we eat aapam with sweetened(with jaggery) coconut milk. But when we had our dinner last month in ‘Mango tree’ restaurant here in SG, for aapam we ordered ‘Vegetable Ishtu’ from their menu. Till then I have not tasted any stew. It was so simple,plain,pure white,with veggies and only the ginger flavour that wafted from the stew. For me it was smelling like the potato masala we make for poori,but with the richness of coconut milk and onion, it was just tasting and smelling divinely! So I tried at home,with recipe adapted from Divya’s blog slightly,also keeping in mind of what I had in the restaurant. I could not get the pure white they had,but tasted the same!
Appam side dish- vegetable stew recipe
Recipe Cuisine: Indian | Recipe Category: Breakfast
Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Serves: 2
Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Serves: 2
Ingredients
Coconut gratings – scrapped from 1 coconut
Carrot and potato – 1 each
Beans and cauliflower florets – 8
Ginger,grated – 1 tblsp
Green chilli – 2
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt – As needed
Oil – 2 tsp
Carrot and potato – 1 each
Beans and cauliflower florets – 8
Ginger,grated – 1 tblsp
Green chilli – 2
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt – As needed
Oil – 2 tsp
Method:
- First grind the coconut with 1/2 – 3/4 cup water and grind till smooth and extract the thick milk using a strainer.
- Again add 1 cup warm water to the coconut gratings and grind for a minute and take the thin extract from the coconut.
- Cut the veggies to thin stripes (I used baby beans) as shown in the picture. Slit the green chillies and onion. Heat pan with oil add ginger,greenchillies ,curry leaves,followed by onion.( I tried adding bay leaf and elachi,but took it off in the middle as it dominated the other flavors. So I omitted in the ingredients)
- Cook in medium flame,taking care, not to turn the onion colour. It should just be transparent. Boil the veggies with salt and the thin coconut milk along with this fried onion.
- Let the veggies cook (without turning the veggies mushy),then add the thick coconut milk,just keep in low flame for a minute and put of the stove.
Notes
- My hubby said they had tempered with whole black pepper corns and no green chillies were there. So you may try that too. That way i thought the greenish shade in the stew can also be avoided.
- Try not to change the colour of onion as it will change the stew colour too…
- I added the veggies that I saw in the restaurant…
Stew is ready to enjoy with aapam! The onion,ginger and curry leaves along with coconut milk makes the stew smell divinely!
Kalpana Sareesh
July 18, 2011 at 7:48 amStew is a wonderful dish i loved it wen i first tasted at green park. Ur stew is so colorful n yumm i love it so much..
srividhya Ravikumar
July 18, 2011 at 7:53 amwow..what a beautiful colour..love it Raks..
Shanthi
July 18, 2011 at 8:06 amLove it Raks. Beautiful and awesome as ever.
Sharmilee! :)
July 18, 2011 at 8:09 amNice beautiful color u have got…I havent tasted stew yet…looks and sounds tempting. Luved the 2nd click
Nithya
July 18, 2011 at 8:31 amWow.. this stew sounds simple and delicious too. Rich coconut milk!! yummy I say 🙂
Radhika
July 18, 2011 at 8:35 amMy friend's mom uses white pepper powder and avoids green chillies and black pepper. lovely clicks Raji.
Nags
July 18, 2011 at 10:06 ameach time i see that corningware pathram of yours, i feel like buying one too.
my dad's sis makes the best stew ever! i should get her recipe too. she doesn't add veg though, only potatoes 🙂
Divya
July 18, 2011 at 10:08 amHi Raji… we often make ishtu in our home only with potatoes as we all love it a lot… i normally boil onion, ginger, potato & just one green chilly together in thin coconut milk till everything gets cooked. finally i will add the thick coconut milk & a pinch of pepper powder and even before it starts boiling will switch off the stove. then add curry leaves & coconut oil, stir it & close the lid. i never used to saute or temper any of the items for ishtu… this way the color wil remain white throughout… Yours look colorful with different veggies… need to try your way…
Vimitha Anand
July 18, 2011 at 10:31 amSimple and great side dish for aapams…
RAKS KITCHEN
July 18, 2011 at 11:46 amHi Divya, thanks much for letting me know the way you make, will sure try next time and make 'white' stew 🙂
Kaveri
July 18, 2011 at 11:49 amStew looks good…a great combo with aapams
S.Menaga
July 18, 2011 at 11:50 amsimply looks delicious….love it!!
lata raja
July 18, 2011 at 11:54 amWhite or not, you have one fabulous looking ishtu here Raks. I always tell friends that I can never get the colour that my friend Princy makes…so I think, it is okay to not have exactly the same. this one is evry nice too!
