Kerala Vegetable Stew: Mild, Fragrant, Easy

Kerala vegetable stew is a mild coconut milk curry made with a handful of whole spices, green chillies, pepper and mixed vegetables, cooked without turmeric or chilli powder so it stays pale and fragrant. It takes about 30 minutes and goes best with appam or idiyappam.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 small piece cinnamon, 3 cloves, 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed, or ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, julienned
• 3 to 4 green chillies, slit
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 2 cups mixed vegetables: potato, carrot, beans, peas, cauliflower
• 1½ cups thin coconut milk (second extract, or diluted from a can)
• 1 cup thick coconut milk (first extract)
• Salt

Method

1. Whole spices. Heat the coconut oil and add the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Let them sizzle for about 20 seconds, no longer.
2. Onion and aromatics. Add the onion, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Cook until soft, not browned.
3. Vegetables. Add the vegetables, salt and thin coconut milk. Cover and simmer 10 to 12 minutes, until just tender.
4. Pepper. Stir in the crushed pepper.
5. Thick coconut milk. Lower the heat right down, add the thick coconut milk, and warm through for 2 minutes without letting it boil.
6. Finish with a small drizzle of raw coconut oil and a few curry leaves on top.

Why it stays pale and mild

There's no turmeric or chilli powder in this stew on purpose. The colour comes only from the coconut milk, and the heat comes from green chillies and pepper, not red chilli. If yours turns yellow or brown, check whether the pan had turmeric residue from an earlier dish, or the onions browned too far.

Common mistakes

• Boiling after the thick coconut milk goes in. It can split into oil and solids. Keep the heat low from that point.
• Browning the onions. A stew wants soft, translucent onion, not the deep brown you'd want in a curry.
• Cutting vegetables unevenly. Potato and carrot take longer than peas and cauliflower, so cut the slower ones smaller.
• Using stale whole spices. With so few ingredients doing the work, old cardamom or cloves leave the stew tasting thin.

A note on the pepper

White pepper is a common choice here because it doesn't leave black specks in a white gravy, though plenty of home cooks just use ordinary black pepper and don't mind the flecks. Either works. It's really about how the bowl looks.

Serving and leftovers

Serve with appam, idiyappam or soft bread, and a spoon to scoop up the last of the gravy. It thickens overnight in the fridge. Loosen it with a splash of warm water or coconut milk when you reheat it.

Our white pepper is grown in Idukki and works well if you want the paler look, and cardamom, cloves and pepper are all in our spice combo pack.