Kerala Sadya Olan.

My previous post was about Kalan, a delicious festival dish for Kerala Sadya that features coconut and yogurt as its base. Given the similarity in names, I thought it fitting to follow up with a post on Olan, another essential dish in Kerala Sadya. Olan is also a staple in vegetarian weddings, and those who’ve attended such events likely know its charm. You can explore my other Kerala Sadya recipes for more traditional dishes.

Olan is typically made with black-eyed beans (cowpeas) and ash gourd (Kumbalanga) or pumpkin (Mathanga). Although I prefer using ash gourd, I couldn’t find it this time, so I used pumpkin instead. Both ingredients work well together or separately in this traditional recipe. I learned this recipe from my neighbor Stephy, who also shared her Kalan recipe with me. Thanks to Stephy, I’ve been making Olan frequently since then. It’s a dish I truly enjoy! Olan is cooked in coconut oil, which adds a wonderful fragrance when tempered into the curry. The result is a creamy, flavorful dish that pairs perfectly with hot rice. It’s surprisingly simple to prepare, and we all loved it from the first time I made it. Wishing you a Happy Vishu in advance

Wishing you a Happy Onam in advance! You might be interested in exploring other Onam Sadya recipes on this blog, Seenas Food Basket.

Serves : 6

Author: Seena

Ingredients for Making Olan:

Black Eyed Beans (Vanpayar) – ½ cup
Yellow Pumpkin – 2cups
Green Chilliy – 2 nrs., (slit lengthwise)
Thin Coconut Milk – ½ cups
Thick Coconut Milk – 1 cup
Salt – to taste
Coconut Oil – 2 tbsp.
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp.
Curry Leaves – 2 sprigs
Water – as needed

How to Make Kerala Olan:

Soak the black eyed red beans overnight. On the next day, wash and drain it. Pressures cook the beans with little water and salt on high flame, then reduce the flame and wait for another couple of whistles. Turn off the stove.

Peel the pumpkin into small cubes. Cook the pumpkin with salt and green chillies in ½ cup of water. When it is almost done, add the thin coconut milk and cook until it is done. Add the cooked beans to the pumpkin and cook it again for another couple of minutes.
Pour in thick coconut milk and simmer it for another couple of minutes. Keep stirring, otherwise it tends to curdle fast. Turn off the flame and remove from the stove.

Season the curry by heating oil, then adding mustard seeds, when it cracks, add shallots. When it turns golden brown, add curry leaves. Pour this to the dish and mix well. Keep the curry covered for some time, so that the pumpkin and red beans absorb all the flavours.

Kerala Olan is now ready to be served.

My Recipe Notes and Tips on Kerala Olan Recipe:

1. If you do not soak beans overnight, you can soak it in the boiled water for one hour.
2. Don’t overcook the pumpkin and red beans to hold its shape. I soaked beans overnight and pressure cooked it for four whistles. I have reduced the flame to low medium after the first whistle. Then 2 more whistles are enough as I have soaked it overnight.
3. I didn’t use the stock of the beans to prepare the curry as it makes the dish reddish. Drain the stock and use it to make another yummy sauce. My Mom makes the red beans stock as a sauce after seasoning it and adding different spices. It tastes awesome with steamed rice.
4. Once you pressure cook beans, keep it closed till the pressure drops on its own.
5. If you are not using pressure cooker for cooking beans, cook the beans until it is soft, but not mushy.
6. You can even cook olan in water instead of second coconut milk, but making olan in the second coconut milk will definitely enhance its taste.
7. I used home made coconut milk this time, so have taken the first coconut milk which is thick and second coconut milk which is thin. Make homemade coconut milk by adding two cups of luke warm water to the shredded coconut and squeezing it well through the colander or even you can use a blender to do the same work. Make the second extract of coconut milk by using 4 cups of water again to the already squeezed coconut and do the same procedure once again.
8. After adding the thick coconut milk, put it in simmer as it tends to curdle.
9. Olan tends to get thick after some time, so adjust the consistency accordingly while you make .
Happy Cooking and enjoy Olan..

Pictorial of Kerala Olan:

Serve Olan.. 

Cheers..

Seena..

N.B:

Please Subscribe to our Our Youtube Channel, ‘Seenas Food Basket’.

To get all the latest updates, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. It will keep us motivated.

You have an option to add your Comment on our website. Just go to the recipe page and scroll down. You can see the space provided there to comment. Pls. add your feedback there both, positive and negative.

Hope you liked our Recipes with its step by step explanation and the ‘TIPS’ and ‘RECIPE NOTES’. Pls. support us by SHARING it and clicking on the ‘LIKE’ button of our Facebook Page, so that you will get our latest recipes on your news feed without missing them.

Try out this and let us know what you think.. We love to see your creations. So, when you try out this recipe, take a picture and email it to seenasfoodbasket@gmail.com.