Kurukku Kaalan / Vegetables Cooked in Curd

Ingredients and method
chena or yam pieces 1 cup
raw plantain pieces 1 cup
turmeric powder 1 tea spoon
curd 11/2 cup
coconut 1 cup grated
pepper powder 2 tea spoon
green chillies 2 or more
cumin seeds 1 tea spoon
salt

for seasoning
fenugreek/uluva 1/4 tea spoon
mustard 1 tea spoon
coconut oil
red chillies 1 or 2



Cook the vegetables with salt, pepper powder and 2 table spoons curd and little water enough to cook. When it is done, reduce water. Grind coconut with green chillies, cumin and remaining curd until smooth. It should get butter consistency(venna paruvam). Add this to the cooked vegetables and just heat. Don't boil it. Remove from fire, Heat coconut oil , splutter fenugreek, mustards then add red chillies and curry leaves. Pour it over the curry.

This is my favorite vegetable curry. Can eat this even without rice. This is a dry curry and we can keep in fridge up to one or more months. For this have to cook vegetables in the curd or thick butter milk and don't add water while grinding coconut. This should be done on a stone grinder (Ammi ). It is impossible for most of us, thats why I grind coconut with curd, so we can avoid the water content too.

It is better cook this kaalan in an earthern pot, ie, manchatti. So the pot itself will absorb the excessive water from this. If you have thick butter milk, you can boil it too with the coconut. But the ready made products will not work, I think.