Recipe: Vegetables in Fragrant Coconut Milk (White Stew)

Vegetables in
Fragrant Coconut Milk
(White Stew)

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves 6 to 8
Recipe may be prepared in advance and gently reheated, being careful not to boil the coconut milk or it will curdle.

Called "white stew," this dish is delicately flavored with green chili and ginger, but it is the fresh curry leaves that really make it come alive. In a Hindu home this meatless stew would accompany Lacy Rice Pancakes or Fresh Rice Noodles (see the book); it's also tasty with rice and other curries.

2 peeled boiling potatoes
2 peeled carrots
1-1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
1 to 2 fresh green chilies
(serrano or Thai), split lengthwise
10 thin slices ginger
16 to 20 fresh curry leaves
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon coconut oil (optional)

1. Cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. Cut the carrots into 2-inch matchsticks. Combine the potatoes, carrots, onions, chilies, ginger, half the curry leaves, salt, 1/2 cup of the coconut milk, and 1-1/2 cups water in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Break up some of the potato pieces with the back of a spoon to thicken the sauce.

2. Add the peas and simmer 5 minutes, until cooked through.

3. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup coconut milk, bring just to a simmer, and remove from the heat. Taste for salt.

4. Sprinkle the remaining curry leaves and coconut oil over the curry and serve.

Buy the Book!

Savoring the Spice Coast of India
Fresh Flavors from Kerala
By Maya Kaimal
HarperCollins Publishers, 2000
Hardback, $ 27.50
Color photographs throughout
ISBN: 0-06-019257-7
Recipe reprinted by permission.