Kalan - Kerala Yoghurt Gravy

Kalan is one of my most favorite traditional Kerala dishes. I don't have a picture of this dish, but I am sure you can Bing it.  :) I do have a picture of a yam that was harvested recently from our backyard in Kerala. This one weighed over 13 kilos! :)

Here's how Kalan is made -

Ingredients -

·         Green Plantains or Yam (Suran) – cut into cubes  - 1 cup

You can get green plantains in Asian grocery stores that you can peel & chop, and cut frozen yam (sold as Suran) is sold in the frozen section of your Indian grocery store. Some folks are allergic to yam, so use with caution.

·         Black Pepper – ground -  2 tsp (use fresh)

·         Red Chilli powder -1 tsp

·         Haldi/Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

·         Sour Yogurt/Curd – 2 cups
       Homemade yoghurt left outside to become sour works BEST in this recipe. Of course we don’t have access to this yumminess in the US – so I use a combination of store bought fat-free European style yoghurt & fat-free sour cream in 2:1 ratio

·         Salt to taste

Grind

·         Grated Coconut – ½ cup (you can use frozen) 

·         Jeera/Cumin seeds -1 tsp

·         Green chillies -4 or 5

Seasoning

·         Coconut oil -1 tbsp

·         Mustard seeds -1 tsp

·         Fenugreek/Methi seeds -1/2 tsp

·         Dry red chilly -1 (break it in 2)

·         Curry leaves – a few

Add green plantains/yam cubes with chilli powder, turmeric, salt, ground black pepper with 2 cups of water to a pot, and cook covered until the cubes are cooked and soaked up all the moisture. Don’t cook it too mushy.

Lower the heat and add whipped yoghurt and 1 cup of water.

Simmer and cook for at least 40 min to an hour, stirring occasionally. You will end up with a thick mixture– this can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for over a month if needed.

Whenever you want to eat Kalan, grind the ingredients under the “Grind” section with as little water as possible (don’t use water to grind if you don’t need to).

Add this ground paste + 1 cup of water to the thick yoghurt-vegetable mixture, cook for a few minutes, add salt if needed and season with the ingredients under “Seasoning” section. 

For seasoning, heat coconut oil. Add mustard seeds, and when they splutter, add fenugreek/methi seeds, dry red chilli, and curry leaves and pour it over the Kalan. Serve with rice.

Note - Coconut oil gives you the authentic Kerala taste, but feel free to substitute if you don’t like the flavor.