Suman Singh
July 18, 2011 at 1:18 pmdelicious and healthy looking stew..
vidhas
July 18, 2011 at 2:39 pmStew looks yum!! my mom adds green chili and garlic. great clicks.
Suja
July 18, 2011 at 2:57 pmBeautiful,looks perfect and tempting.
Cilantro
July 18, 2011 at 3:01 pmLooks flavorful Raks, The green chilli variety adds the color to it try the spicier Thai chilli or the osi milagai one(if you have`nt done so) for more white color. We add just the Potatoand may the carrot does add some color too.
Hamaree Rasoi
July 18, 2011 at 3:31 pmStew looks so delicious and comforting. Loved the presentation.
Deepa
Nitha
July 18, 2011 at 3:46 pmPerfect one.. You know what.. I love to have this with any dish.. appam/puttu/chapathi or even rice 🙂
Aruna
July 18, 2011 at 5:58 pmHey looks good… I used to make similar stew for appam… I add peppercorns and finish off with lime juice for that citrus kick…
Sayantani
July 18, 2011 at 7:10 pmwe loved this on our last trip to Kerala. refreshing stew.
Anonymous
July 18, 2011 at 7:11 pmOoo.. Its one of my fav Kerala dishes 😀 Yumm.. Yours looks yummy.. I mostly make it with potatoes alone though! 🙂
[email protected]
July 18, 2011 at 7:24 pmRecreating dishes we ate in restaurant is fun. It makes me happy when it is pretty close to what I tasted. This stew looks delicious and my friend's mom prepares it the same way.
Shanavi
July 18, 2011 at 11:02 pmSooper Raks..Looks so rich n delicious and looks so vibrant..
divya
July 18, 2011 at 11:49 pmHealthy and tasty stew..Looks great!
ANU
July 19, 2011 at 1:23 amwow…very colorful dear….perfect plating
Anonymous
July 19, 2011 at 2:16 amwe once had idiyappam with chicken stew in chennai and were simply bowled over by its mere simplicity, loved ur presentation…looks very yummy
Rekha shoban
July 19, 2011 at 2:44 amdelicious curry for appams….healthy one!!nice click raji!
Divya Kudua
July 19, 2011 at 2:47 amI make it with potatoes too once in a while.Try this with Idiyappam–tastes awesome!!
Torviewtoronto
July 19, 2011 at 4:04 amthis looks delicious lovely colourful stew
love the colour of the gravy
hemalata
July 19, 2011 at 4:37 amYummy stew,looks so healthy and colorful.
Hari Chandana
July 19, 2011 at 5:57 amWowwww… Delicious looking stew.. colorful and tempting recipe… truly delicious 🙂
Prathibha
July 19, 2011 at 6:27 amAppam n stew is another fav combo of mine..ur stew looks delicious…
Sharmilee! :)
July 19, 2011 at 8:23 amtest
jeyashrisuresh
July 19, 2011 at 9:21 amSince I am not a big fan of coconut milk I have never tried anything adding that. This sounds so interesting and very colorful too
Bharathy
July 19, 2011 at 9:24 amThe coconutty kerala way of side dish which rocks with appams 🙂
Looks pretty and colorful, raks 🙂
* I have a habit of waiting for the first comment after done with a new post 🙂
Hugs for doing it, Raks 🙂
off for my afternoon nap 🙂
GEETHA ACHAL
July 19, 2011 at 10:14 amMe too always love appam and thenkkai pal…Sure want to try kurma too…Lovely pics…Thanks for sharing…
Premalatha Aravindhan
July 19, 2011 at 1:10 pmDelicious stew,the colour is so gud…
aipi
July 19, 2011 at 6:44 pmThe color you got is so nice ~ very authentic n delcious recipe!
US Masala
Uma
July 20, 2011 at 12:09 amI only heard abt it. Now only looking them. Must give a try.
