• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cooking Curries

  • Home
  • About
    • Work with me
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact
  • 50+ No Onion No Garlic Indian Recipes
  • makhana kheer in two brass bowls
    Makhana Kheer (Phool Makhane ki Kheer)
  • A stack of pancakes with sliced apples and syrup on top
    Spiced Apple Cider Pancakes with Cider Maple Syrup
  • a bite of pancake on a fork on a white plate with a pancake stack on it
    Easy Basic Pancakes Recipe from Scratch
  • a collage of four images with text in the center of the collage
    30+ Favorite Fall Dinner Recipe Ideas for Cozy Weeknights
  • a bowl of avial over a kitchen towel
    Kovakka Potato Avial with Tamarind
  • Greek Yogurt and Blueberry topped toasts on a white platter
    Blueberry Greek Yogurt Toast
  • Eggs boiled and peeled in a black plate
    Perfect Instant Pot Hard-Boiled Eggs (5-5-5 Method)
  • caprese salad in a white platter
    Easy Caprese Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes
  • A set of four veggie uthappams in a plate with a bowl of chutney next to it
    Mixed Vegetable Uthappam | South Indian Veg Pancakes
  • a pan with brass handle with vathal kuzhambu curry in it and a bowl of rice next to it
    Sundakkai Vathal Kuzhambu | Turkey Berry Tamarind Curry
  • Egg Bhurji (Anda Bhurji) | Indian Spiced Scrambled Eggs
Home » Recipes » Course » Entrees » Curries

Kerala Style Vegetable Stew with Coconut Milk

Published: May 14, 2023 · Modified: May 14, 2023 by Manju · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Kerala style vegetable stew is a lightly spiced and fragrant curry made with lots of vegetables and coconut milk. This vegan curry is comforting and wholesome and pairs well with appam, idlis or even soft white bread.

Stew with potato, carrot and green beans in coconut milk in a black kadai bowl and a bowl of idlis

Kerala veg stew is a staple breakfast item in Malayali (people of the Southern Indian state Kerala) homes. This simple stew and pillowy soft appam is truly the best food combo there ever is, not just in Kerala cuisine but ever.

This simple vegetable stew is such an easy recipe that is wholesome and is loaded with vegetables. Potato, carrot, green beans and green peas are the most commonly added vegetables to this vegetable stew. You may also add cauliflower or sweet potato to this. 

Coconut milk forms the base for this Kerala style vegetable stew and it is lightly spiced with some ginger and Thai green chillies. You may add some whole spices like green cardamom, whole cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and black peppercorns to this, but I love to make it with just ginger and green chillies in my everyday recipe.

Stew with potato, carrot and green beans in coconut milk in a black kadai bowl

This same humble kerala style stew with coconut milk is also made with chicken, mutton or beef. This Kerala Chicken Stew recipe is something you should try if you love this one.

This Kerala Vegetable Stew is

  • A vegan curry
  • Extremely nourishing and comforting
  • Subtly spiced and fragrant with coconut milk and coconut oil
  • Loaded with tons of vegetables making it wholesome
  • A great vegetable curry for a cozy breakfast, lunch or dinner
  • a great way to use up any leftover veggies in the refrigerator

Ingredients for Kerala Vegetable Stew Recipe

Ingredients for the stew laid out - can of coconut milk, potatoes, green beans, carrots, green chillies, curry leaves, red onion

Vegetables - potatoes, carrots, green French beans and green peas are commonly used vegetables in this stew. Of course, you can add any other vegetable you may have in your refrigerator. Zucchini, sweet potato and cauliflower will be great in this curry.

Coconut Oil - the oil of choice for this recipe is coconut oil. The fragrance of the coconut oil is a unique flavor that this Kerala style stew has, so I highly recommend using only coconut oil.

Onion - red onions are used as part of the aromatics in this recipe. Onion slices are softened, not browned for this stew.

Ginger and Thai Green Chilies - fresh ginger provides a subtle heat and lemony aroma to the stew. Green chillies when boiled with the coconut milk, softens and lends a distinct taste as well as heat to this recipe.

Curry leaves - curry leaves and coconut oil together gives a very distinct aroma and flavor to the stew. 

Coconut milk - Canned coconut milk is used in this recipe. Traditionally, coconut milk is freshly made at home and the homemade coconut milk is used but the convenience of canned coconut milk is unbeatable. I would get regular coconut milk and not the light kind.

