Stew Recipe | Kerala Vegetable Stew Recipe

Vegan Vegetable Stew Recipe

A few handpicked spices bring out the characteristic aroma and flavour of this vegetable stew.

Vegetable stew with coconut, a Christmas speciality from the villages of Kerala. Get ready to indulge in Nutty Goodness! A few handpicked spices bring out the characteristic aroma and flavour of this vegetable stew.

Whole Food Plant Based Kerala Vegetable Stew Recipe

Course: Course 2 (Vegetable Dish) for Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Satwik Kerala Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 people

INGREDIENTS

2 cup Mixed Vegetables: chopped, carrot, beans, peas, potato etc
1 Green Chili slit
1 cm piece Ginger
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 stick Cinnamon
3 Cloves
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder OR 1 Green Cardamom
4 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below)
2 tbsp Coconut grated
1 cup Water as required
2 tbsp Coriander Steams & Leaves chopped

Instructions

1. Pound or blend the spices into powder. Peel and crush ginger. Chop vegetables into small cubes. Slit green chili.
2. Cook vegetables with spices. Use very little water and cook with closed lid.
3. Once the vegetables are cooked well and tender, switch off stove.
4. Blend coconut with minimal water and mix into cooked vegetables.
5. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve warm with unpolished rice or neer dosa.

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Kerala Vegetable Stew Recipe

1. If you want a tadka or seasoning for the vegetable stew, dry roast curry leaves and mustard seeds and immediately add to the stew so they release their flavour into the stew.
2. You can use any vegetables like potato, cauliflower etc.
3. Use soya milk, almond butter, or cashew butter instead of coconut paste to get different and healthier vegetable stew flavours!

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Kerala Vegetable Stew Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why not dairy? Dairy products have been found to be associated with increased risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, asthma, PCOS, and heart disease. We can still enjoy our milk, cream, and butter though - as long as they are made from whole plant foods!
3. Why not tadka? Tadka, thaaLippu, oggaraNe. Tempering spices in oil is quintessential to Indian cuisine. This practice may have started as a compromise when whole nuts were unavailable, and indeed, is more common in inland, drier areas where nuts do not grow easily, all year round. You can enjoy the taste and fragrance, though, by just dry roasting the spices you require, without the oil, or even better, mixing spice powders directly into your dish!
4. Why nuts instead of oil? Whole foods are healthier than processed foods. When nuts are pressed and oil is extracted, fiber and phytonutrients are lost, along with many other nutrients. Therefore, whole nuts are much healthier than oils, whether cold-pressed or refined. In addition, they provide the oil content we need to absorb fat-soluble phytonutrients from other whole plant foods! This may be why nuts are used to garnish nearly every traditional Indian dish!