lentils – Meal Haven

Varatharacha Kadala Curry (Brown chickpeas and stir fried coconut curry)

This is an authentic curry from Kerala, served with steamed rice cakes(called puttu) and usually served for breakfast. The thick slightly spicy gravy can be also eaten with chappathis. The aromatic spices are ground with roasted coconut to make this nutritious dish.

Ingredients:

For curry

Kadala/black chick peas – 1 cup (soaked overnight)

Tomato – 1 medium

Onion – 1 small

Coconut pieces- 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Salt as needed

Water – 3-4 cups or as needed

For roasting and grinding

Coconut Grated – 1 1/4 cup

Fennel seeds/Saunf – 1/2 tsp

Garlic – 2 cloves

Small onions/shallots – 3

Pepper corns – 3

Ginger – 1/2 inch piece

Curry leaf – 3 to 4 leaves

Green chillie – 1

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Chillie powder – 3/4 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. The next day, cook the chickpeas in cooker adding about 3-4 cups of water with enough salt, for about 6 whistles on a medium flame. Put off the flame and let it cool.

Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp of coconut oil. When it becomes hot, add the chopped ginger, chopped garlic, green chillie, chopped shallots, grated coconut and saute it well. Make sure to keep the flame on low to medium. The coconut should be sauteed for about 10 – 12 minutes until it becomes brown in colour. Now reduce the flame to low and add the red chillie powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and saute it and do not let it burn. Transfer it to a plate and let it cool. When it cools down, tranfer it to a mixie and grind it to a fine paste.

In a pan, heat oil. When the oil becomes hot, add the chopped onions and chopped tomato. Saute it well until it becomes mushy. Add this to the cooker alongwith the chick peas and the ground paste and let it boil with an open lid for 5 to 8 minutes on medium heat.

In the same pan, add a tsp of oil and fry the coconut bits until they are golden brown. Add these fried coconut pieces to the cooker while it is boiling. After the coconut pieces are removed from the pan, add mustard, whole red chillie, curry leaf and add these also to the cooker. Keep it closed for some time.

Serve with puttu or rice.

Watermelon Rind Kootu/Lentils with Watermelon Rind

Vegetarian

There are many dishes which you can make with watermelon rind, ie, poriyals/thorans or yogurt based curry (morekozhumbu/kalans) but this one is my favourite. The ingredients in this dish marry well and work in harmony to make this dish a nutritious and a tasty one.

The same recipe can also be made with squash, ridge gourd, cabbage, snake gourd or white pumpkin.

Ingredients:

Moong Dal (small yellow lentils) OR Chana dal (bengal gram dal) – 1/2 cup

Watermelon Rinds chopped – 1 1/4 cups (see note below)

Water – 1 cup + 1 cup

Green chillies – 2

Onion – 1 small chopped

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp

Jeera/cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Red chillies – 2

Saunf /aniseed – 1/4 tsp

Shredded or Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup + 1/2 tsp for garnishing

Salt to taste

For seasoning:

Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp

Udad dal – 1/4 tsp

Red chillies – 2

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Oil – 1 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

Note : Wash and cut the watermelon rind without the green outerpart, into small pieces. Remove all the red portions inside and the outer green skin and chop only the white portion inside.

Grind jeera, saunf, red chillies and 1/4 cup grated coconut coarsely, in a mixer and keep it aside.

Boil the watermelon rind in 1 cup of water alongwith 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, slit green chillies, chopped onions and salt. Close the lid and let it cook. Once cooked, keep it aside.

In another vessel, wash the yellow moong dal and cook it in a kadai or pan with salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Cook it with 1 cup of water and keep it aside. Once cooked, add the cooked watermelon rind and mix it well. Add the ground coconut and boil it once and put off the flame.

Season it with the ingredients mentioned under ‘seasoning’ and mix it well. Garnish with grated coconut and serve with rice or chapathis.

Pesarattu/Green Gram Dosa/Savoury Lentils Crepe

Breakfast

A protein packed breakfast from the cuisine of Andhra Pradesh in India, pesarattu is best served with a spicy chutney like ginger chutney or capsicum chutney (check out chutneys in the recipe’s section).

Soak moong dal/green gram dal & rice in water overnight

Ingredients:

Green dam dal – 1 cup

Raw Rice – 2 tbsp

Green chillies – 2

Jeera/cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Ginger – 1/2 inch piece

Toppings for pesarattu:

Onions -2 (finely chopped)

Green chillies – 2 deseeded and finely chopped

Jeera/cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Preparation:

Clean and soak the green gram dal and rice with lots of water in a vessel, overnight.

Next, drain the water and add the dal and rice to a pulser alongwith the green chillies, cumin seeds, salt and ginger with little water to make a dosa like batter. Grind it smoothly and the consistency should be of a pouring batter but thick.

Heat a tawa and grease it with oil. Pour a spoonful of batter like a dosa and sprinkle with the toppings. Add a little oil on the edges of the dosa to make it crispy. When it starts getting a golden colour, flip it to the other side, fold and remove. Serve it with any chutney of your choice.

To make the next pesarattu, sprinkle little water on the pan as the pan would have turned very hot. Rub it with oil, after the water evaporates.