is Vegetable Stew?
It is a popular vegetarian curry from Kerala where vegetables are cooked in a coconut milk curry.
It has whole spices such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns and bay leaf, which adds a subtle spice to the curry.
This curry is loaded with vegetables and gets its spiciness from the use of green chillies.
Both, thin and thick coconut milk are used in the curry to get the right consistency of the gravy.
It is a vegan dish, that is apt for your everyday meals, as it is very easy to make.
For authentic taste, make sure to make this stew in coconut oil.
Ingredients
Serving Suggestions
Traditionally, Vegetable Stew is served with Appams for breakfast or even for meals.
You can also serve it along with Steamed Rice, Ghee Rice or even Idiyappam.
Which vegetables can be added into the Stew?
I have added Potato, Carrot, Beans, Peas and Cauliflower, but you can go ahead and add vegetables of your choice.
Some more options are Mushrooms, Broccoli, Potato, Drumstick etc.
Veg Kurma Vs Veg Stew
Both these dishes belongs to the South Indian cuisine and has coconut in it, but the preparation is very different from each other.
While the base of Vegetable Kurma is just made with coconut milk and is flavoured with whole spices, the base of Veg Kurma is made with fresh coconut, poppy seeds, fresh coriander, tomatoes and also uses everyday spices powders.
Because of the use of only coconut milk, Vegetable Stew is white in colour, while Vegetable Kurma has a yellow orangish hint to it.
How to prepare fresh coconut milk at home?
Add the fresh grated coconut and hot water in a blender and let it sit for about 2 minutes so that the coconut will soften a bit.
Now, grind both the ingredients till you get creamy milk consistency.
Strain the milk and you will get thick coconut milk.
Now add the remaining pulp back into the mixer and add in more water.
Grind it once again and strain it.
Repeat this twice and you will get thin coconut milk.
You can store this in a glass bottle or container for about 3 days in the refrigerator.
Step By Step Recipe
Heat coconut oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorn and bay leaf. Fry for a few seconds.
Add onion, ginger and garlic and fry until they turn translucent.
Add green chilli and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
Now add the veggies, thin coconut milk and salt. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Add cashew nut paste and thick coconut milk and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Switch off the stove.
For tempering, heat coconut oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add onion and curry leaves and fry until golden brown.
Pour the tempering over the stew. Serve hot with Appam.
Vegetable Stew Recipe
Vegetable Stew is a Kerala Style veg curry where veggies are cooked in coconut milk and very mild spices. It goes great with appam and rice. Here is how to make it.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 2 Green Cardamom
- 2-3 Clove
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 3-4 Black Peppercorn
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2 cups Onion thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Ginger finely chopped
- 1 tsp Garlic finely chopped
- 2 Green Chilli Slit into half
- 10-12 Curry Leaves
- 1 cup Thin Coconut Milk
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 cup Potato peeled and cubed
- 1/4 cup Carrot peeled and cubed
- 1/4 cup Beans chopped
- 1/4 cup Peas
- 1 cup Cauliflower cut into florets
- 2 tbsp Cashew Nut Paste
- 1 cup Thick Coconut Milk
For tempering:
- 1 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 4-5 Pearl Onions sliced
- 10-12 Curry Leaves
Instructions
Heat coconut oil in a pan.
Once the oil is hot, add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorn and bay leaf.
Fry for a few seconds.
Add onion, ginger and garlic and fry until they turn translucent.
Add green chilli and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
Now add the veggies, thin coconut milk and salt.
Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Add cashew nut paste and thick coconut milk and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
For tempering, heat coconut oil in a pan.
Once the oil is hot, add onion and curry leaves and fry until golden brown.
Pour the tempering over the stew.
Serve hot with Appam.
Recipe Notes
Recipe Notes:
Make this curry in coconut oil for authentic taste.
Making coconut milk fresh at home gives the best taste. But if not possible, you can use canned coconut milk well.
Thin it down with water to make thin coconut milk.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!