Bengali style vegetable stew / Mixed vegetable stew recipe with step by step photos. A simple, light, and nutritious vegetable stew recipe made with the goodness of veggies and spices.

This Bengali vegetable stew is perfect to warm you up on cold days. The best part I like about this stew is it’s easy and made with simple ingredients. I love this with some crusty bread in my breakfast or dinner.
Bengali Vegetable Stew
Bengali style stews are filled with big chunks of juicy nutritious vegetables cooked in a lightly spiced broth-like gravy with minimal flavoring.
Ingredients
- Vegetables: raw papaya, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, french beans, green peas, onions, and tomatoes
- Spices – ginger-garlic paste, black peppercorns, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, crushed black pepper, garam masala powder
- Oil – I have used sunflower oil.
- Butter (optional)
- Vegetable stock or Water
- Sea Salt
Instructions
- Heat oil, add green cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon and black peppercorns, and bay leaf. Saute for a few seconds or until fragrant.
- Then add ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes.

- Then add potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, french beans, green peas, onion, and tomato slices, followed by salt. Saute for 5 minutes over medium flame or until golden spots appear.

- Add vegetable stock or water, followed by crushed black pepper, and stir to mix. Cover and cook until the vegetables are cooked.

- Finally, add garam masala powder, crushed black peppercorns, and butter if adding. Stir to mix and serve hot.

Serving: Generally this Bengali style vegetable stew is served with toasted bread or steaming hot rice.
Storage: It tastes best when served hot. However, you can store it for 1-2 days in a refrigerator. Make sure to use an air-tight container.
This is a light, comforting and hearty vegetable stew. Follow each step to get an authentic Bengali vegetable stew taste. Though you can twist the recipe as per your taste bud.
Tips and Variations
- The addition of raw papaya adds a beautiful flavor to it. Hence don’t skip it.
- Mushrooms and sweet corn also go well with this.
- Make sure the consistency of the stew isn’t very thin.
- This vegetable stew can be made in a pressure cooker as well. Just cook for 2-3 whistles.
- You can even use an instant pot too.
- Use green chili for a spicy version.
- Coconut milk can also be used to give it a creamy texture and taste. In that case, cook the vegetables in 1 cup of vegetable stock or water. Then once the veggies are done, add 1 cup of thick coconut milk, simmer the flame and cook for 1 minute. Then remove from flame.
More vegetable recipes:
If you try this recipe, please leave a feedback and rating. You can also tag me @spoonofflavor on Instagram.
Bengali Style Vegetable Stew | Mixed Vegetable Stew
INGREDIENTS ( 1 CUP = 250 ML )
Spices
- 1 bay leaf
- 6-7 black peppercorns or gol marich
- 3 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 cinnamon stick approx 2″
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
Vegetables
- 1 medium onion cut into 4 pieces
- 1 small-medium potato cut into halves
- 2 beans cut into big pieces
- 1 cauliflower floret cut into 4 pieces
- 4 big chunks of raw papaya
- 4 big chunks of carrots
- 2 tbsp fresh green peas
- 1 medium-size tomato cut into 4 slices
Others
- 2 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
- 1 ½ cup vegetable stock or water
- ¼ tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp crushed black pepper
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat oil in a pan. Add black peppercorns, cloves, green cardamoms, cinnamon, and bay leaf. Saute for a few seconds.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes.
- Add all the vegetables together, followed by salt, and continuously saute over a medium flame for 5 minutes or until golden spots appear.
- Now add vegetable stock or water and crushed black pepper. Simmer the flame, cover and cook until vegetables are cooked. Make sure not to overcook.
- Once done, add garam masala powder, crushed black pepper, and butter. Stir to mix.
- Remove from flame and serve hot with toasted bread.
Notes
- The addition of raw papaya adds a beautiful flavor to it. Hence don’t skip it.
- Mushrooms and sweet corn also go well with this.
- Make sure the consistency of the stew isn’t very thin.
- A tsp of butter can be added to enhance the taste.
- This vegetable stew can be made in a pressure cooker as well. In that case, cook for 2-3 whistles.
- You can even use an instant pot too.
- Use green chili for a spicy version.
- Coconut milk can also be used to give it a creamy texture and taste. Just cook the vegetables in 1 cup of vegetable stock or water. Then once the veggies are done, add 1 cup of thick coconut milk, simmer the flame and cook for 1 minute. Then remove from flame.
- It tastes best when served hot. However, you can store it for 1-2 days in a refrigerator.
Leave a Reply