Keralan Vegetable Istoo
By Meera Sodha
Published on 17 March 2022
Take a journey to Kerala using vegetables from an English allotment. If you like your curries to be gentle and flavourful but light and packed full of vitality, this is the one is for you. You can use 1kg of any mixed vegetables for this dish, but just remember to cook the hardest first (e.g. potatoes) and the softest last (e.g. peas), so nothing ends up over- or undercooked.Time and servings
45 minsTotal time
4Servings
20 minsPrep time
25 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 2 carrots, (about 200g)
- 4 tbsp of rapeseed oil
- 4 cloves
- 4 cm of cinnamon stick
- 400 ml of coconut milk, (1 tin)
- 1 tsp of salt, or to taste
- 0.5 tsp of ground turmeric
- 250 g of baby new potatoes
- 250 g of broccoli
- 200 g of green beans
- 12 black peppercorns
- 12 curry leaves, (optional)
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 cm of ginger, peeled and grated
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1.5 green chillies, very finely chopped
- 100 g of peas, fresh or defrosted
Method
Step 1
Cut the baby potatoes into quarters, then cut the broccoli into florets the same size as the potatoes and leave in a separate pile. Peel the carrots and cut into batons, then top and tail the green beans.Step 2
Put 3 tablespoons of oil into a large lidded frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and curry leaves if using. When the peppercorns swell, add the onion and sweat for around 8 minutes, until soft, then add the ginger, garlic and green chillies and cook for a couple of minutes.Step 3
Now add the coconut milk, 100ml of water, the turmeric, salt and potatoes. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover with the lid and leave to cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and simmer for a further 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are very nearly tender. Add the beans and broccoli and cook for a further 3 minutes or so, then pop in the peas and heat through for a final minute.Step 4
Delicious served with rice.