Cheers,
Uma
http://umaskitchenexperiments.blogspot.com
VS
July 20, 2011 at 1:06 amWonderful stew. I love them with appam and also idiyappam.
Priti
July 20, 2011 at 5:09 amSo this was you were talking about ….looks yum ..that white colour is really gud
Mahi
July 20, 2011 at 6:00 amOru thengala irunthu paal edukkanumaa? remba rich recipe..but still,Wow..the stew looks wonderful Raji! 😛 😛
All the veggies are in their original colour..nicely done!
Happy Cook / Finla
July 20, 2011 at 12:14 pmWowo i am really surprised to hear that you have not had stew till then, back at home we always had apams with stew or kadal curry etc or aslo like you said with sweetend coconut milk but then with sugar not jaggery, this stew looks super yumm.
Laavanya
July 20, 2011 at 1:35 pmWe had this exact combination for Sunday breakfast – so was thrilled to see you post it the next day! 🙂
Sanctified Spaces
July 20, 2011 at 4:57 pmLooks so delicate and yummy. Its a classic combination.Another bookmark.
DEESHA
July 20, 2011 at 5:20 pmThat is a beautiful looking side dish . Lovely stew
Ramya Bala
July 21, 2011 at 1:12 amI love ishtu :)looks very tempting raji :)))beautiful pictures
Shobha
July 21, 2011 at 4:35 amLove the appams with stew.. it is a very light dish and also has all the veggies.
Sarah
July 21, 2011 at 5:15 amgorgeous pics! the stew looks awesome! this is a fav combo in my house too
Rinku Naveen
July 21, 2011 at 1:17 pmStu looks superb..Its one of the fav at home with appam and puttu. Never thought of adding cauliflower. Mainly potatoes and carrot. Yeah its difficult to get that white colour. Beautiful clicks Raji..
Harini
July 21, 2011 at 5:33 pmHi Raks!
Just love your blog and the pics ! I was searching for a nice aapam recipe for a long time then saw this stew recipe and your aapam beside the stew in one of the pictures. Then I knew you must have an aapam recipe in your blog and finally found it! Going to try making the aapam along with this delicious looking stew.! Just a suggestion – link the aapam recipe also to this page so it would be easier to find for ppl like me 😉
Harini – http://hariniscorner.blogspot.com/
Vibaas
July 24, 2011 at 12:01 pmraji, i have heard of this, but never tried this. sounds yummy.
Sushma Mallya
July 25, 2011 at 8:23 amI love veg stew ..looks so delicious Raji…lovely click as well 🙂
Vaanisree
July 31, 2011 at 9:07 amThis comment has been removed by the author.
Vaanisree
July 31, 2011 at 9:08 amHi Raji.. i have became a very big fan of u nowadays. I have tried more than 15 – 20 items from ur website. and yesterday i did this veg stew for palappam(bought this ready mix aapam) .. and the combo was great.I did the same as u have mentioned here with the proportions and quantity. it came up delicious and tastier. U believe it or not,i prepared enough quantity and at last i was kept only a small cup of it for taste. The whole bowl of stew was emptied by my kid and hubby . and gave some to my mom for taste. Thanks for sharing all lovely tasty yummy recipes. keep going….
Vaazhga valamudan
RAKS KITCHEN
August 1, 2011 at 4:34 amThank you vaani for the feedback and the nice words 🙂
Harini, thanks 🙂 will post more authentic aapam recipe,mine is the way i make 🙂 So watch out for another aapam recipe, hope you made aapam and stew and liked …
Neets
April 25, 2012 at 10:50 pmHi raks,
I will be cooking this stew tonight and posting it on my blog hopefully by tomorrow. i've started a new blog called neetustastytreats.blogspot.com. Do chk it out when you're free. You have alovely blog btw! The detailed step by step pics make it so much more easier! Cheers and keep up the good work!
saumya
February 9, 2014 at 1:15 pmDear raks
I have tried some of ur recipies nd it came out really well. I use to make an easy version of stew. I take a cooker nd add my onion, ginger, green chillie 2 just for smell not for spicy, veg (potatoes, carrot, beans nd forzen peas) and salt nd leaa than half cup of water. Pressure cook this for 1 whistle. After pressure settles add thick coconut milk, pepper powder nd check the consistancy. Switch off the flame nd add curry leaves nd drops of coconut oil. Close the lid till u serve.