Kaikari Ishtew

After a rather heavy lunch yesterday, mom and me wanted to make something simple and flavorful for dinner so we finally zeroed on lemon rice and Kaikari Ishtew .

Kaikari ishtew is a coconut based dish usually had with appam. We tried it with rice and turned out equally good. I followed Sanjeev Kapoor recipe from Matering the art of Indian cooking  with slight tweaks (reduced the chilli & replaced coconut oil with sunflower oil)
You need :

Carrot - 1 medium cubed
Potato - 1 medium cubed
Cauliflower - 1 small cut in florets
Onion - 2 small chopped finely
Ginger, Garlic paste - 1.5 teaspoon
Cooking oil - 1 teaspoon
Bay leaves - 2
Cinnamon sticks - 2,  1" sticks
Cloves - 4
Star anise - 2
Curry leaves - 10/12 leaves
Green chillies - 2 whole (recipe called for 4 chillies stemmed and slit)
Coconut milk - 1 full cup
Salt to taste
Garam masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon




To prepare the Stew

In a wok add a glass of water and bring to boil.

When water comes to boil, add vegetables and let it cook for 2-3 minutes

Drain hot water and toss vegetables in cold water so it stops cooking.

In the wok add oil, once hot add bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, chillies, curry leaves  and chopped onions.

Saute for a minute

add ginger garlic paste and stir , let the whole mix cook for couple of minutes on low heat

Drain water from vegetables and add it to the wok, add salt and coconut milk

Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes

Once vegetables cooks (make sure it doesn't overcook and becomes mushy)

Add garam masala powder , mix well. Turn off from heat, serve hot !