Vegetable Stew Appam-Style

Appams are a very delicious crêpe-type thingy made of rice batter and coconut milk, eaten in many parts of southern India and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, I can’t make them.

I can, however, make a mean vegetable stew of the kind usually served with appams. It’s ridiculously easy too!

Get together:

• 1 onion, small – thinly sliced
• Button mushrooms, chopped – 50 gms
• Carrots, chopped small – 50 gms
• Green peas – 50 gms
• Coconut milk – 2 to 3 tbsp
• Big cardamom – 1 big pod
• Cloves – 4
• Cinnamon – 1 one-inch stick, broken into smaller bits
• Bay leaf – 1
• Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp, scant
• Salt – to taste
• Water – as needed

Heat up a wok or other pot, and turn down the heat to a steady low. Add big cardamom pod, cloves and cinnamon bits. Toast for about 45 seconds, then add bay leaf. Toast for another minute. When you get a light whiff of the aroma of the spices, add onions. When onions start to brown a bit, add mushrooms and carrots. Cook for another couple minutes or so. Add enough water to just about cover the vegetables and bring to a gentle boil. Add peas and pepper, cover and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes, till vegetables are done. Add salt and coconut milk. Mix well. Turn off heat when you see a gentle bubbling. Cover and let the stew sit for about 10 minutes before eating.

With some steamed rice, this amount of stew serves one very hungry person, such as me.

Coconut Lemon Dessert

I made a coconut lemon cheesecake mousse thingamajig. I haven’t yet figured out how to make it set like cheesecake, so this is more of an outline than a recipe. Do try it though – this is a refreshing dessert that’s rich and light at the same time. Very easy to make too, though it doesn’t look great or photograph well.

As a bonus, you get to drink the water of one green coconut. Choose a coconut with a good bit of thick pulp, not soft and thin but not hardened like a mature coconut either. Somewhere in between. Don’t forget to rinse the pulp once you’ve scooped it out, unless you want to feed your friends dessert with your spit in it. Gross.

You need:

• Thick coconut pulp – from 1 green coconut
• Lemon juice – 4 to 5 tsp (Increase if you like your lemon desserts extra lemony, like me.)
• Deseeded dates – 7 to 10, to taste
• Vanilla powder – 1/16 tsp
• Salt – 1/16 tsp, scant

Soak dates in as small a quantity of hot water as possible while submerging them fully. When soft, add to blender/ other mixing contraption (I used the wet grinding jar of mine) along with other ingredients. Break up the coconut pulp into smaller pieces before adding.

Blend till very very smooth, turning off the motor in between to give it rest. The amount of time needed depends on the power of your blender/ mixer/ food processor’s motor. Taste to make sure mixture isn’t grainy and adjust any flavours you want to (more dates/ lemon juice/ vanilla/ salt to make the flavours pop).

Pour into glasses/ bowls and refrigerate for a few hours before eating. Enjoy!

Pineapple Curry

Once upon a time when I was a teenager who couldn’t cook at all, I saw someone make a pineapple curry on a cooking show. I scrambled to get some pen and paper to note down the recipe, and barely managed to get the key ingredients down. I don’t know if I got it right but that doesn’t matter because this tastes really good!

You need:

• Pineapple chunks (I used one small fresh pineapple)
• Coconut milk – 8 to 10 tbsp
• Ginger, finely chopped or minced – 1/3 tsp
• Curry leaves – 10
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp, level
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp, level
• Green cardamom pod – 1, big
• Red chilli powder – 1/8 tsp, or more to taste
• Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
• Salt – to taste

Heat up a wok (or other pan), turn down heat and toast mustard seeds till they start popping vigourously. Throw in the cardamom pod and toast for a few seconds. Add cumin seeds and toast for about 10 more seconds. Then the curry leaves go in and when they begin to dry out, it’s time to put in the ginger. When the ginger starts to stick, add a splash of water, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Stir and cook for about a minute.

Add pineapple chunks, mix well and let them heat through. Pour in the coconut milk and a few splashes of water as needed. Cover and let it come to a gentle simmer. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off heat and mix in salt. Let the curry sit for 10 to 15 minutes before you dig in!

I’ve only tried this with plain steamed rice, but I bet it would taste great with biryani, pulao or fried rice.