Kerala style Recipe for Appam Vegetable Stew made with coconut milk.
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 Vegetable Stew the best ever.
Here is the recipe for Appam.
Here is the recipe for Sweet Coconut Milk for Appam – Thengai paal recipe
Here is the recipe for Kerala Chicken Stew, Chicken Ishtu
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 for this Vegetable Stew. 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. Vegetable Stew is done when it comes to a slight boil.
Switch off the flame and serve Vegetable Stew 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 fresh or frozen green 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.
I am a BIG fan of your recipes. Made this last night and was fantastic!! Goes very well with your appam recipe!! Thank you soooo much!! My family loved it this veg stew!!!
Thank you very much!
Hi. Thanks for an excellent stew recipe. I tried it and we all loved it at home. Earlier my stew used to be watery but your recipe is just perfect!
Thank you!
Hi Suguna, looking forward to trying this recipe. can you share how many gms is the coconut once it is out of the coconut shell. wasnt sure if you have the weight as whole coconut or just the flesh. I do not have access to the whole coconut but can buy fresh shredded or sliced coconut to make the milk. thanks.
If you are using fresh shredded coconut, Around 200 grams will do. (Around 1 cup packed tight.)
If you do not have access to fresh coconut, canned coconut milk can be substituted.
Thanks.
Hello Suguna,
I tried this veg stew today for breakfast and it turned out super tasty. Thank you so much for your step by step detailed instructions and notes.
Swati
Thank you! Glad you liked the recipe.
Hello, have been told by my dietician to avoid milk and dairy based products strictly.
Had an Appam stew today for lunch. is it a sin?
Hi Sharad,
You had a perfect lunch.
This recipe contains coconut milk. Coconut milk is completely OK to have if you are eating dairy free.
There is no dairy or dairy based milk products in this recipe.
Hi Suguna,have been wanting to try making Appam and stew for a long time…as it is one dish I have never made thinking it is difficult..also not used to using yeast..today while reading your recipe I felt this is the one I had been waiting for..Have taken down your recipe and will try it out..can I use dosa rice? And I don’t have the non-stick appam kadai ..can I use my iron kadai? Thanks for the recipe with perfect instructions/pictures.. And also for the vegetable stew..
Hi Meera, Yes you can use iron kadai. Just grease the pan every time with an oiled cloth so the appam does not stick. And dosa rice is fine!
Hi mam, Shall I replace almonds instead of cashews??
Sure. You can do that.
I tried the recipe and it came amazing. Thanks a lot. All loved the stew in my family.
Thank you!
Beautiful Presentation.I do not think anyone can stir it up better .
Thank you!
Love it blog suguna….
Thank you so much. Happy Cooking!
I was drawn towards reading your recipe for the stew by the name you selected for your site.Was looking for an authentic recipe which has years of experience that has developed it.Thank you for a detailed recipe with right inputs.
Thanks Kalyani!
Your recipe excellent, teaching carefully step by step. It is, as if a mother is teaching her daughter.
?
Thank you Salome. Your comment means a lot to me. Thanks for saying that.
Hi akka
I’m new to cooking
Now in saudi
Daily morning aft eve night nu ellamey ungaloda recipes
I love the taste of all your recipes
My husband too
Thank you akka
Akka can you please tell me
Soaking and cooking time of dry green peas
Thank you Anis! You can soak the green peas over nite. Cook in pressure cooker for 4-5 whistles. For this recipe, use fresh peas. not dried.
Ok akka
Thanks
Hi. .kannamma..yum yum the stew was …kids literally licked their plates..thx a ton
Thank you!
very nice. i like the recipes from this website.
Thank you so much for this recipe… I have been hunting for a kerala stew recipe and atlast got it from here.
Thank You So much for this recipe. This is the perfect silky curry that goes very well with appam and dosa. I tried this yesterday and it was just a bliss:-) My hubby and myself loved it. I’m sure i will make this once again. Loving all your recipes especially chettinad ones as i’m more fond of it.:-) keep continue the good work.
Thats so nice Anusha. Stew is my comfort food. I am really glad that you liked it.
Sorry there is a spelling mistake… me and my husband loved it..
Thanks Kannamma for this recipe.. me and my loved it a lot.. i remember eating this stew only in hotels. i tried it for the first time and it turned out really well… woooww.. it tasted just like in hotels… thanks a lot..
Really nice to know. Thank you so much for writing in.
Thanks Mam, Hope u are doing fine.
am Navin, from Coimbatore but native of Mangalore, visited website on lovely recipes which am following to make the recipes as am in Muscat away from family. So your teaching helps me to educate and make recipes according to your formulations procedures.
Thank you once again. Take care.
Thank you so much Navin for writing in. Hope you like Kannamma Cooks.