Kerala style Vegetable Stew

Happy New Year everyone! It’s the 1^st day of the Tamizh calendar – Chithirai 1. I hope all of you have a fruitful, healthy and yummy new year. May this year bring the long awaited promotion, a discernible hike at the very least (sometimes I can never make out the difference, it’s that miniscule), weight-loss & hair-gain (I know everybody wants these), good food, great recipes and  family time. I am starting the year with a yummy vegetable stew. I had always thought Aappam was tamil. But appears Aappam is as much Malayalam as it is Tamil.

Aappam is one of our beloved breakfast items at home.  We have it with sweetened coconut milk or with vegetable korma. I love it with sweetened milk. We like to tear up the soft spongy centres of Aappam and soak them in the sweet coconut milk while we eat the the lacy, crisp edges.  By that time the aappam pieces would be drenched in all that sweetness and each piece would be a little piece of heaven – sweet, soft, melt in the mouth madress. In Kerala, the vegetable stew is popular with Aapams. The vegetable stew is again a subtly spiced, elegant and creamy coconut milk based stew. It’s easy and tastes luscious.

I tried Kerala style Pal Aappams with the vegetable stew. The Pal  Aappams did not turn out too well but the vegetable stew was great. My kids loved it.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Carrots – chopped ½ cup

Green Beans – ½ cup chopped

Potato - 1 small, peeled and cubed

Green Peas – ½ cup

Onion – 1 medium sliced

Coconut milk – 1^st and 2^nd extract from 1 medium cococut

Salt to taste

Whole Black peppercorns – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Cinnamon – 1 inch piece

Cloves – 2

Cardamom - 2

Oil – 2 tsp

Spice Paste

Green chillies – 3-4

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Method

1.       Heat oil in a pan. When hot add cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Then add the whole black peppercorns and curry leaves.  After a minute add the sliced onions and sauté until they turn translucent.

2.       Meanwhile grind together ginger and green chillies to a fine paste. Set aside.

3.       Then add the chopped vegetables and salt. Mix in the ground spice paste. Pour in the 2^nd thin extract of coconut milk, cover and simmer till the vegetables are tender – about 15 minutes.

4.       Once vegetables are done, pour in the 1^st extract – the thick coconut milk. When it starts bubbling around the edges, switch off. Serve warm with Aappams.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 39

Kerala

An InLinkz Link-up