Mixed vegetable Stew

In my last post I had written about Appam. In case, you have missed my earlier post of Appam, you can check it out here.
It is said that one just cannot have Appam without stew! They have to go hand-in-hand just like Idli-Sambhar!  

This stew is very delicious and somewhat similar to our famous “Amchi” dish “Vulvul” / “Yogiratna”.

 

Ingredients:

Mixed Vegetables	About 2 cups
Onion	1 medium
Green chilies	3-4
Ginger	½ inch piece
Coconut milk	About 1 cup
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Coconut oil	1-2 tsp
Salt	As per taste

Method:

1. Cut all the vegetables and onion into medium pieces. Chop ginger into small bits and slit green chilies.
2. In a saucepan, boil with water all the vegetables together with onion, green chilies and ginger bits.
3. When cooked, add salt. Stir well.
4. Then add the diluted coconut milk and let it simmer for a few minutes.
5. Finally add the concentrated coconut milk. Give it a good stir and add the curry leaves and coconut oil. Mix well and remove from flame.
6. Serve hot with Appams.

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Serves: 4

Note:

• Stew is generally served with Appam.
• Instead of vegetables, you can also make potato stew using only potatoes. The choice is yours.
• I used packaged coconut milk in the recipe. If you are preparing the coconut milk at home, then use the first and the second extract at No.4 as mentioned and the concentrated one at the end.
• After the addition of the concentrated coconut milk, take care that as soon as it starts to boil, remove from flame as coconut milk may split.

Appam

"Appam" is a delicious breakfast specialty of Kerala. I have always wanted to try this out. In fact, I have in my collection, four different versions of this recipe and hence I was in a dilemma to try out the right one. However, my dilemma was soon resolved when one of my neighbours, Mrs Sulochana Menon obliged to demonstrate it for me. I was extremely delighted. I must mention here that Mrs. Menon, (a very senior resident of our Apartment) is a very good cook and the appams she prepared were soft, fluffy and delicious to taste. I also had the privelage of tasting some authentic Kerala dishes from her kitchen from time to time. Hence, I had no hesitation in noting down this recipe of hers and trying it out. I was pleased with the end result and so here it is.

Appam is a sort of dosa but it is not spread with a ladle on a skillet or fying pan. Instead, a small wok or a non-stick kadai is used to make these “appams”. The trick is in swirling the batter in the kadai in a deft manner so as to spread the batter thinly on the outside while the centre should remain slightly thick and fluffy.

Ingredients:

  

Raw rice	1 cup
Rice flakes	2 tbsps
Coconut gratings	2 tbsps
Coconut water	About 1 cup
Sugar	½ tsp (for fermenting)
Yeast or Eno	1 tsp
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1tsp for smearing wok/kadai

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice for 3-4 hours.
2. Wash and soak rice flakes for 30 mins.
3. Add sugar to the coconut water and keep it overnight for fermenting. (This can be done the previous night).
4. Then grind rice, rice flakes, coconut gratings, salt and fermented coconut water (little at a time) to a fine paste. Remove it in a bowl and add the remaining fermented coconut water and Eno/yeast. Mix the batter well and keep it overnight for fermenting. The batter should be watery.

The batter

Ingredients

How to make the Appams:

Kadai being heated

1. Next morning, heat a wok or a non-stick kadai. Keep the flame, low to medium heat.
2. Put a drop of oil on a kitchen tissue and smear the wok/kadai with it.
3. Place a ladle full of the prepared batter in the centre of the kadai. Hold the handles of the kadai firmly and gently swirl it in such a way that a thin layer of batter is spread all around and the remaining batter collects at the centre. The swirling should be swift in one go; as the batter cooks very fast. (This takes a little practice). Once this is done, cover it with a lid for a minute or two. When the appam is cooked, it leaves the sides of the kadai. Hold it with your fingers (or use a spatula) and gently remove it from the kadai and place it on a plate.
4. Follow the same procedure for the remaining batter.
5. Serve hot with stew.                                                                                      

Appam is getting ready

Appam served with stew

Makes: 14 appams

Note:

• These are generally eaten with stew (potato or mixed vegetable stew).
• Kadais used for preparing appams, should not have a flat bottom.

Watch out for the stew recipe in my next post.