Kaalan

Pepper leads it, and the curd is stirred one way over a low heat because boiling curdles it.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 600 g raw plantain, or elephant-foot yam, diced
• 500 g sour yoghurt, whisked
• 150 g coconut, grated
• 2 teaspoons black pepper, ground
• 4 green chillies
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 3 dried red chillies
• 20 curry leaves
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 300 ml water

Method

1. PEPPER LEADS IT, AND THE CURD IS STIRRED ONE WAY OVER A LOW HEAT BECAUSE BOILING CURDLES IT. Its article says both plainly. On the pepper: "Pepper is the dominant flavour, set against the sourness of the curd" -- not chilli, and not the coconut. On the curd: it is added OVER LOW HEAT, the dish is SIMMERED RATHER THAN BOILED since boiling makes it curdle, and it is STIRRED IN ONE DIRECTION as it reduces. One direction sounds like superstition and is not: changing direction shears the curd and that is exactly how it breaks.
2. IT IS COOKED DOWN A LONG WAY, AND THAT IS THE DISH. Its article says the mixture is cooked down UNTIL IT THICKENS, that it is MUCH THICKER than pulissery and MORE SOUR THAN AVIAL, and that because so much liquid is cooked off it KEEPS LONGER than a thinner curry. Forty minutes at a low simmer.
3. THE WELL-REDUCED VERSION HAS ITS OWN NAME, WHICH ITS ARTICLE GIVES. Kurukku kalan, after the concentrated consistency, made in larger quantities for a feast.
4. THE PLANTAIN IS BOILED FIRST WITH THE PEPPER AND CHILLIES. Its article's order: diced and boiled with turmeric, pepper, green chillies and salt UNTIL SOFT, before any coconut or curd. So the pepper cooks into the vegetable rather than being stirred in later.
5. THE COCONUT PASTE GOES IN BEFORE THE CURD. Grated coconut, cumin and green chillies ground together and stirred in, then the sour curd after.
6. THE YOGHURT WANTS TO BE SOUR. Left out of the fridge overnight if necessary. Fresh sweet yoghurt gives something that tastes of neither pepper nor sourness.
7. IT IS MADE IN ADVANCE BY PREFERENCE. Its article notes it is often made ahead because of how well it keeps. A day in the fridge improves it.
8. IT IS STIRRED, NOT LEFT. Forty minutes of reduction with curd in the pan will catch on the bottom the moment it is ignored.
9. THE TEMPERING IS LAST. Mustard, fenugreek, dried chillies and curry leaves in coconut oil, stirred in at the end, which its article specifies in that order.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes