01
Kalan
With Rice
Kalan - a Kerala buttermilk and coconut curry.
Sour buttermilk cooked down with turmeric and pepper, with a coconut-chilli paste and roasted methi powder.
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AMMAMMA'S NOTES.
Turmeric
1/2 spoon
Pepper powder
1 spoon
Green chillies
4
Coconut (grated)
1/4 cup
Methi
1/2 spoon
Buttermilk (sour)
2 cups
Coconut oil
4 spoon
Mustard
1 spoon
Curry leaves
few
Salt
to taste
01
In a mixie, grind coconut and green chilly to a paste.
02
In a pan, add 1/2 cup water, turmeric, and pepper powder; let it boil till the water evaporates.
03
Add the buttermilk and simmer; let it boil until it becomes thick and reduces to about a quarter.
04
Add the ground coconut-chilli paste.
05
In a pan, dry-roast the methi and crush to a powder; add this to the buttermilk mixture.
06
In a pan, add coconut oil, mustard, and curry leaves, and pour this seasoning over the kalan.
Avial
Mixed vegetables cooked together with a coarse coconut-chilli paste, curd and coconut oil.
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Morukutaan
Mor Kuzhambu - a Tamil buttermilk curry with ash gourd.
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A taskmaster was born at this stage — Kalan requires hours of stirring the pot in the same motion, more than 4 hours till everything reduces. We took shifts when I was younger, and after her diagnosis I did it almost entirely myself for the rest of the times we made it. The beauty was in its simplicity — her ability to make curd, pepper and salt taste like a delicacy.
YAMINI VENKATESAN
WHAT'S FOR LUNCH, 2026