This delicious and vegan Kerala Style Vegetable Stew made with assorted vegetables is the best side dish for string hoppers (idiyappam) or Idli / dosai. Love the flavor coconut milk and coconut oil in the recipe. This is a 'No onion and No garlic' recipe which is perfect to make on the festival days.
There have been days when I thought that making vegetable stew is very hard and time consuming, but once I learned how to make it, I realized that it is so simple to make. Making the vegetable stew takes no time at all and with the availability of canned coconut milk, it just makes it even easier.
The first time I made vegetable stew was some two years ago and my dear friend Sujai had passed on his aunt’s recipe for the stew. Ever since then, that is the only recipe I follow as it turns out perfect all the time.
No Onions and No Garlic
We had invited few families over for dinner during Navarathri and I had wanted to make Idiyappam and vegetable stew for dinner. I wanted to try to make it without onion as I try not to use onions during Navarathri. I almost followed the same recipe and skipped the onions.
To compensate the flavor of onions, I had added a couple of extra spices like cloves and pepper and it turned out just perfect.
The flavor of ginger is something that is very important in the recipe and hence I would recommend not skipping it. I had wanted to blog it right then, but something else came up and the recipe went into the draft folder.
My little one has been asking me for more than a month to make the idiyappam and this vegan vegetable stew and I am planning on making it tomorrow. That is when I realized it is a good opportunity to post the recipe today.
I had recently bought some red rice idiyappam flour from the Indian stores and simply loved the flavor of it. I usually make the Ragi idiyappam or the white idiyappam, but for the past couple of times, I have been using this red rice flour to make the idiyappam.
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cooking time – 30 minutes
Difficulty level – easy
Ingredients to make Kerala Style Vegetable Stew - (serves 6)
- Potato – 2 (peeled and cubed)
- Carrot – 1 (peeled and cubed)
- Beans – 10 (cut into 1 inch pieces)
- Green peas – ¼ cup
- Green chilies – 3
- Coconut milk – 1 can or 1 ½ cup thin milk and 1 cup thick milk
- Ginger – 1 inch (grated)
- Bay leaf – 1
- Cinnamon – ½ inch piece
- Cloves – 6
- Black pepper – 10
- Curry leaves – few
- Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
- Salt – to taste
Step by Step Procedure
- If using fresh coconut to extract milk, make the milk (thin and thick) and keep it ready. I used canned coconut milk and I usually remove ½ the can and dilute it one cup of water to make the thin milk. The remaining ½ the can, I add a little water and keep it aside as the thick milk.
- In a pan, heat the oil and add the dry spices (bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and pepper). Fry it until the spices are aromatic and then add the green chilies, ginger and curry leaves. Fry it for 30 seconds.
- Add all the vegetables and let it cook in low flame until half cooked. Covering the pan helps in cooking the vegetables quicker.
- Now add the thin coconut milk and let it come to a boil. Simmer the flame and allow the vegetables to cook completely.
- Add the salt needed and the thick coconut milk and reduce the flame. Let the stew simmer until it all comes together. Do not boil the stew after the thick coconut milk is added as it could curdle and separate.
- Serve the Kerala Style Vegetable Stew hot with idiyappam or Appam.
Other Vegan Ideas
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Recipe
Kerala Style Vegetable Stew
Ingredients
- 2 Potato peeled and cubed
- 1 Carrot peeled and cubed
- 10 Beans cut into 1 inch pieces
- ¼ cup Green peas
- 3 Green chilies
- 1 can Coconut milk 1 ½ cup thin milk and 1 cup thick milk
- 1 inch piece Ginger grated
- 1 Bay leaf
- ½ inch Cinnamon
- 6 Cloves
- 10 Black pepper
- few Curry leaves
- 2 tablespoon Coconut oil
- to taste Salt
Instructions
- If using fresh coconut to extract milk, make the milk (thin and thick) and keep it ready. I used canned coconut milk and I usually remove ½ the can and dilute it one cup of water to make the thin milk. The remaining ½ the can, I add a little water and keep it aside as the thick milk.
- In a pan, heat the oil and add the dry spices (bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and pepper). Fry it until the spices are aromatic and then add the green chilies, ginger and curry leaves. Fry it for 30 seconds.
- Add all the vegetables and let it cook in low flame until half cooked. Covering the pan helps in cooking the vegetables quicker.
- Now add the thin coconut milk and let it come to a boil. Simmer the flame and allow the vegetables to cook completely.
- Add the salt needed and the thick coconut milk and reduce the flame. Let the stew simmer until it all comes together. Do not boil the stew after the thick coconut milk is added as it could curdle and separate.
- Serve the Kerala Style Vegetable Stew hot with idiyappam or Appam.
Jayashree says
Lovely recipe!! We enjoy this frequently, add cauliflower, cabbage, capsicum and other available vegetables.
Thanks for the post!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks! I agree it is so convenient to make with any vegetable available.
Pavani says
Creamy, colorful and delicious mixed vegetable curry. Looks perfect with ragi noodles.
Sara says
This looks perfect for a weekend like this one. It is cold and snowy and a veggie stew would be the yummiest way to warm up that I can think of!
Mahy says
This sounds so intriguing! It looks and sounds like PURE comfort--thanks for sharing!
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs says
The flavor combos in this recipe are awesome. I'll admit I didnt think vegetable stew could be that interesting. Good job!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
What a beautiful stew -- I love the colors, it's so inviting!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
I love vegetable stews and soups and this sounds great with the coconut milk.