Idiyappam with Vegetable Stew & Sweet Coconut Milk

I lived in a Catholic hostel run by Malayali nuns for 2 years in Bangalore. It was then that I was introduced to the vast variety of Kerala food. And of course, on my multiple trips to Kerala during those years, I tried these recipes in multiple forms in the most authentic places and grew to like it. Initially, I would hate Beetroot Poriyal, red rice. Thoran or Veg Korma, but I grew to like them gradually. But there were some foods that I tried for the very first time and instantly loved them. Some top ones are Malabar Parotta, Puttu Kadala, Appams, Inji Curry and Idiyappam with vegetable stew and sweet coconut milk. They became such a favourite that I recreate them occasionally at home now.

One such dish that I am going to talk about is Idiyappam or steamed noodles made out of rice powder. They are traditionally had with vegetable stew and sweet coconut milk. Vegetable stew is a coconut milk-based gravy made with an instant spice mix. It is creamy and tasty.

I am going to share this recipe of this combo today – Idiyappam with vegetable stew and sweet coconut milk. It is a pretty healthy meal and I love cooking this for my weekend brunches. I had learnt this authentic recipe on New Year’s Eve at a friend’s house in Mangalore several years ago.

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 25 minutes
SERVINGS: 10 Idiyappams, 1 bowl Vegetable stew, 1 cup sweet coconut milk
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Medium

INGREDIENTS:   

For the Idiyappam –

1. Rice flour – 1 cup
2. Vegetable oil – 1 tablespoon
3. Boiling Water – 1.5 cups
4. Salt – 1 teaspoon

For the Vegetable Stew –

5. Potato – 1
6. Carrots – 2
7. Beans – a handful
8. Peas – ½ cup
9. Onion – 1, small
10. Curry Leaves – a few
11. Ginger – 1 small piece
12. Poppy seeds – 2 tablespoons
13. Cashews – 10-12
14. Green Chillies – 2
15. Clove – 2-3
16. Black Peppercorns – 2-3
17. Cinnamon stick – 1
18. Green Cardamom – 2-3
19. Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
20. Cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon
21. Coconut milk – 1 cup
22. Water – 1 cup
23. Coconut oil – 1
24. Salt – to taste

For the sweet coconut milk –

25. Jaggery – ½ cup
26. Water – 1 cup
27. Cardamoms – 2-3
28. Cinnamon powder- a pinch
29. Coconut milk – 1 cup

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

1. Idiyappam mould
2. Idli Steamer
3. Grinder
4. Non-Stick Wok/Kadhai

RECIPE:

For the Idiyappam –

1. Take a cup of rice flour in a wok and dry roast it for a few minutes of medium heat. Make sure that it doesn’t get brown.

2. Boil 1.5 cups of water in a non-stick wok and add some oil and salt to it.
3. Mix the roasted rice powder in it and keep mixing rapidly with a wooden spoon.
4. Once it is nicely mixed and gets to a soft dough consistency, cover it with a lid and let it rest for 15 minutes.

5. In the meantime, add water to a steamer and let it heat up to make steam.
6. Grease the idli moulds.
7. Now fix the noodle shape towards one end of the idiyappam mould and add a small log-shaped piece of the rice dough to it.

8. Press the mould directly into the greased idli moulds to make a small mound.

9. Keep them in the steamer for 10 minutes and let them rest for another 10 minutes before opening.

For the Vegetable Stew –

10. Chop beans, potato, carrots and add them to a pan with boiling water. Add some peas too and some salt. Cover them up and let them cook for 15 minutes on low heat.

11. Take poppy seeds, black cardamom, cloves, cashews, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick and green chillies into a grinder with half a cup of water.

12. Grind it into a smooth paste.
13. Take a little coconut oil in a wok and add some cumin and mustard seeds.
14. Add finely chopped pieces of onion, ground ginger and a few curry leaves to it.

15. Now add the spice paste and let it cook for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
16. Strain the boiled vegetables. Save the water to adjust the consistency of the stew later.
17. Add the boiled vegetables to the wok and add some salt as well.
18. Now add the coconut milk and mix well.

19. Add some water left from the boiling vegetables if the stew is too dense.

For the sweet coconut milk –

20. Add jaggery and water to a pan and keep it on medium to high heat. I used ground jaggery, so it didn’t take me too long to mix it up.

21. Now add powder of 2-3 cardamom pods to the mix and a little cinnamon powder.
22. Add some coconut milk and turn down the heat to the lowest.
23. Keep stirring for 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat.

Serve hot steamed Idiyappam with vegetable stew and sweet coconut milk on banana leaves.