A thick curry made with yam and banana, with a yogurt and coconut base…
For the second post for the theme “A dish for each course of a meal” for the Blogging Marathon #138, I am going to post the recipe of a dish, which is impossible to read correctly with the English spelling, so if you can read Malayalam, I am leaving it here – കാളന്. Anyway, not digressing too much into its name, Kaalan is a very thick stew made with yam and raw banana – yes, the same vegetables as the Koottucurry -, with a base of a sour yogurt and coconut base. The interesting bit in this recipe is the addition of fenugreek, which is not a very common ingredient as far as vegetarian cooking is concerned.
This curry uses sour curd along with a ground coconut mixture. I kept the yogurt out on my countertop overnight to make it sour. The process is quite easy with very limited spices. There are two ways of serving this – as a loose curry simply called Kaalan or as a thick side dish called as Kurukk Kaalan. I have mentioned the difference in the notes in the recipe card. After I made this curry and tasted it, I realized that this was one curry umma used to make once upon a time. I really don’t think she has made it anytime in the near future, since the taste felt really nostalgic to me. I am glad that I came across a dish that I can make as a repeat for my lunch menus now… Off to the recipe…
Kaalan | Kerala Kurukk Kalan | Katti Kaalan
Ingredients
- 1 large raw banana around 250-300 gm
- 250-300 gm yam
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- 1 cup sour yogurt refer notes
FOR GRINDING
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 3 green chillies
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
FOR TEMPERING
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 5-6 dried red chillies
- 1-2 sprigs curry leaves
Instructions
- Roughly peel (not completely) and chop the raw banana. Peel and chop the yam too in similar sized pieces. Wash well and set aside to drain.
- In a chatti (earthern pot), add the chopped vegetables along with water upto its level, turmeric powder and salt. Bring to boil.
- Cook till the vegetables are almost done.
- Meanwhile, grind the coconut with the other ingredients under "for grinding" till it is nice and smooth. Add a little water as needed.
- Keep the flame on simmer. Whisk the yogurt well along with pepper powder and add into the cooked vegetables. Give a good mix.
- Add the coconut paste and mix well. Simmer for around 5-8 minutes till the raw smell is gone. Switch off and adjust seasoning.
- To temper, heat coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds. Fry the dry chillies and curry leaves briefly and add into the gravy.
- Close and allow the mixture to rest till the time of serving.
You are posting recipes of my fav foods one after another! My mother used to make kalan a lot, so it’s always a nostalgic dish for me..
Another favorite of mine! I love the festive sadya recipes you have shared and I am thinking to knock your door to enjoy these curries hehe…. Now with this recipe, I will be making and enjoying.