Kerala olan is a very easy and simple recipe and is an important dish for Onam Sadya. It tastes delicious with a nice fragrance of coconut oil. In different parts of Kerala, Olan is prepared differently. Some people prepare it with pumpkin, some with ash gourd, some with or without red cow peas. Here I am sharing an Olan recipe using ash gourd and colocasia with black eyed peas. I have used store bought coconut milk, which makes this recipe all the more easier. You can use home made coconut milk also for this dish.
For this tasty sadya recipe, you will need…
Ingredients
- 1 cup Ash gourd (kumbalanga)
- ½ cup Colocasia (Chembu )
- 2-3 Green chillies, slit
- ¾ cup Thin coconut milk
- ½ cup Thick coconut milk
- ¼ cup Black eyed peas/vanpayar
- Salt, as required
- Coconut oil
- Curry leaves, a sprig
Method
- Soak black eyed peas overnight and pressure cook with a little salt for 2 whistles. Keep it aside.
- Peel and chop both ash gourd and pumpkin into medium sized pieces.
- Extract coconut milk from half a coconut or use ready-made coconut milk. If using store bought coconut milk, dilute it with water for thin coconut milk.
- Cook both ash gourd and colocasia along with slit green chillies and salt needed in thin coconut milk.
- Once it is cooked, add thick coconut milk, cooked cow peas (vanpayar) and cook over low flame for 5-6 minutes and switch off the heat. (Do not boil too much after adding thick coconut milk). If you want a slightly thick Olan, then add only 1/4 cup thick coconut milk.
- Add curry leaves and drizzle raw coconut oil on top.
- Tasty Kerala Olan is ready to be served!!