Olan- Black-eyed Beans and Ash Gourd. A recipe from Kerala

Many vegetarian dishes from Kerala combine lentils/legumes and vegetables in the same dish. I really like this as a concept and am also quite crazy about how these dishes taste as well! I used my black pottery kitchenware to make the olan, which is featured here.

Ingredients
1 cup black eyed beans. This is the small red coloured black-eyed bean as opposed to the white one
4 cups water
pinch of turmeric
3 cups chopped ash gourd
6 green chillies slit in half
1 cup thick coconut milk
a few curry leaves
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Method
1. Pressure cook the black eyed beans in water with a pinch of turmeric. Two whistles on a high flame and 12-15 minutes on a low flame should do the trick. Wait till the pressure goes down before opening the pressure cooker.
2. Meanwhile in another pot, cook the ash gourd green chillies salt in a cup of water.
3. Add the cooked beans to the ash gourd, and simmer together for 15 minutes. Keep stirring.
4. Add the coconut milk and curry leaves last when you're sure the beans are tender.
5. Lace with coconut oil.