Ginger, Salt & Pepper

Another vegetarian dish from Kerala that features heavily in a sadhya (feast) is Kaalan. A yellow mellow but slightly tangy curry at the same time made with a base of coconut milk and curd.

(It is often confused with Moru curry which is a spiced buttermilk based curry)

One can always make a thicker version of this by substituting the coconut milk with 2 1/2 cups of grinded coconut.

Ingredients

4 Green chillies

2 inch cube of Ginger

400 ml Coconut milk

1 cup grinded Coconut (optional)

3/4 cup sour curd (Indian Yogurt)

2 tsp Black Mustard seeds

8-10 Curry leaves

1 tbsp Turmeric powder

2 Dry Red chillies

2 cups Slices of Raw plantain/Ash Gourd/yam/ Madras Cucumber

3/4 cup water

Recipe

1. Grind the green chillies and ginger to a coarse paste

2. Bring oil to medium heat in a pan. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.

3. Once these splutter, add the turmeric powder and dry red chillies and saute for a few seconds.

4. Add the chilli and ginger paste to this and saute till cooked.

5. Add the vegetable pieces at this time with the water and cook till tender on low flame

6. Stir in the coconut milk and grinded coconut and cook for another 5 minutes (or till the smell of the raw coconut milk dissipates) on medium high heat while stirring.

7. Turn off heat and stir in the curd ensuring no curd lumps remain

Serve with hot rice.

P.S: You could also make this with zucchini, though it’s not one of the traditional vegetables used for Kaalan