Vegetable Stew, Kerala Style
Mixed Vegetable kurma as it is popularly known, is a stew of assorted veggies simmered in a thick spicy coconut based gravy. If you are a vegetarian with a love for varied cuisines then you must have come across this heavenly thick soup at some point of time.
A wonderful aromatic accompaniment to appams, dosais, ceylon parothas or simply plain rice, this vegetable melange calls for some real spices and loads of coconut.
Vegetable kurma with Kerala Parathas
We like it best paired with Appams, a fermented crepe of rice and coconut. But today, I made it with ceylon parothas( again a speciality of kerala).
Ceylon parathas are nothing but layered Indian flatbread usually stuffed with kheema or egg, but since we don’t eat meat, I made the vegetarian version. While rolling out the flatbread, layers are added along with light smears of ghee and flour, almost like a North Indian lacha paratha. It’s then roasted on a flat griddle using a good amount of ghee or butter. Here, I made the ceylon magic with minimal ghee, just a few drops, and it still was a dream on our palette.
Ingredients
- 1 cup parboiled assorted vegetables, potatoes, peas, carrot, beans, cauliflower etc
- 1 big onion, chopped
- 1 capsicum, chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- salt to taste
- chopped coriander to garnish
To be ground into a paste:
- 1 onion,
- 3-4 green chilies – vary the quantity to your taste
- a tiny piece of ginger
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- a small stick of cinnamon
- 2 cardamoms
- 2-3 cloves
- 5-6 whole pepper corns
- 1/2 cup mint and coriander leaves
- 1 piece of coconut… yea, some more wouldn’t hurt..;)
Method
In a thick bottomed pan, heat oil. Crackle mustard seeds when hot. Then saute the onions pink. Later, the chopped capsicum. Saute for a minute or two. Then pour the grounded paste. Keep stirring, to avoid burning the paste and all. After a nice aroma wafts up(after about say 5-8 minutes), add the tomatoes along with all the turmeric and coriander powder. Now, cover and let all cook for a while. Let all the ingredients come together to make a beautiful green sauce. When the oil has left sides, it signifies the melange has been sautéed well and enough. At this stage, add the parboiled veggies along with the coconut milk. Simmer to a cohesive mix.
Once done, garnish with chopped cilantro/coriander leaves.
Serve piping hot with appams/rice/parothas!
Green curry – Kerala Style.
Vegetable Stew/Kurma
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