Vegetable Stew with Coconut Milk (Thengaipal Sodhi)

I love stews, especially during cold weather.  The coconut milk flavor combined with mild spices is a perfect combination for many everyday meals like rice, idli, dosa, idiyappam etc. Packed with fresh veggies and mild spices, this sure is a winner in our home.  This originally is a slow cooking recipe and if you ever have that extra time, you can toss all the ingredients together in a slow cooker and let it cook over night. I tried it just once and the taste was out of the world! However, the quicker stove-top version also comes out quite nice.

This dish is famous in southern part of my home state and I have already posted a different version of this here.  Every region has its own flavor and offers different twists to the same dish and this one is very different in my opinion.

Ingredients:

Cabbage - 1 inch pieces - 1/2 cup
Drumsticks - 2 inch pieces - 5 (Optional)
Yellow Pumpkin - 1 inch cubes - 1/2 cup
Peas - 1/2 cup
Potato - 1 inch cubes - 1/2 cup
Carrots - small cubes - 1/2 cup
Brinjal - 1 inch cubes - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coconut milk - 1.5 cups
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

For the paste:

• Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
• Roasted chana dal/Chana Dalia/Porikadalai - 2 tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• G.chillies - 4 

(I add a litle extra of all the above if I plan to have it with rice so the flavor stays when mixed with hot rice too)
Procedure:

• Chop the veggies as mentioned above.
• Dilute half of the coconut milk with 2 cups of water. Heat a large wide pan, add the diluted coconut milk, turmeric, salt, drumsticks and brinjals. If using American eggplants, you can add them at a later stage since they can get cooked fast. Let them cook for a few mins.
• After the veggies are semi cooked, add all the remaining veggies and cook for a few more mins. Add little water if needed.
• While the veggies are cooking, make as paste with the ingredients listed above for the paste. Add this paste to the vegetables, add the remaining coconut milk and simmer for 10-15 mins until the flavors are well blended and the veggies are fully cooked.
• Heat oil in a small pan, season with mustard leaves and curry leaves. Pour on top of the stew and cover immediately. Remove from heat.
• Mix the seasoning well, before serving. Serve hot with Rice, dosa or idiyappam. I actually enjoy just the stew in a bowl!