Simple & easy South-Indian style Vegetable Coconut Stew made in the Instant Pot! This dish is vegan, gluten-free and gets done in less than 30 minutes!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons oil (10 ml, I used avocado oil)
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 green chili (sliced, or more to taste)
  • 1 inch ginger (chopped)
  • 10-15 curry leaves
  • 1 dried red chili (broken)
  • 1 small yellow onion (chopped)
  • 2 medium potatoes (cubed, 200 grams, cut into 1-inch pieces)
  • 2 medium carrots (diced)
  • 1/4 cup green peas (I used frozen)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 3/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1.25 cups water (10 oz)
  • 1 cup coconut milk (canned, 8 oz, I recommend Chaokoh brand)
  • cilantro (to garnish)

Method

  1. Press saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add the oil and then add the mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds pop.
  2. Then add the green chili, ginger, curry leaves, dried red chili and onion. Saute for 2 minutes until the onions are soft.
  3. Then add the potato, carrot, peas, salt, sugar and black pepper.
  4. Add the water and deglaze the pot. There shouldn't be any browned bits stuck at the bottom of the pan.
  5. Close the pot with its lid. Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position.
  6. Quick release the pressure by manually moving the pressure valve from sealing to venting position. Open the pot by removing the lid.
  7. Press the saute button and add the coconut milk and let the stew simmer for 2 minutes.
  8. Garnish with cilantro and serve vegetable coconut stew with appam, dosa or rice!

Stove-top instructions

  1. To make this on stove-top, follow the same steps. Start by adding oil to a pan/pot. Add the mustard seeds, green chili, curry leaves, ginger, dried red chili and onion. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes until onions are soft. Then add veggies and water. After adding veggies and water, cover the pot and cook on medium heat for around 10-15 minutes until veggies are cooked. Then stir in the coconut milk and simmer few more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

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.