Olan is a Kerala dish (stew) prepared with coconut milk as base, ash gourd (kumbalanga) and red cow peas (vanpayar) as main ingredients. This is a simple recipe with minimal ingredients, yet so flavourful.
Olan is served as a part of Kerala Onam Sadya but it is a wonderful accompaniment for regular south Indian lunch menu too. Since it is similar to stew, you can have it with appam, idiyappam too.
Check out my Pineapple pachadi and beetroot thayir pachadi recipe in this website.
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About Olan
Olan is a traditional Kerala coconut milk based curry made with ash gourd (kumbalanga), cowpeas and coconut milk. Mild, creamy and delicately seasoned, this simple gravy is an important part of a Kerala Sadya and is served with steamed rice. Unlike many Kerala curries, Olan uses minimal spices, super easy to prepare, with great South Indian flavors, which is why this is my top most favorite.
Olan Ingredients
Here are the only few items for this super easy olan recipe.
- Ash gourd - Kumbalanga in Malayalam. Use fresh stock of ash gourd for best taste and texture.
- Red cow peas - Vanpayar in Malayalam. This gets cooked easily as well as soaks quickly. Adds a great flavour, nutritional value to the dish.
- Coconut milk - I used readymade coconut-milk for shortcut, but have given how to extract coconut-milk too to use in this recipe.
- Green chilli - Used for spicing the dish mildly.
- Coconut oil - Main flavor comes from coconut-oil we add at the end. Use virgin, cold pressed if possible, natural, edible ones.
- Curry leaves - This does wonders in terms of the dish's main flavor.
See recipe card for full list & quantities.
Step by step images
Let's see the instructions on how to make olan.
1. Wash firstly and soak red cowpeas (vanpayar) overnight.
2. Next day, drain the water, wash and keep aside.
3. Peel the skin of ash gourd, without any green part.
4. Remove the soft center pith too.
5. Slice the ash gourd to thick strips or if you like it thin slice, you can cut into thin slices too.
6. Then, cut into cubes. I like to have it like this, bit big.
7. Then take a small pressure cooker and add the chopped ash gourd in it. Then add coconut milk to it. Since I used store bought, it was thick and I used ¼ cup of it.
8. After that, add ½ cup water to dilute. If using fresh thin coconut milk, use ½ cup to ¾ cup.
7. Then add slit green chilies, few curry leaves and salt.
8. Pressure cook for just one or two whistles.
9. Once pressure is released naturally, open and check if the brown cow peas turned soft.
10. Then add the thick coconut milk.
11. Add few more torn fresh curry leaves for flavor, and a generous drizzle of coconut oil.
6. Mix well, bring to boil and switch off the flame.
Kerala olan is ready to serve! Usually olan is served as side dish in Onam Sadhya, but I liked it with plain steamed rice too. Really enjoyed it with hot cooked rice.
Substitutions & Variations
- Red cow peas - You can use white black eyed peas or even fresh long beans.
- Yellow pumpkin - Mathan - Use mix of both in equal quantities. Half white pumpkin, half yellow pumpkin.
- Ginger - Add slivered ginger in addition for an absolutely refreshing flavour.
- Spice level - Adjust the chilli quantity to suit your taste buds. I like to keep it mild for this dish.
- Coconut milk - Use more coconut milk (the thin one) avoiding water while cooking the vegetable, in case you use fresh coconut milk.
Storage
Consume within 6 hours as this has coconut-milk in it. If you refrigerate, cool it down as soon as possible, then you can store it the next day.
Top tip
If you are using homemade coconut milk, try to use a teaspoon of rice flour to avoid curdling.
Adding oil at the end enhances the flavour.
You can cook the bean separately and ash gourd separately for whiter looks.
FAQ
Olan is a stew prepared with white pumpkin (ash gourd)cooked in coconut-milk along with brown cowpeas. It is prepared mild spiced yet burst of flavours simply from coconut-oil, curry leaves.
What is the substitute for white pumpkin in olan?
The best I would suggest is to use cucumber. If you know any other substitutions, please let me know in comments.
Coconut milk
- If you are extracting coconut milk at home, take 1 & ½ to 2 cups grated coconut in a blender. Add ¼ cup water or as less as you can to get thick first extract. Grind smoothly and squeeze the milk through a strainer. (onnam paal)
2. Again return the remains of coconut with another ½ to ¾ cup of warm water. Squeeze and extract the second coconut milk. (rendam paal)
Use in the recipe as needed. I highly recommend to use a teaspoon of rice flour to prevent curdled looks.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe card
Olan Recipe | Kerala Olan | Onam Sadhya recipes
Ingredients
- 2 cups Ash gourd White pumpkin, cubed
- ¼ cup Brown cowpeas Vanpayar
- ½ cup Coconut milk Readymade
- 1 Green chilli slit
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 tablespoon Coconut oil Virgin
- Salt
Instructions
- Wash firstly and soak red cowpeas (vanpayar) overnight.
- Next day, drain the water, wash and keep aside.
- Then, peel the skin of ash gourd, without any green part. Remove the soft center pith too.
- After that, cut into cubes or if you like it thin slice, you can cut into thin slices too.
- Then take a small pressure cooker and add the chopped ash gourd in it. Add soaked, drained red cow peas to it.
- After that add few curry leaves, salt and then top it with 1 cup of thin coconut milk. I used readymade coconut milk, so it was very rich. I used ¼ cup of it and ¾ cup of water.
- Pressure cook for just one or two whistles.
- Once pressure is released naturally, open and add the thick coconut milk.
- Add coconut oil and few more curry leaves and just heat for a minute.
- Switch off the stove and Kerala olan is ready to serve!
Video
Notes
- You can cook the bean separately and ash gourd separately for whiter looks.
Classiblogger says
It seems to be an easy and delicious recipe. Compared to the recipes which incorporates blending, cutting and peeling, this is too simple. Can i make this with ready made tin coconut milk?
Raks Anand says
Yes, I used the readymade coconut milk only. You can use tinned one.