5 Vegetables Cooked in Coconut Milk

5 Vegetables in Coconut Milk

The people of Bengal in India cook a vegetable curry using a mixture of 3, 5 or 7 different vegetables. The vegetables are of different colours, texture and taste. In this dish I have used white potatoes & radish which have a firm texture and bland taste, orange sweet potatoes and green peas that are sweet and melt in your mouth, and purple Japanese eggplant with the skin on that are soft. A squeeze of lime at the end of cooking gives it a tangy flavour that goes well with the rich creaminess of the coconut milk.

All the vegetables are cut in cubes of similar size.

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 russet  potato, peeled and cubed
1 daikon radish, peeled and cubed
2 Japanese eggplant, cut in half lengthwise and cut in half moon shapes
1 cup frozen green peas
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Tempering: 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
2 bay leaves

Sauce: 
1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste

½ tsp. Bengali garam masala

1 tsp. Kashmiri Mirch or chili powder to taste

¼ tsp. turmeric

Salt to taste

2 cups water, set to simmer

1 (8 oz.) can coconut milk

Garnish:
juice of 1 lime

chopped cilantro
1 tsp. ghee

Directions:

1. Add simmering water to sauce ingredients, stir into a paste and set aside.
2. In a skillet, heat 4 Tbsp. oil over medium-high heat.
3. Sputter tempering ingredients, & cook sweet potatoes, russet potatoes and radish until almost cooked.
4. Stir in eggplant and peas along with sauce ingredients.
5. Cover & simmer until potatoes are cooked.
6. Add coconut milk, adjust salt, bring to a boil & simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
7. Pour lime juice over vegetables and stir well.
8. Garnish with cilantro and ghee.

Serve over steamed Basmati rice or with naan/chapatis.