Stew - Kerala Style


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Kerala-style stew also known as Ishtu is a well-known festive dish made from Coconut milk usually prepared in the family for celebrations such as Christmas, Easter or occasionally on Sundays. It is usually best served with Appam or goes well with bread as well. The stew is served for breakfast or even as an appetizer to a three-course meal on special occasions.


Ingredients

Ingredient Preperation method Quantity Group
Chicken/Meat sliced half Kg  
CashewNuts slit 1 Tbsp  
Raisins Whole 1 Tbsp  
Onion Finely sliced 3 nos X
GreenChilli Center Slit 3 nos X
Ginger Finely julienned 1/2 inch piece X
CurryLeaves Whole 1 Pinch X
Thick CoconutMilk Ready-to-use/Prep 2 cups  
Thin CoconutMilk Ready-to-use/Prep 4 cups  
Potatos Peeled Diced 3 nos  
Carrots Peeled Diced 3 nos  
Ghee/Butter Whole 2 Tbsp  
Clove Whole 3 nos  
BlackPepper Whole 2 nos  
Cardamom Whole 3 nos  
Cinamon Whole 2 1 inch nos  
BlackPepper Powder 2 tsp  
Cardamom Powder 4 tsp  
Salt   1 tsp  

Pre-cooking

Veggies

  • Boil and peel Potato and Carrots before dicing. This helps in blending
  • Other vegetables such as Greenpeace, Green beans, Babycorn etc. could be added but do not require pre-cooking. These could be added while sauteing

Meat

  • Chicken - Marinate chicken with salt and pepper and half fry it in a pan
  • Red Meat - Pressure-cook it to the needed level (2-3 whistles recommended) with a few onions (sliced), ginger (1 inch, sliced), Chilli (3 nos) and salt as needed

Coconut milk

A Coconut and a cup of water yield two cups of thick milk and four cups of thin Coconut milk.
Ready-to-use Coconut milk is also available in the market. Dilute as per desired qualities of Thick and Thin milk

  • Grind shredded raw Coconut along with half a cup of water in the grinder to the medium-fine state
  • Use Cheesecloth to squeeze the desired amount of thick Coconut milk and save the residue
  • Add more water to the residue and grind it again lightly
  • Strain the mix using the Cheesecloth again to obtain the desired amount of Thin Coconut milk

Cooking

  • Add 2 Tbsp Ghee/Butter to the pot
  • Saute Cashew till brown and add raisins
  • Add Group “x” to the pan and saute until onions start turning light brown
  • Add 1 tsp salt
  • Add extra veggies if chosen
  • Add 3 Cloves and 2 1-inch pieces of Cinamon
  • Add 3 whole pepper and cardamom and saute till the aroma comes out
  • Add thin Coconut Milk
  • Add powdered black pepper (2 tsp) and cardamom (4 tsp)
  • Add pre-cooked meat and vegetables
  • Stir the pot well and let it boil for 10 minutes
  • After everything is blended well in the heat add Thick Coconut Milk
    • reduce the flame to a minimum and keep stirring while adding the thick milk
    • Do not let the pot boil after adding thick Coconut milk
  • Add Cardamom powder if required for seasoning
  • Switch off the flame at the first bubbles of boil
  • Stir one last time and let the pot rest for 10 minutes