Kerala Stew — Pale Coconut Milk Vegetable Curry (ഇഷ്ടൂ)

Kerala, particularly the Syrian Christian (Nasrani) community; 'ishtu' is the Malayalamisation of the English 'stew' — a direct linguistic record of the British colonial period's culinary exchange

Kerala ishtu (ഇഷ്ടൂ, from English 'stew' via colonial contact) is a pale, barely-spiced, coconut-milk-based vegetable or meat preparation that is virtually white in colour — turmeric is often absent entirely — made with whole spices (cardamom, clove, cinnamon, bay leaf, pepper) that are removed before serving, fresh vegetables (potato, carrot, French beans, pearl onion), and a coconut milk of deliberately light concentration. The lightness is the point: ishtu is the companion to appam, and the soft, fragrant, gently spiced broth is designed to soak into the appam's thick spongy centre without overpowering it.

Appam with ishtu is the canonical Kerala Sunday breakfast. The pale stew's gentle, aromatic quality contrasts with the lacy, slightly sour appam. No strong flavours, no aggression — the meal is an exercise in delicacy.