9. OLAN

9. OLAN 

🌿✨ — Olan is one of the most subtle, mild, and soulful dishes of Kerala Onam Sadya. It is light, coconut-milk based, and usually made with ash gourd (kumbalanga) and cowpeas (vanpayar).

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🥥 Olan Recipe (Kerala Onam Sadya Style)

Ingredients:

• Ash gourd / kumbalanga – 2 cups (peeled, diced)

• Red cowpeas / vanpayar – ½ cup (soaked overnight, cooked)

• Green chilies – 2–3 (slit)

• Curry leaves – 1 sprig

• Thick coconut milk – 1 cup

• Thin coconut milk – ½ cup

• Coconut oil – 1 tbsp

• Salt – to taste

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🥣 Method

1. Cook the cowpeas

   • Pressure cook soaked cowpeas until soft but not mushy. Keep aside.

2. Cook ash gourd

   • In a pan, add diced ash gourd, slit green chilies, curry leaves, salt, and thin coconut milk.

   • Cook until ash gourd becomes tender and translucent.

3. Combine

   • Add cooked cowpeas to the ash gourd mixture.

   • Simmer gently for a couple of minutes.

4. Add thick coconut milk

   • Reduce the flame to low, add thick coconut milk, stir gently.

   • Switch off immediately (do not boil after adding thick coconut milk).

5. Finish with coconut oil

   • Drizzle fresh coconut oil on top.

   • Garnish with curry leaves.

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✨ Olan is ready!
It tastes mild, creamy, and fragrant with coconut oil — balancing the rich and spicy dishes in Sadya 🍃