About the recipe
Valval is a simple and easy-to-make recipe from Konkani cuisine where the mixture of seasonal vegetables is cooked in coconut milk, and then basic tempering is added. The final outcome is an aromatic curry with combined flavors from the sweetness of coconut milk and a mixture of veggies. This vegetable dish is vegan, gluten-free, and has no onion and no garlic. Thus it is popularly prepared during the gowri ganesh chaturthi festival and Navratri vrat days.
Valval vs. Vegetable Stew
Ingredients
To make this vegetable curry with coconut milk, you need seasonal vegetables, coconut milk, flour, and Indian standard tempering. Vegetables: This konkani dish tastes the best with more veggies you add. Some traditional vegetables that are added include pumpkin(dudde), sweet potato (kananaga), potato, ash gourd (gardudde), ivy gourd (tendle), Mangalore cucumber(magge), long beans (alsando), green beans, capsicum (donnemirsanga), Indian yam (surnu), raw banana (kele). Coconut milk: Fresh homemade coconut milk tastes the best. But you can even use the store-bought ones. Flour: It is used to make it thick and creamy. If you want to avoid flour completely, then blend the cashew with coconut milk and add it to the gravy. Tempering: Traditionally, coconut oil is used along with cumin seeds, mustard, curry leaves, and red chilies. See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-by-step instructions
Cut the vegetables
I have used pumpkin, potatoes, sweet potato, ivy gourd (tendle), carrot, pumpkin, yellow cucumber (magge), and capsicum in my recipe today. Wash and chop the vegetables to the desired shape. I have chopped all the vegetables in cubes except the carrot, which is chopped into circles.
How to make vegetables in coconut milk
Add the chopped pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, carrot, cashews, and water so that the vegetables are just covered, and bring it to a nice boil for about 5 minutes. Add ivy gourd, yellow cucumber, green chilies, capsicum, and 1 ½ cups of coconut milk, and bring this again to a nice boil and cook on low flame until the vegetables become soft and are cooked through. We are adding vegetables that take a longer time to cook first. Add all-purpose flour to the remaining coconut milk in a bowl and whisk to avoid lumps. Add this to the gravy and salt to taste, bring it to a nice boil, and simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes. Keep stirring it to avoid it burning from the bottom.
Make the tempering
Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the red chile and curry leaves. Switch off the flame. Add this tempering to the gravy. Serve valval or vegetable curry in coconut milk with dalitoy and steamed rice for a complete Konkani vegetarian meal.
Tips
Flour is added so that the curry has a thick and creamy consistency, and it blends everything well. To skip flour, I sometimes grind 5 to 6 cashews with coconut milk to make a rich and thick paste and add it to the gravy. Make sure all the veggies are evenly cooked. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for two days—just reheat before serving. And believe me, this vegetable curry is one of them that tastes good the day after it is prepared as the flavor of vegetables gets infused with coconut milk. Because of the addition of coconut milk, I would not recommend freezing this dish. The heat in this vegetable curry with coconut milk comes from green chilies. Add based on how spicy you like the dish.
More Coconut Milk based recipes
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Recipe card
