Appam married two women in life. The first lady being Vegetable stew and the second lady being the sweet coconut milk. Here is the recipe for easy and simple Vegetable Stew. Vegetable stew and appam is one of the best breakfast dishes ever. This vegetable stew has a very mild flavor and is so good to have with appam or idiyappam. The richness of the coconut milk is what makes this stew the best ever.
Here is the recipe for Appam.
Here is the recipe for Sweet Coconut Milk for Appam – Thengai paal recipe
Usually in Indian curries, the spices are dry roasted and then ground. But for this vegetable stew, the spices are ground raw. Grind all the ingredients listed below with about 1 cup of water to a smooth paste.
Boil the vegetables until firm and keep aside. We use carrots, peas and potato for stew at home. Do not use a lot of veggies. 3-4 should be good.
Lets make coconut milk. I used one whole coconut ( a small one) for this recipe. About 350-400 grams. Take out the coconut meat from the coconut and run it in a blender/mixie adding 1 cup of water. Strain. The strained milk is what we call as the first milk or thick milk. Run the strained coconut bits again in the blender with 1 cup of water for a minute. Strain. The strained milk is called second milk or thin milk. Set aside.
Heat coconut oil in a saute pan. Coconut oil is traditional for this recipe. I love coconut oil. Add in 3 sprigs of curry leaves. Let it splutter. Add in the julienne ginger. Ginger is an important ingredient in this stew. So do not skip the ginger. Fry for 1-2 minutes on medium flame until you can smell the ginger and curry leaves.
Add in the chopped onions and salt. Saute till the onions are soft. No need to brown the onions.
Add in the ground masala paste and fry for 2 minutes.
Add in the veggies and the second pressed coconut milk and let it simmer in low flame for about 3-4 minutes. Let the flame be on low. Cooking in high flame might curdle the gravy.
Take a small cup and add a tablespoon of cornstarch or maida (All purpose flour). Add 1/2 cup water to it and make a slurry. Add the slurry to the gravy. The slurry helps in thickening the gravy. Do not add the corn starch or maida directly as it may lump up. Simmer for a minute more. The gravy should thicken.
Add in the first pressed coconut milk and reduce the flame to low. Simmer for 30 seconds. The coconut milk might curdle if you cook it for long.
Switch off the flame and serve hot.
- ¼ cup cashews
- 1 clove
- 2 cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 3 green chillies
- 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds (khus khus)
- 1 cup carrots
- 1 cup potatoes
- 1 cup peas
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 inch piece ginger, julienne
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 whole coconut - pressed for fresh coconut milk
- Grind the spices with a little water. Set aside.
- Boil the vegetables until firm and keep aside. We use carrots, peas and potato for stew at home.
- Take out the coconut meat from the coconut and run it in a blender/mixie adding 1 cup of water. Strain. The strained milk is what we call as the first milk or thick milk. Run the strained coconut bits again in the blender with 1 cup of water for a minute. strain. The strained milk is called second milk or thin milk. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a saute pan. Add in 2 sprigs of curry leaves. Let it splutter. Add in the julienne ginger. Add in the chopped onions and salt. Saute till soft.
- Add in the ground masala paste and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the second pressed coconut milk and boiled vegetables and let it simmer until beginning to boil.
- Take a small cup and add a tablespoon of cornstarch. Add ½ cup water to it and make a slurry. Add the slurry to the gravy. Simmer for a minute.
- Add in the first pressed coconut milk and reduce the flame to low. Simmer for 30 seconds. The coconut milk might curdle if you cook it for long.
- Switch off the flame and serve hot.