Olan

the mild, pale Onam Sadya dish of Kerala: ash gourd and cowpeas simmered in coconut milk

Origin: Kerala, South India

From the journey of Coconut.

Olan is one of the eighteen to twenty-one dishes that comprise the Onam Sadya, the ceremonial feast served on banana leaf during the Kerala harvest festival of Onam. It is characterised by restraint: compared to the fierce heat of many Kerala dishes, olan is mild, subtly flavoured, and purposefully simple. Ash gourd and cowpeas, the red vanpayar or black-eyed peas, cook together in coconut milk with a green chilli or two and nothing more: there is no turmeric, no chilli powder, and no mustard-seed tempering, and the coconut oil and curry leaves are stirred in raw at the end, so that the dish stays pale. Its position on the banana leaf at the left edge signals its ceremonial role: a cooling, sattvic dish that balances the richer preparations alongside it.

Ingredients

Vegetables

  • 400 g ash gourd (white gourd), peeled and cut into 3 cm cubes
  • 150 g cooked red cowpeas (vanpayar) or black-eyed peas (or one 400 g tin, drained)
  • 2 green chillies, slit lengthwise

Spices

  • 0.5 tsp fine salt

Coconut milk

  • 200 ml thin coconut milk
  • 150 ml thick coconut milk

Finishing

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 sprig fresh curry leaves (about 10 leaves)

Method

    The Gastrographer

    The Gastrographer

    Mapping Culinary History

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    Journey Point Map Key

    Ingredient originTrade or transit route
    Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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