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    • Vegetable Stew

    by Maria on June 9, 2009

    Vegetable Stew

    After tasting this stew, Simi, my Punjabi friend exclaimed, “this is a revelation to me, a Kerala curry without mustard and  not red in colour. This is like a Thai curry!! ” It seems she had tried Kerala food from some restaurants in Mumbai and it all looked and tasted the same with a fiery red colour and mustards floating around. It has happened to me also at times. I’ve gone through some cookery books which supposedly have authentic Kerala recipes and it is anything but a Kerala recipe. Anyways coming back to the stew, she was very much impressed with it that she got the recipe from me immediately and made it the very next day :)

    This is a very simple dish, but I like it because of its subtle flavor and of course I love the thick & creamy coconut milk :). This goes very well with appam, but I like it best with puttu, if you havent tried that combo yet, I strongly recommend you give it a try.

    Here is the recipe:

    1. Carrot – 1 (cubed)
      Potato – 1 (cubed)
      Green Peas – 1/4 -1/2 cup
    2. Onion – 1, sliced finely
      Green chilly – 4-5
      Ginger & garlic – 1 tbsp each, crushed
    3. Whole black pepper – 1/2 tsp
      Cinnamon – 1 piece
      Cloves – 3
      Cardamom – 3
    4. Thin coconut milk – 1 1/2 cup
      Thick coconut milk – 1/2 – 3/4 cup
    5. Curry leaves
      Salt
      Coconut oil

    Heat oil in a deep bottom pan & splutter the crushed spices. Add the onion, ginger & garlic, curry leaves & green chilly and saute for a few minutes till the onion becomes soft/transparent. Dont make the onions brown. Add the cubed vegetables & combine well. Add thin coconut milk & salt, bring to boil, reduce heat; simmer and cook till vegetables are tender, it will take 10 mins approx. Add thick coconut milk and cook for 5 more minutes & remove from fire. Garnish with curry leaves fried in coconut oil or ghee.

    Serve hot with appam, puttu, roti etc;

    Notes: If you want to make the gravy very thick, add 1 tbsp of cashew paste. To make cashew paste, soak cashews (around6,7) in hot water for 5-10 mins. Grind it into a smooth paste. Mix the cashew paste with thick coconut milk & add to the curry. It increases the taste and also gives a thick gravy.

    Recipe adapted from Kitchens of Kerala by Nimmy Paul

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    About Maria Jose Martin

    MariasMenu is a popular food blog written by Maria Jose with its no nonsense simple, tasty and delicious recipes – all tried and tested by readers, family and friends alike. Read more about Maria and her venture.

    • http://myexperiencewithcooking.blogspot.com Pooja

      Lovely Potato stew Maria! Looks creamy thick n delicious! Love this with appam. Never tried having this with Puttu yet. I’ll take ur word and have with puttu next time :)

    • http://www.varshaspaceblog.blogspot.com varsha

      There wont be a single mallu who dont like this divine combo of appam-stew..ente fav aanu ithu..never tried with puttu tho..:)

    • http://riascollection.blogspot.com/ Ria

      I completely agree with Varsha! I love appam nd stew… chicken stew aanegil pinne parayenda! Appan thinnunathu ariyathilla! :D Your stew looks very warm nd nice :)

    • Asha

      I love this stew.. but if it doesn’t have to be strictly veg, I go for both meat and veggie pieces.

    • http://paritaskitchen.blogspot.com/ parita

      Vegetable stew looks so creamy and rich!!

    • Reena

      HI Maria, your recipe came at the right time. i have been wanting to make one for some time now..Did you use fresh cocunut milk? What abt the coconut milk we get in cans or packet? If i use that , what do you think will be the measurements ? Thanks a lot…

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Reena

        I use maggi coconut milk powder. For 1 cup of thick coconut milk, I add 3 heaped tablespoon of maggi coconut milk powder to 1 cup of water.

        Hope this helps.

        Happy cooking :)

        Maria

    • http://curryworld.wordpress.com veena

      Hi da ..
      love stew ..stew looks rich and delicious ..love the presentation

    • http://mykitchentreasures.blogspot.com/ Happy Cook

      For me with aoppoms pleas. Drool drool

    • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

      Thanks Pooja & Varsha, you guys should try it with puttu, do let me know if you try it ok :)

      Ria & Asha – yes, chicken & beef stew is my fav too, but I dont mind a veg stew once in a while :)

      Thanks Parita & veena :)

      HC – you are always welcome to Bahrain :)

    • sumi

      Thanks a lot for this recipe…I had some vegetarian guests and I made this stew with appam and they really liked it..hoping to see more recipes like this..Keep up the good work Maria.

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Sumi

        Very happy to know that your guests liked the stew :) Thanks a lot for trying out the recipe and letting me know about it :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • LINCY

      Hello Hi ,
      The receipe is an excellent one.But i did like to know ,the above mentioned ingredients is for how many portions.

