Kerala Vegetable Stew with Coconut Milk

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

Kerala Vegetable Stew with Coconut Milk

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.

Course Main

Cuisine Indian - Kerala

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings cups

Calories 196kcal

Author Manju

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

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.

Nutrition