Step by Step Recipe for Kerala Vegetable Stew

Heat coconut oil in a heavy bottomed pot or a Dutch oven. Add the curry leaves, slit green chillies and minced ginger. Sauté for just a minute or so and add in the chopped onions.

Sauté till the onions start to soften. Do not brown them.

While the onion is sautéing, I like to microwave the chopped potatoes with enough water to cover them, for 2 mins or so, just to soften them a little.

curry leaves and green chillies in Dutch oven
red onion, curry leaves and green chillies in Dutch oven
carrots and green beans in a Dutch oven
vegetables in a Dutch oven

Add the sliced carrots, green beans and the softened potatoes with the water.  Add salt and mix well. The carrots and the green beans will cook quicker than the potatoes, so this will work perfectly. 

Close the pot and let it cook over medium heat for 5 mins or so, till all the vegetables are just cooked. 

salt being added to the vegetables in a Dutch oven
Dutch oven being closed
veggies cooking in a Dutch oven

Add salt and the coconut milk, reduce heat to medium low. Let it all simmer in the coconut milk on low heat for about 5 mins, so all the flavors get in the veggies.

Turn off the heat and add a tablespoon coconut oil on top of the curry and cover right away to trap in the flavors.

coconut milk being poured into the stew in a Dutch oven
Coconut milk in stew in a Dutch oven
Stew boiling in a Dutch oven

Serve hot with soft and fluffy appams, idlis, dosa, or even sliced white bread.

Pro Tips for making an excellent vegetable stew

  • Use fresh ingredients - this stew has very few ingredients, so each of these ingredients shine in bringing out their flavor. Use fresh vegetables, except for green peas, where frozen green peas are fine. Use fresh curry leaves and ginger - avoid dried curry leaves or dried ginger.
  • Use fresh Thai green chillies. It can be swapped out with serrano peppers but I will not use anything else to substitute it with. The flavor, not just the heat, from the green chillies is everything in this stew.
  • If the stew looks a little watery, then mash a few of the potatoes to bring the starch into the stew and make it thicker and more cohesive.
  • This is one of the few curries that does not have a tadka. There is no tempering of mustard seeds or cumin seeds in hot oil. It is one of the unique features of this curry.
  • Use regular coconut milk from a can, do not go for the lite version. The full fat creamy coconut milk gives the body to this stew. If you don't get canned coconut milk, then you can use coconut milk powder that can be mixed with a little water in place of the coconut milk.
Stew with potato, carrot and green beans in coconut milk in a black kadai bowl

Recipe variations

  • You can always add boiled eggs, chicken, mutton (lamb) or beef instead of or along with the vegetables in this stew.
  • Even though potatoes, carrots, green peas and green beans are the common combination of vegetables used in this recipe, you can also always add any other vegetables of your choice like sweet potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower or even broccoli

Serving suggestions

This Kerala stew can be served alongside appams ( a spongy leavened bread), idiyappam or string hoppers (steamed rice flour noodles), idlis, dosa or slices of white bread.

If you love curries with coconut milk, here are some of our favorites

  • Vendakka Mappas - Okra Curry with Coconut Milk
  • Kerala Chicken Stew with Coconut Milk
  • Kerala Style Potato Curry with Coconut Milk
  • Olan - Winter Melon and Black Eyed Peas in Coconut Milk
  • Kerala Style Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
  • Fish Molee - Kerala Fish Curry with Coconut Milk
  • Thai Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry

📖 Recipe

Stew with potato, carrot and green beans in coconut milk in a black kadai bowl

Kerala Vegetable Stew with Coconut Milk

Manju
Kerala style vegetable stew is a lightly spiced and fragrant curry made with lots of vegetables and coconut milk. This vegan curry is comforting and wholesome and pairs well with appam, idlis or even soft white bread.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 20 minutes mins
Course Main
Cuisine Indian - Kerala
Servings 6 cups
Calories 196 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 7-8 curry leaves roughly one sprig of curry leaves
  • 1 inch ginger minced
  • 3-4 Thai green chillies slit a little lengthwise, use less if you dont need that much heat
  • 1 red onion chopped
  • 3 medium potatoes cubed
  • 3 medium carrots sliced
  • 15-16 green beans sliced into 1 inch length
  • 1 can coconut milk full fat, 13.5 fl oz
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt adjust according to personal preference

Don't forget to check out Step-by-step instructions with photos in the body of the post above

