Easy Malabar Veggie Curry
My vegan version of Keralan Malabar Curry features white beans and seasonal veggies simmered in a fragrant coconut sauce. Use other proteins with this delicious sauce for variation. This recipe is gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For coconut paste:
- ½ cup of shredded coconut, fresh or frozen coconut or use dried shredded
- 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 clove
- 2 green cardamom pods or use 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
For the sauce:
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- ½ inch ginger, minced
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne or Indian red chili powder , use less for less heat
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 4 ounces tomato puree, canned unseasoned purée
- 2 cups Chopped vegetables such as cauliflower, sweet potato, carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas etc.
- 15 ounce can white beans, drained or 1 ¼ cup cooked. You can also use chickpeas and other beans here.
- ¾ teaspoon of salt or to taste
- Cilantro and lemon juice for garnish
Instructions
- Coconut paste: Add all ingredients for the coconut paste to small skillet over medium heat and cook until coconut is golden. Once coconut starts to turn golden, you want to stir it frequently otherwise it will burn.
- Transfer this mixture to blender with 1 cup of water. Blend until the coconut breaks down into somewhat coarse paste, you don’t want the coconut to be visible, blend until almost smooth.
- Make the sauce: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.,Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let them start to pop.
- Then quickly add the curry leaves, carefully because curry leaves can cause hot oil to splash. optional: Once popping settles, reserve about half of this tempering for garnish for later (this is optional)
- Then add in onion, ginger, garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Cook until the onion is golden, then add in turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne and black pepper and mix well for another minute.
- Then add in tomato puree and blended coconut paste and mix well. Add in the vegetables, white beans and salt. Mix, cover and cook for 11-15 minutes.
- Stir in between to check if vegetables are cooking evenly. As soon as vegetables are cooked to preference, switch off the heat.
- Open the lid. If too saucy continue to sauté for another minute or switch off the heat.
- Taste to adjust for salt and flavor and garnish with cilantro, lemon juice and reserved tempering if you’ve kept some. Serve with rice, flat bread, roti or dosa.
Video
Notes
Protein subs; I use canned or cooked white beans. But you can use chickpeas, black eyed peas, crisped tofu, more veggies or soycurls you’ll need to add 1/2 to 1 cup more water with 2-3 oz soycurls
Curry leaves: curry leaves can be found in fresh or dried form in stores or you can also find them online on Amazon. Or use lime leaves as substitute or use bay leaves
Nutrition
Calories: 285kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 536mg | Potassium: 1027mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 241IU | Vitamin C: 81mg | Calcium: 146mg | Iron: 6mg