06 September 2013

Kerala Olan curry

Onam_sadya_curry_olan


Today is Chitra (According to the Malayalam calendar the day of the star has changed so Chitra (second day of Onam) falls on 9/8/2013).Anyways,(in advance) Chitra is the second day of ten day long Onam carnival.Every Mallus/Keralites will be doing a countdown to the finale/celebration with the entire family,relatives especially at their ancestral home.Every house will begin to look spic and span ,bustling with relatives, girls busy with making pookalams,a floral design and adding a new layer of design to the first day pookalam,the motto being during the final day celebartion,Thiruonam ,the pookalam/rangoli's size should be ten times the first day (though it's made that big at colleges or any Onam functions mostly) and this is the highlight of today rest everyone are busy preparing the shopping list,every shop flooded with people,people away from their home town making plans to reach their ancestral home ASAP,TV full of Onam special program previews,at night kids disguised as tigers and dancing from house to house which is famously known as "pulikali'.There is something special everyday like joy gets multiplied ,sorrows substracted,fun added......

Onam_pookalam


Now that my parents are happily settled in Kerala, I got a chance to watch all these Onam special programs and I really cherish them. This is the day I see at my home and my grandma's home plus my all relatives' houses, heaps of coconuts collected from the coconut trees surrounding the houses/farm and today my recipe is based on that curry which is exclusively made with the coconut milk called Olan curry. It is the easiest and simplest curry of the sadya, in fact a vegetable stew it is.I prepare it for Sadya only otherwise for me it is a very bland curry with hardly any spices and I am a spice girl, yeahhh..spice girl 2 in making :P anyone interested to join the band? Let's make a "Spice up your life" - part 2 song.. what say ?? :O) ...decide and let me know :P and meanwhile I am gonna say how I make Olan curry :

Here's the Kerala Olan curry recipe :

Ingredients:

Black eyed peas/Red gram/Vanpayar - 1/2 cup
Ash gourd - 1 cup
Pumpkin - 1 cup (Optional)
Slit Green Chili - 3
Thin coconut milk - 1 1/2 cup
Thick coconut milk - 3/4 cup
Coconut oil - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon (optional)
Dry red chili - 1 (optional)
Curry leaf - 1 sprig

Preparation method:


  1. Soak the red gram/black eyed beans overnight for like 6-8 hours .
  2. Pressure cook it for about 1 to 2 whistles till it softens up.
  3. Dice the Ash gourd and the pumpkins , slit the green chilies , add the above cooked red gram and boil them with the thin coconut milk.
  4. Temper them with mustard seeds, red dry chili and curry leaves in coconut oil .
  5. Finally add the thick milk, give a stir and put off the stove.
  6. Kerala Olan is ready .
Notes:
  1. Canned ready made black eyed beans can be used. Discard the broth , rinse it and use it.
  2. Tempering with mustard seed, red chili is optional.
  3. To make coconut milk 


Happy Chitra (in advance) !!