Stew

Most christian family in Kerala celebrate easter and christmas with appam & stew. The church service starts around 4 in the morning and I used to wait hungrily for the service to be over, so we can rush back home and eat the freshly made appam and stew. It was one time my grandmother would let me help her in the kitchen. I get to peel the potatoes and onions.

Ingredients
2 potatoes each cut in to 8 pieces
1 carrot cut in to 1/2 inch pieces
1 small onion chopped in to long slivers
6 green chillies split in to two
1 inch ginger chopped very fine
3 cardamom crushed
1 inch piece of cinnamon
1 cup coconut milk
2 tbl spn oil

Heat oil in a pyrex bowl with a lid, add the cardamom and cinnamon and stir for 30 sec, add ginger, fry, now add the onion. Once the onion turns slightly brown add the potatoes, carrots and green chillies. Saute them for 5 mints on medium heat. Add 2 tbl spn coconut milk a cup of water and salt. Cook till the potatoes are done. Add the remaining coconut milk and heat for 2 more mints. If the stew is too watery, smash one or two slices of boiled potatoes and mix in to the gravy.
Now we are observing lent and hence the stew is veg... to make meat stew, add 250 gm of meat along with the potatoes..