Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Kerala White Bean Stew is a vegan, vegetarian Indian main made with can of white beans, shelled pumpkin seeds, and fennel seeds in about 40 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 15 oz can of white beans (or cannellini beans or chickpeas, washed and drained, or 1.5 cups cooked)
  • 1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (soaked for at least 15 minutes in warm water)

For the spices:

  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
  • 6 black peppercorns

For the stew:

  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped shallots (or use more onion)
  • 2 green chilies such as Serrano or Indian green chilies, (sliced into 1 inch and then slit julienned or slit into 4)
  • 10 curry leaves (, fresh or frozen or dried)
  • 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste (or minced 1/2 inch ginger and 3 cloves garlic)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (use less for less heat)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or use tamari for gluten-free)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup or more water
  • 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons non-dairy yogurt
  • cilantro (for garnish)

Method

  1. Soak your pumpkin seeds if you haven’t already and set them aside. Drain the beans and set aside (you can also use 1.5 cups of cooked beans of choice).
  2. Dry toast the spices: Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and black peppercorns and toast until the fennel seeds change color. Then add them to a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind them until a coarse powder forms. And set aside.

Make the stew.

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, shallots, green chilies, curry leaves, and a good pinch of salt, and cook until the onion is golden.
  2. Add splashes of water in between to help the onion brown evenly. Once the onion is golden add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, cayenne, and soy sauce and mix in. Cook for a minute then add the drained beans, pumpkin seeds, ground spice mix from above, and salt and mix in.
  3. Add the water and lemon juice and cover the pan. Cook for 8-10 minutes. Then remove the lid and add the non-dairy yogurt and stir. Taste and adjust salt and flavor. Add more water for more sauce if needed. Simmer for a minute and switch off the heat. Garnish with some cilantro and serve with flatbread, dosa, rice, idli, or artisan or sourdough bread.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.