How to make Yogiratna

Extracting Coconut Milk

• If preparing coconut milk from scratch, chop the coconut into small pieces, and take it in a mixer jar.
• Add about a cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. Pass the ground coconut mixture through a sieve and collect the thick milk.
• Add the coconut residue back to the jar and add about 1/4 cup of water and grind again for a few seconds and collect the thin milk. This is second milk and thinner.
• Depending on the residue you can blend it one more time by adding 1/4 cup water and pulsing it again.
• Pass this through a sieve and extract the third thin Milk
• The milk extracted in the second and third time will be thinner than the one extracted the first time.

Cooking the Vegetables for Yogira

• Prep the vegetables and take them in a pressure cooker along with slit green chilies.
• Add water as required and pressure cook for 2 whistles. I added about 1/2 cup water.
• Once the pressure falls, remove the lid
• To the third coconut milk, add the flour and mix well.
• Now add the second milk, flour slurry, and salt to the boiled vegetables.
• Cook for 2 to 3 mins, when the liquid comes to a boil.
• Lower the flame and add the first milk. Let it boil over.

Tempering the curry

• Heat a small pan with ghee, temper with mustard, cumin, and curry leaves.
• Pour this over the simmering gravy and serve hot.
• This Valval or Yogiratna is traditionally served with steamed rice.
• I served it with Appam and it was simply excellent.