Olan
A pale, mild Kerala stew of ash gourd and black-eyed beans simmered in coconut milk, seasoned with green chilli and finished with coconut oil.
Photograph credit: Olan by Kavya Manohar · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
What Goes With It
- Steamed rice
- Avial
- Pappadam
- Kerala fish curry
How to Cook Olan
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Put the gourd, chillies, water and salt in a pan. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes until just tender.
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Add the black-eyed beans and thin coconut milk and warm through gently for 3 minutes.
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Lower the heat and stir in the thick coconut milk. Warm for 2 minutes without letting it boil.
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Off the heat, stir in the coconut oil and curry leaves.
Worth Knowing Before You Cook
Do not let the coconut milk boil.
Slit the chillies rather than chop them for a mild heat.
Taste for salt before the coconut oil goes in.
Changing the Recipe
- If coconut is a problem, a cooking cream (dairy or plant-based) can stand in for the coconut milk in a sauce; the dish will lose the coconut flavour and taste noticeably different.
- Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
Keeping What's Left
Best eaten the day it is made. Keeps in the fridge for 1 day.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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