      Hope to hear from you soon.

      Thaxs & Regards
      Lincy sudheer

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Lincy

        Thanks for dropping in.

        The above quantity will serve 4-5 people. Hope you’ll like it.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Parvathy

      agree with the others!…stew is always a hit…i made it for some of my north indian friends and they loved it… first they were surprised to see a white looking curry with no masalas n no frying n all :)…. and its just so easy to make!

    • Tina

      hi maria..i am going to muscat very soon..so was havg a doubt wat to do instead of curry leaves..curry leaves wnt be available in gulf countries na..since u r in bahrain u can gve me a suggestion…

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Tina,

        Usually all Kerala items are available in Gulf countries. I’m sure its same in Muscat too. Since there are so many Malayalees in Gulf countries, you will get all Kerala veggies and other stuff like aripodi, puttu podi etc;

        You will get fresh curry leaves in Muscat, dont worry about it :)

        Cheers
        Maria

        • Tina

          @Maria, Hi Maria..thank u sooo much for the quick revert..
          Happy Easter !!

    • Ranjani Raja

      Hi. Maria. This is really a superb dish .very very great. good combination for roti. I tried it once and my family luv very much. But i have one doubt that is it gud for the diabetes people? any suggestions?

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Ranjani,

        Thanks a lot Ranjani :)

        Regarding whether it’s good for diabetes, I dont think it’s harmful. I have seen people with diabetes also having it. However I’m not very sure about it.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Deepti Satish

      Hey Maria, tried the recipe and came out super. I make stew the same way just that I add garam masala to the end and also include french beans in the recipe. I can truely see what difference fresh ground spices can make to the dish. Love trying your recipes. My hubby a big fan of coconut milk based dishes. I am getting to like them too.

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Deepti,

        Really happy to know that stew came out well for you. Yep, the freshy ground spices do impart a special flavor to the stew :)

        I’ve many coconut milk based recipes here, hope you will find those interesting.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Sujitha

      Maria,

      I tried this one yesterday…everyone at home loved it…thank u….

      regs
      sujitha

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Sujitha,

        Vacation kazhinju vannittu full swing cooking aanennu thonnunnu :)

        Thanks a ton dear for your feedback & support.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Sherin

      I stay in US and it is difficult for me to get fresh coconut. If i am using the tinned coconut milk how does it work Maria.

      Could you let me know the proportion.

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Sherin,

        I normally use coconut milk powder to make coconut milk, so I’m not very sure about the canned milk one.

        However I checked with my cousin who lives in US and she gave me this proportion.

        For 1 cup thin coconut milk – 3/4 cup water + 1/4 cup canned coconut milk.

        For 1 cup medium thick – 1/2 cup water+ 1/2 cup canned coconut milk

        For thick coconut milk – 1/4 cup water + 3/4 cup canned coconut milk.

        You can adjust the proportions to suit your taste. Hope this helps…

        Cheers
        Maria

        • Sherin

          Hi Maria,

          Thanks a lot for the proportion.

    • Rhea R Pai

      Hi Maria, I tried your kerala style veg stew & it was rocking just too tasty. Amazing recipe. I had searched earlier for this recipe as it was so much on my mind, but you have the authentic one . Thanks a ton, you rock!!

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Rhea,

        Thanks a lot for your sweet comment :) Great to hear that you liked the veg stew.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Sminu

      Hii.. this is awesome :) can u pls let me know hw to make this chicken stew also, which is white in color and taste jus like this?

      Thanks :)

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Sminu,

        Thanks. So did you try the chicken stew? Please share your feedback, if you happen to try it.

        Cheers
        maria

    • Sminu

      hey pls ignore my question.. i just saw the chicken stew recipe also here. thanks

    • Sminu

      hmm not yet… but I tried to put fish instead of chieckn .. it tasted great :) thanks for the recipe..:)

    • suma

      Dear Maria,

      Thnks for the rich looking recipe. I am going to try it in a short while and serve it with appams. am sure it will taste as rich as it looks.

      sumagirish

    • suma

      Dear Maria,

      My prayers with you. I have been trying a few of ur receipes and every thing came out very well. I simply love you recipes maria. Today I am going to try ur vege stew. will come back to you on it..

      sumagirish

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Suma

        Thank you so much dear for your prayers. Its nice to hear that you try recipes from here. Hope you liked the stew also.

        Wish you a wonderful year ahead!

        Cheers
        Maria

    • http://www.gmail.com naziya

      hi maria…….i tried your chicken stew recipe…….it tasted good but the thing is that the coconut milk got churned while cooking and also the color was something like yellowish and not white………please let me know why does it happen and what can be done to avoid the churning………
      thank you…………..
      have a great day…………

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Dear Naziya

        Thanks for trying the chicken stew. I’m not sure why it curdled. Did you use coconut milk powder or fresh coconut milk?

