Olan - A Kerala vegeterian sadya delicacy

               So... Where to start?

            After leaving blogging behind for almost five months, I seriously don't know how to start again..

          My fingers feel numb from laziness... and my brain refuses to exude anything intelligible..

      Guess what! I seriously believe, these organs would become vestigial if you don't use it for a long time.. ;)

So, let's stop poking the past... and begin again...

      After a long vacation in India, precisely Kerala, what comes to my mind is one of the simple vegetarian sadya dishes which hails from God's Own Country, Olan.

I have had the picture in my draft for some time.. and thought to post it so as to start blogging again. Actually I have no time to take pictures after I cook the food ... upload it.. brighten it.. caption it... blah blah! Right now, my life is running at sixty miles an hour.. or at a higher pace... and I need to sit tight to stop myself from falling off.

      So, what was I talking about? Oh yes! Olan !

A simple dish with very few ingredients and very less spices (or not at all), it is a treat for the taste buds with its mild, yet outstanding flavour. Me and Mr.KB are Olan nuts, if you may call so, because we are simply fond of this vegetarian delicacy . As far as I know, pure coconut milk and pure coconut oil is what imparts that supple sweet flavour which even a hard core non-vegetarian decline to unnotice.

      After having fish and meet for a long week, my family craves for something 'all vegetarian'.A few days of all vegetarian meal, keeps them in demand for non-vegetarian. So, once or twice in a week,  I make all vegetarian meal for lunch, which my family enjoys with much ardor  One of the dishes which frequents these meals is Olan, which became a family favorite ever since I started making it at home.

Olan Recipe

Black eyed beans / van payar, soaked overnight and cooked- 1 cup

Ash gourd,skinned & cut to small square pieces                    - 2 cups

String beans, cut into pieces of 1&1/2 inch length                   - 1/2 cup                                              

Butter pumpkin, cut to square pieces(optional)                       - 1&1/2 cup  

Green chillies, ground                                                            - 2

Thick coconut milk                                                                - 1 cup

Dried red chillies,split into two                                                - 3

Curry leaves                                                                           - 2 sprigs

Coconut oil                                                                             - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

•  Cook ash gourd, pumpkin, string beans and dried red chillies together with 1/2 cup water and adequate salt.
• When the vegetables are well cooked (almost mushy),add ground green chillies and cooked beans to it and cook further for 5 minutes.
• When the gravy starts drying up, add the coconut milk and stir well.Switch off the heat and pour coconut oil over the Olan. Add curry leaves and stir to combine.
• Serve hot with rice.