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.
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.
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About This Recipe
When it comes to comforting, satisfying, and simple meals, South Indian is one of the cuisines that instantly comes to my mind. And my absolute favorite in it is this Vegetable Stew.
Vegetable Stew is a popular vegetarian curry from Kerala where vegetables are cooked in a coconut milk curry. Not only in Kerala, but it is also made in most of the South Indian households for their everyday meals.
This curry is loaded with vegetables and gets its spiciness from the use of green chillies.
This meal is vegan and gluten-free, so if anyone looking for an easy option like this here is your dish.
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.
This Vegetable Stew is,
- Hearty and Rich
- Tasty
- Filling
- Loaded with vegetables
- Easy to make
- Perfect to serve with Appam and Rice
- Apt for your everyday meals
Ingredients
Coconut Oil – For authentic taste, make sure to make this stew in coconut oil.
Vegetables – This dish is a great way to use up your leftover vegetables. Here, I have used Potato, Carrot, Beans, Peas, and Cauliflower. You can add more vegetables, as per your taste and preference.
Spices – It has whole spices such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and bay leaf, which adds a subtle spice to the curry.
Coconut Milk – Both, thin and thick coconut milk are used in the curry to get the right consistency of the gravy.
Cashew Nut Paste – This gives richness and creaminess to this Coconut milk curry. It is optional, but I must recommend this ingredient.
For Tadka – Lastly, we will temper the stew with a simple tadka of onions and curry leaves in coconut oil.
Other Ingredients – You will also need Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Green Chillies, Curry Leaves, and Salt.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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, Yam, Snow Peas, Drumstick, etc.
Both these dishes belong to the South Indian cuisine and have 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 flavored 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 color, while Vegetable Kurma has a yellow orangish hint to it.
Add the freshly 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 until 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.
Instant Pot Recipe
Turn on the saute button of your IP. Add coconut oil in the Pot. 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 chili and curry leaves and fry for a minute. Now add the veggies, thin coconut milk, and salt.
Close the Instant pot with locking lid. Turn off IP. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for about 3 minutes with a pressure valve in the sealing position.
Once the Instant Pot beeps, turn it off and quick release the pressure. Open the Instant Pot and give it a mix.
Now, add prepared cashew paste and thick coconut milk. Mix everything well and turn on the saute button and cook it for 1 to 2 more minutes. Switch off the IP.
Add the tadka on top and serve hot.
Storage Suggestions
This South Indian Vegetable Stew can be stored in an airtight container for about 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
I would not recommend you to freeze it, because coconut milk will be grainy once you thaw it and won’t taste that good.
Serving Suggestions
Traditionally, Vegetable Stew is served with Appams for breakfast or even for meals.
You can also serve it along with Steamed Rice, Kerala Parotta, Ghee Rice, or even Idiyappam.
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Recipe Card
Vegetable Stew Recipe
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.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!