Basil For The Soul

Does your vegetable tray ever go beyond the okra, carrot, beans routine? Did you wonder how the menu never felt so repetitive back home? I did and that's when I realized that I've been picking the same vegetables and using the same turmeric-chilli powder-jeera-corainder grind Everytime and an occasional garam masala. To bring in vareity without going for expensive pastas and fancy ingredients, I went back to my roots- Kerala! Yes, it's true. They use coconut everywhere, but well, you'll discover that's where the magic lies! Olan is a coconut milk based dish that's almost always a part of the traditional feast, the 'Sadya'. However, it's not an all-exclusive fancy dish that does not make its way into daily meals. My mother used to pair it with sambar, pulinkari or mambazha pulissery. And the combination with rice is just out of this world! The vegetable vendor had two very conveniently cut quarters of pumpkin and ash-gourd, so I deci...