Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Vegetable Stew | Kerala Veg Stew Recipe is a gluten-free, vegan Kerala main course made with simple everyday ingredients 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: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Kerala

Ingredients

  • 1 carrot ((medium-sized), peeled and chopped or ½ cup chopped)
  • 1 potato ((medium to large) - 150 grams, peeled and chopped or ½ cup chopped)
  • ½ cup green peas (- fresh or frozen)
  • 70 to 80 grams french beans (or 5 to 6 beans or ¼ cup chopped french beans)
  • ½ cup thinly sliced onion (or 1 medium-sized onion or 1 to 2 shallots or 5 to 6 pearl onions, thinly sliced)
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves ((small to medium-sized) - crushed into a paste in a mortar-pestle)
  • 1 inch ginger (- julienned)
  • 2 green chilies (- slit)
  • 1.5 inch cinnamon
  • 4 to 5 cloves (- crushed or kept whole)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
  • 2 to 3 green cardamoms (- crushed or kept whole (optional))
  • 2 cups thin coconut milk (or 2 cups water * check notes for pressure cooking the veggies with water)
  • 1 cup Coconut Milk (Thick)
  • 12 to 15 curry leaves
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • salt as required
  • sugar as required (- optional)

Method

  1. Heat coconut oil. Add the whole & crushed spices - cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, black pepper. On low heat fry them till fragrant.
  2. Then add the ginger, garlic, green chilies, sliced onions and curry leaves. Sauté till the onions become translucent on low to medium-low heat. Don't brown the onions.
  3. Add the chopped veggies and stir to mix.
  4. Add thin coconut milk or water. Season with salt according to taste. Cover the pan with a lid and cook the veggies.
  5. The veggies should be cooked till they are fork tender.
  6. Lastly add the thick coconut milk. Stir well and simmer on low heat for just half a minute.For a bit of sweet taste, opt to add sugar if you prefer.
  7. If you want, you can also heat a few teaspoons of oil and fry curry leaves in it till crisp. Then add this curry leaves tempering from the top before serving the veg stew.
  8. Serve Kerala style vegetable stew with appam or steamed rice.

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.