There is a new place in town called Simply South by Chef Chalapathi Rao. We went there recently and had their heavenly Kerala stew with Appams and fell in love with this dish. The coconut milk was light and aromatic and the taste of the dish still lingers.

Here is my version of the stew. 

Method

1. Slice 1 carrot, 1 potato, 12 beansinto cubes of equal sizes and keep aside
2. In a pan, heat 1 tsp coconut oil.
3. Add the spices - 3-4 cloves, 1 cinnamon, 2 cardamom and 1/2 tsp black pepper and saute till for 2 mins.
4. Add 1 finely chopped onion to it and saute it. Add finely chopped 1 inch ginger and 5-6 garlic flakes and saute till the onions become transparent. Don't let it become brown.
5. Add 1 handful of curry leaves and 2-3 finely chopped green chillies and saute it for a few more minutes.
6. Add the sliced vegetables and saute well.
7. Now add 1 cup of thin coconut milk *, salt and bring it to boil.
8. Lower the flame, cover and cook it till vegetables are soft for around 10 mins.
9. Now add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of thick coconut milk * and cook for another five more minutes.
10. Garnish with curry leaves fried in coconut oil.
11. You can serve this vegetable stew with chapatis, appams or rice.

*Thick and Thin Coconut milk

1. Take 1/2 coconut and grate it. Blend it in the mixer with water and a pinch of salt to a fine paste. Strain the first batch and this gives you thick coconut milk
2. When the same leftover coconut is again blended in the mixer with more water and strained, you get a batch of thin coconut milk.

I like vegetable clear soup and recently cooked this for my 8 month old. She loved it too - so guess I will make this more often from now on.

Method
1. Heat 1 tsp ghee and 1 tsp butter in a pan. Add 1 finely chopped small onion and saute till pink.
2. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped and saute. Add 3-4 tsp each of carrot finely chopped, beans finely chopped, cabbage finely chopped, sweet corn chopped into smaller pieces and saute the vegetables for 2-3 mins.
3. Add 3 cups of water to the pan and let the vegetables cook.
4. When the veggies are almost cooked, add 3 tsp of cornflour mixed in water (such that there are no lumps) and add it to the pan.
5.Mix the corn flour with 5 tsp's of water without any lumps and add it to the pan.
Adjust the salt according to taste and let the soup cook for more 4-5 mins,

6. Add  pepper powder according to taste and garnish with spring onion greens and serve.

For my baby, I took out some soup before adding the pepper and spring onions - she just loved the taste.

Hubby loves the Kurma served in the Udupi hotels in Karnataka along with Puri. So tried this recipe from aayisrecipes.com and it tasted as good as the one served in hotels. 

Method
1. Take 2 tsp oil in a pan. Roast 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 inch cinamon, 4-5 pepper, 2-3 cloves, 4-5 red chillies and 1 tsp fennel seeds. Grind with 1 cup freshly grated coconut to a coarse paste.
2. In the same pan, fry 1 onion finely chopped. Add 1 cup peas, 1 medium sized potato cut into cubes, 1/2 cup of cauliflower florets, 1 tomato cut into cubes, 1/2 cup beans. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and salt and let it cook to a boil.
3. When almost cooked, add ground masala and salt. Bring it to boil. 

Serve hot with Puris for breakfast. can also be served as a side dish for lunch/dinner.