Description
Whole green gram(whole green moong dhal) seasoned with spices and condiments. The highlight is that it is mashed with the hand churner which is similar to the one used in olden days to churn curd.
Kadaindha means mashed
Paruppu means lentil
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| Salt (as per taste) | |
| 3 tsp | Oil |
| 1 tsp | Black gram (ulundu) |
| 1 tsp | Bengal gram (kadhala paruppu) |
| ½ tsp | Mustard seeds |
| ¾ tsp | Turmeric powder |
| 5 stks | Curry leaves |
| 2 tsp | Cumin seeds |
| 2 tsp | Coriander seeds |
| 5 cnt | G.chillies(chopped) |
| 2 cnt | Tomato (chopped) |
| 6 cnt | Garlic |
| 20 cnt | Shallots or pearl onions(vertically cut half) |
| ½ cup | Whole green gram |
Instructions
Dry roast the gram in low flame, till the kitchen is filled with a nice aroma. Leave it to cool down. It should be eatable without the raw smell. It will be crispy, too. If this features are missing, go ahead and roast it again for sometime.
Cook it in the pressure cooker upto the length of 2 whistles with less water. Approximately, it needs, not more than 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of water for the whole process. It should look whole, but well-cooked. When pressed hard between fingers, should mash.
Crush coriander seeds and cumin seeds in blender(mixie or any manual instument) without water and then add garlic; crush it; keep it aside. The seeds should be 3/4th broken; any stage of garlic is fine. Heat oil in a pan. Season mustared seeds. Add 2 stalks of curry leaves; saute it till crisp. Add bengal gram and black gram. Saute it till golden. Add crushed garlic and the seeds; saute it for half-a-minute. Immediately add onions and green chillies; saute it for half-a-minute. Add tomatoes; saute it till it is cooked. Add the cooked gram. Add turmeric powder after 3 or 4 minutes, simmer it for 2 minutes. Add rest of the curry leaves. The cooking part is done. Even now, the gram should look whole.
Mash it with the instrument shown in the description. Or just put it in the blender and mash it very carefully for a couple of minutes stopping and stirring in between. (The taste will not be the same. But, no other go). It shouldn't become a paste.
Serve it with steaming hot rice and melted ghee.
Notes
The taste of this dish depends upon the water level and the cooking level of the gram. Shouldn't be overcooked. When we come to the onions, it will be chunky. That adds taste. If we overboil, all the flavours will be gone. Even after the whole process, half of the gram should be visible.
A variation: More than 50% of the peole prefer tamarind. Reduce the amount of tomato and add thick tamrind juice.
You can prepare any dhals(toor,split moong, val and red chori, i.e, thattai payaru) this way. But, don't have to roast the others except moong dhal.
It is thick and spicy. So, you need very less amount to mix with rice. It shouldn't be mixed first with rice. But, mix and eat each and every mouthful fresh.
Learnt from Amma. She started liking my way of cooking this dish. Would say, "You prepare it. I'll mash it for you". 'Coz initially, it was not at all possible for me to learn the technique of mashing. Slowly learnt after sometime when Amma was not there for me to mash.
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