Instructions
 

  • Heat coconut oil in a heavy bottomed pot or a Dutch oven.
  • Add the curry leaves, slit green chillies and minced ginger. Sauté for just a minute or so and add in the chopped onions.
  • Sauté till the onions start to soften. Do not brown them.
  • While the onion is sautéing, I like to microwave the chopped potatoes with enough water to cover them (about 2 cups), for 2 mins or so, just to soften them a little.
  • Add the sliced carrots, green beans and the softened potatoes with the water.
  • Add salt and mix well. The carrots and the green beans will cook quicker than the potatoes, so this will work perfectly. 
  • Close the pot and let it cook over medium heat for 5 mins or so, till all the vegetables are just cooked.
  • Add the coconut milk, reduce heat to medium low. Let it all simmer in the coconut milk on low heat for about 5 mins, so all the flavors get in the veggies.
  • Turn off the heat and add a tablespoon coconut oil on top of the curry and cover right away to trap in the flavors. (this is optional, but adds a ton of flavor to the curry)
  • Serve hot with soft and fluffy appams, idlis, dosa, or even sliced white bread.

Notes

  • Use fresh ingredients - this stew has very few ingredients, so each of these ingredients shine in bringing out their flavor. Use fresh vegetables, except for green peas, where frozen green peas are fine. Use fresh curry leaves and ginger - avoid dried curry leaves or dried ginger.
  • Use fresh Thai green chillies. It can be swapped out with serrano peppers but I will not use anything else to substitute it with. The flavor, not just the heat, from the green chillies is everything in this stew.
  • If the stew looks a little watery, then mash a few of the potatoes to bring the starch into the stew and make it thicker and more cohesive.
  • This is one of the few curries that does not have a tadka. There is no tempering of mustard seeds or cumin seeds in hot oil. It is one of the unique features of this curry.
  • Use regular coconut milk from a can, do not go for the lite version. The full fat creamy coconut milk gives the body to this stew. If you don't get canned coconut milk, then you can use coconut milk powder that can be mixed with a little water in place of the coconut milk.
Keyword kerala vegetable stew

More Curries

  • Dhaba Style Paneer Masala
  • a bowl of rice, dal kootu curry
    White Pumpkin Kootu with Green Peas
  • potato curry in a bowl and three pooris in a plate with a cup of chai next to it
    Poori Masala | Potato Masala for Poori
  • Thai sweet potato curry and white rice in a bowl with a gold fork
    Thai Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry

Reader Interactions

Comments

No Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

manju in a purple sweater

Hi, I'm Manju!

Pull up a chair and grab a cup of chai while I take you along on a fabulous journey in my kitchen. Whether you love to cook with spices or you are intimidated by them, I can help you discover the power of spices in your food.

While we cook, eat and drink wine, I will also show you a glimpse of my life as a mother of two, a wife and someone who loves to dress up, eat and travel the world.

More about me →

Recent Posts

  • several bowls of various spices kept in a circle
    7 Essential Spices for Everyday Indian Cooking
  • collage of four images of breakfast dishes with text overlay
    Breakfast Recipes for Busy Mornings
  • Kerala Bakery Style Egg Puffs
  • Pumpkin Pecan Pie Bars

Trending Recipes

  • Avial ~ Kerala Mixed Vegetable Curry with Coconut and Yogurt. Vegetarian. Kerala Sadya Recipe for Vishu / Onam Sadyas (Feast) www.cookingcurries.com
    Avial - Kerala Mixed Vegetable Curry with Coconut and Yogurt
  • Top wide shot of a platter with a bowl of potato curry and three pooris and another bowl of potato curry and a bowl of pickle to the side of the platter
    Aloo Rasedar (No Onion No Garlic Potato Curry)
  • Instant pot Indian Lamb Curry - Whole30 Paleo
    Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry - Whole30 | Paleo
  • Butter Chicken - Murgh Makhani
    Butter Chicken - Murgh Makhani
Cooking Curries has been featured on prominent sites such as The Huffington Post, Woman's Day, Fox News, BuzzFeed, and many more.
  • Recipes by Cooking Method
  • Recipes by Course
  • Recipes by Cuisine
  • Recipes by Diet
  • Recipes by Season
  • Recipes by Holiday

Footer

↑ back to top

Contact

Work with me

Privacy Policy

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2022 Cooking Curries. All Rights Reserved.