A quintessential dish of onam feast, kalan is basically raw banana and yam cooked in a spicy yogurt sauce. Lately, I’ve been addicted to this South Indian curry, which is quite similar to pulissery I’ve already posted on the blog. No doubt, it’s definitely worth a try.
Few things before we go to the recipe:
The stars of the dish, raw banana and yam – Traditionally, kalan is made using equal quantities of raw banana and yam. If you’ve a look at my ingredients list, you’ll find that I don’t have any yam. This is because I live in a place where fresh yam is not available. However, the dish was absolutely delicious even without it.
More Kerala sadya (feast) recipes:
- Pulissery
- Pineapple Pachadi
- Beetroot Pachadi
- Raw Mango Pickle
- Lemon Pickle
- Sambar
- Aviyal
- Olan
- Lemon Curry ( Naranga Curry)
Kalan | Raw bananas & Yam in Tangy Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw bananas cut into cubes
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¾ cup grated coconut
- 5-6 green or red chilies sliced
- 2 cups yogurt
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- Water
- Salt to taste
If yam is available, substitute 2 cups raw bananas with 1 cup raw bananas and 1 cup yam.
- Tempered Spices:
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1-2 dried red chilies broken into pieces
- Few curry leaves
- Oil
Instructions
- Place 1 teaspoon ground black pepper in a deep bowl. Pour in ¼ cup water. Mix well. When the water clears, drain. Set aside.
- Fry fenugreek seeds without adding oil, and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.
- Whisk 2 cups yogurt. Set aside.
- Grind grated coconut, cumin seeds, and 2 green chilies to a smooth paste. Add a little bit of water, only if needed. Set aside.
- Place raw bananas (and yam if using), curry leaves, 3-4 green chilies, ground black pepper, ground turmeric, and salt in a deep pan. Pour in water just enough to cover the veggies. Place the pan over medium flame and cook until water dries up.
- Add in ground coconut, and mix well. Add more water to make a thick sauce. Cook again. Check the seasoning, and add more salt if needed.
- When done, sprinkle with ground fenugreek, and remove from flame. Leave it to cool.
- Once cooled, stir in the whisked yogurt.
- Now to temper the spices, heat oil in a pan, and splutter mustard seeds. Add in dried red chilies and curry leaves. Fry for a few seconds.
- Add the tempered spices to kalan and mix well. Serve with rice.
Nutrition
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MyKabulKitchen says
This flavor combination just caught my eye...so unique never though to put these ingredients together yet looks so yummy!