        Btw, it can also happen that, the fat from the chicken starts oozing out while cooking and when its mixed with the gravy, it gives a curdled look. I dont know whether it was the case with you. It happened to me a number of times and I realised lately that it’s the fat from the chicken gives that look. Also if you cook fresh coconut milk on high flame, it tends to curdle.

        Hope this helps..

        Btw, I’m sorry for the delayed reply.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Purnima Dinesh

      Lovely Dish, Maria! Swapna@Swapna:disqus ‘s Cuisine recommended your site to me, tks for sharing ur culinary art here! Wd b trying ur style of Veg.Stew now..keep posting such lovely dishes!

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Purnima,

        Welcome to MariasMenu! Thank you for your encouraging words. Did you get a chance to try the veg stew?

        A special thanks to Swapna also for recommending this space to you :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Dianeka Mathai

      Hi Maria,
      Thanks a lot for the vegetable stew recipe.. I have never made stew before but tried out your recipe and it was a big hit..My husband loved it… :)

      It was really easy.. I love your blog and the presentation of the dishes.. you’re doing a fantastic job !! I will surely try out the other recipes here and let you know how it goes.. You have a new fan on the already long fan following list :)

      Keep up the great job work.. Maria.. 

      Best wishes,
      Diana

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Dianeka,

        Thanks a bunch for the lovely comment :) Its really nice to know that you like this space. Hope you will like other recipes too…

        Hope to see you here often & happy cooking!

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Aparna Marur

      hai maria,
      just now wrote down your receipe for veg stew. will be trying it tmrw. will let u know of my family’s comments… keep up the good work…

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Aparna,

        Thank you! Did you try the stew? Hope it came out well :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Shabintalk

      yesterday i tried it… it was really good
      S.N

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi S.N

        Great to know that this recipe worked for you. Thanks for trying it & also for the comment :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Lee

      I tried this and as it happened with Naziya earlier, the coconut milk got curdled by the time I checked if the veggies had cooked. Unlike Naziya, I made the vegetable stew only and I used milk extracted from fresh coconut gratings. I had guests coming over in half an hour and I literally felt like crying. Then the mallu woman in me woke up and I took out only the veggies (cooked by then), and started all over again, this time with fresh coconut milk. I did not let go beyond boiling point and finished the dish according to your recipe.

      I asked my guests how the vegetable stew was, and they said they had not tasted one as good as that even in restaurants!! We all had a good laugh when I told them of the adventures I had with it :) LOL

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Lee,

        I’m glad that the stew finally turned out well for you :) Yeah, when you cook with freshly squeezed coconut milk, you have to be very careful. It tends to curdle if its overheated.

        Thanks a lot for trying the recipe & also for sharing your experience here :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Viola

      You have excellent recipes, Maria.  My sister-in-law suggested that I can use cornflour to thicken stew (instead of cashew paste).  I haven’t tried it yet, but she is a great cook, so I am thinking it will turn out well :o)  God bless you!

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Viola,

        Thank you! Yep, cornflour is also a thickening agent. Hope your stew came out well.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Msunil

      Hi Maria,
      Quite accidently I came across ur recepies here and simply tried one,it came out superb. My husband really loved it . Just want to know did u write any cookery book which I can buy.

      Thanks for yr valuable recepies

      Susan, Dubai

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Susan,

        Thanks a bunch for dropping in here & also for trying the recipe. I’m happy to know that you liked the stew :)

        I havent published a cookbook yet, but I’m working on one presently. I’ll be updating its status on the blog.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • M3

      How many people will this recipe serve?

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi M3,

        It should serve around 4-5 people.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Swapna

      Hi Maria,

      Great recipe! Can you tell me how many people does this much quantity serve? It would be great if you could mention how many people it serves for most of your recipes. Thanks.

      Swapna

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Swapna,

        This recipe serves around 4-5 people. Thanks for your suggestion, I’ll try to add it :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Meg Karthik

      Hi, I’m going to be making this with fresh coconut milk in about one hour. I’d like to know proportions for thin coconut milk and thick coconut milk? You just mix water to the thick coconut milk? If so, how much ?

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        I’m guessing my reply didnt reach you on time, sorry… I usually use powdered coconut milk & hence not sure about fresh ones. However you can add more water to the thick milk to get the thin one. I’m not very sure abt the qty though…

        Cheers
        Maria

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_N7SXQRBEXKZI4FFNTZMCYSHTCU joby

      Oh! Maria, Oh! Maria, It’s yummy and easy to cook!!!! Thanks!

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Thanks Joby!

    • Lekshmi

      Hi chechi….i jus loved ur recipe very much…ts tooooo good

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Thanks Lekshmi :) Glad that you liked it.

        Cheers
        Maria

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