Vegetable stew

Funnily enough, this one kindle my childhood memories, yet again :). My mom learnt this stew from a friend many many years back (maybe when I was 10 years old or so) and atleast once a month over the weekend she would make it. We had them piping hot with chapatis. The recipe she learnt was the standard potato stew and till date she has made it the same way. Never deviated with the ingredients and never played around with the spicing ingredients as well. This dish was something I really loved (still love). A few years back I had requested mil to try this stew out and I am in the phase of life now where I don’t really enjoy cooked potatoes much (Fried ones yummm, cooked no thank you phase :)). So, I had requested her to add other veggies like cauliflower & carrots. She tried this dish out looking at some site and we both don’t remember which one she referred to initially. However, over the years now this is a dish she has perfected to our family’s taste. I have been wanting to document this since this is a dish I am going to want to make for the rest of my life and finally could do. When I made this dish under the guidance of my mil, I deviated one step further – I didn’t add any potatoes at all. Mom adds only potatoes. Mil adds potatoes also (with other veggies). Mes just decided to totally do away with it, hahahaha. I was telling my mom excitedly that I was going to document the stew but in a different way in terms of certain ingredients (mainly veggies). She didn’t share my excitement since she prefers certain recipes to stay the way they are (instead of experimenting) and this is one such! Anywho, my personal opinion – I love the below 0 potato recipe but by all means, add any veggie you like and omit any you don’t like – the coconut milk & the spices are the real winners here :).

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Vegetable stew

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

 

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 2 persons

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups mixed vegetables (I used carrots, beans, peas & cauliflower)
• 1 large onion
• 4-5 pods garlic
• 3 nos cloves
• 2 inch cinnamon
• 2 nos bay leaf
• 2 nos green chillies
• 200 ml coconut milk I used the light version
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 7-8 nos curry leaves

Instructions

1. Chop the veggies, garlic & chillies. Set it aside. 

2. In a kadai/ pan, heat 1.5 tsp coconut oil & throw in the bay leaf, cinnamon stick & cloves. Saute till they start to release their flavours/ aroma. 

3. Add the green chillies & garlic at this stage & saute till the garlic starts to brown. 

4. Add the onions at this stage and saute till they start to brown. 

5. Add all the veggies at this point along with some salt, 1/4 cup coconut milk mixed in 1 cup water & let the mixture cook (will take 7-10 minutes). 

6. Once the veggies are cooked, add the rest of the coconut milk & bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat. 

7. In a separate pan (small one), saute the curry leaves in 1/2 tsp coconut oil. 

8. Add the curry leaves to the stew. 

9. Serve the stew hot hot with some rotis/ aapams/ rice. 

Recipe Notes

1. It is ideal to use coconut oil but if you don't have it, use refined oil.
2. You can make your own coconut milk instead of store bought. In that case, use 1 coconut's milk.
3. You can saute the curry leaves initially. But try out this separate sauteing way, there is a distinct taste difference and it's awesome.
4. If you are using canned coconut milk (non-light version), use 150 ml of it. 

Stepwise pictures

In a pan/ kadai, heat some oil and add the cloves, cinnamon stick & bay leaf. Saute till they start to release the flavours.

Throw in the garlic & green chillies. Saute.

Add the onions & saute till they start to brown.

Add all the veggies, some salt, 1/4 cup coconut milk along with 1 cup water. Let the mixture cook in simmer option.

Once the veggies are cooked, pour the rest of the coconut milk & bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat. Separately saute some curry leaves in 1/2 tsp of coconut oil and add to this.

Serve hot with some chapatis/ rice. I can eat this all day every day :).