Vegetable Stew Kerala Style
Comforting and healthy vegetable stew perfect with appam or any type of bread.
Ingredients
- 3 medium Potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 medium Carrots peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 cup Green peas fresh or frozen
- 1/2 large red onion peeled and sliced
- 1 or 2 green chiles slit in half lengthwise
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 7oz/210ml coconut milk
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 2 inch piece ginger root peeled and julienned
Instructions
- First, julienne the ginger and crush it in a mortar and pestle. In a pot, put the carrots and potatoes. Add 1/2 tsp salt and cover with water to cook the vegetables. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender but not mushy.
- Smash a quarter of the potatoes with a fork. This will thicken the gravy. Add the onions, green chiles and ginger. Tear up a sprig of curry leaves. Add 1 tsp salt and coconut milk. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the onions are soft.
- When the onions are soft, taste and add more salt if you need to. Add the green peas, I let frozen peas thaw while I prepare the other ingredients so they don’t need any time to cook. Tear up some more curry leaves and add a tsp of coconut oil. The smell of this stew is amazing. Leave the stew aside, covered for an hour. It tastes best as it sits.
i have and always will be a huge fan of malabar parotta and veg kurma combination. as a matter of fact, it is one of the delicacies and a popular snack in udupi and mangalore region. the reason i am highlighting this because veg kurma is very similar to veg stew recipe and the main difference i can see is the usage of coconut masala vs coconut milk. in other words, kurma is made with freshly grated green coloured coconut masala with coriander, chilies and dry spices. whereas, in the vegetable stew recipe, coconut extract or milk is added on top of the curry. the milk provides more creaminess to the curry as compared to former and that is main reason i prefer kurma recipe rather than stew recipe. but that is my personal choice and many prefer creamy way especially in kerala.