Kaalan is a staple in any Kerala Sadya especially for Onam Sadya. The usual kaalan recipe has both elephant yam (chena) and raw bananas (pachakkai). I add only yam since that’s more readily available here. Also, its important that the curd is slightly sour, otherwise the curry will taste a bit ‘flat’. Adding a bit of tamarind might take care of this, I haven’t tried that though.
Kaalan
Ingredients:
Curd – 1.5 cups lightly beaten to remove lumps, best if slightly sour
Elephant yam (chena) – 1/2 cup, cubed
Coconut – 1/2 cup
Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Green chillies – 2 to 3
Fenugreek seeds (uluva) – 1/4 tsp
Dried red chillies – 2
Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – a few
How to Make Kaalan
1. Heat 1 cup water with the yam pieces and cook till almost done. (A fork inserted should come out easily. Make sure that the pieces are not mushy, just cooked). Meanwhile, grind coconut with green chillies well, with very little water.
2. Add salt, pepper powder and turmeric powder to the pan.
3. Lower the fire to minimum and add the beaten curd along with the ground coconut. After about five minutes, removed from fire and set aside.
4. Heat oil in a pan and temper mustard seeds. Lightly fry the fenugreek seeds (take care not to burn it!) with the curry leaves and the red chillies. Add this to the above curry and mix well.
seems to be working fine! 🙂
🙂 this is my dads all time fav dish…
Just one point. Your recipe says oil. It can't be just any oil. It has to be coconut oil only. It just does'nt taste the same with any other oil. Even if you a flavourless oil for tempering, finally add a generous dollop of raw coconut oil after removing the kaalan from the fire. Simply divine even if TH does not agree.
You are right, of course Krishna
Thanks for dropping by Gopi. Totally agree on the oil-separating step 🙂
Hi
I like you am one of those Keralites that has lived anywhere but Kerala! What is it about some of us?
That said, the main reason I write is that I love Kerala food execpt that most staple of all – sambhar. I just dislike it. So when I visit Kerala, I have to make up excuses about why I don't like sambhar – allergy to drumsticks; too many onions; no potatoes or too many potatoes (flatulence) etc., etc.
Well there we go……………..!!
Quick food comment. I find that the single most necessary step in any Indian recipe is the need for the oil to seperate from the onion/gravy/masala. After that it is a dream.
Best wishes
GK
Would recommend you to post more Kerala veg recipes. Your Blog is promising enough and would be a great tool for the aspiring “better moms” and the newly wed. thanks a ton.
Nag, this is called pulisseri and is really easy to make..mostly we use mampazham, ethapazham etc. for this..also we use elavan, yam, plantain etc…kalan ususally takes much longer to prepare..you have to add the curd and leave for long and once prepared that looks somewhat like a semi solid item..
Preetha – Yeah, I know the usual kaalan they serve in sadya is much thicker. I just prefer it watery.
My mom makes pulissery in a different way. The consistency is the same but the ingredients differ slightly. Will post that soon 🙂
This is an excellent photograph.