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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Avarakkai Mochai Kuzhambu / Broad Beans Curry | South Indian Curry Recipes

Cooking for loved ones is special. Well, I do that on a daily basis, but cooking some dish for the loved ones which they really love is more special. This is one such dish. DH is a food lover but what he likes is not complicated. A simple South-Indian meal is his go to preference on any day. 
He loves avarakai aka Broad Beans. It was a delight when I came across them in the Farmer's Market and immediately bought it. I made this kulambu the same day which he loves have with rice.



Ingredients:
Serves - 3-4
Avarakkai / Broad beans - 20-25
Mochai / Fresh Hyacinth beans - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 of a big one, chopped
Toor dhal - 1/2 cup (120 ml)
Tamarind - lemon sized
Gingelly oil - 1-1/2 tbsp
Thalippu Vadagam - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - a little
Make a paste:
Fresh Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Coriander powder - 2 tsp (heaped)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp (or 1/2 tsp if spicy)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pearl onions - 2, small

Method:
Cut the ends and pull out the fibrous veins. Chop into 1 inch pieces. Remove the mochai (pods from the beans) if any as you chop. These can be added to kuzhambu. Place the chopped beans, pods and chopped onions in a microwave proof bowl with half a cup of water and a pinch of salt. Microwave for 8 minutes stirring once in between.
Make a smooth paste with the ingredients under 'make a paste' adding water as needed. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of warm water. Extract about 2 cups of tamarind juice.
Wash and soak the toor dhal for 15 minutes. Pressure cook the dhal with 2 cups of water with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder for 3 whistles. Drain and reserve the dhal cooked water. Mash the dhal with a maththu or the back of a wooden spoon. 
Now add the reserved dhal-cooked water, ground coconut paste, salt, cooked vegetables and the tamarind juice to the dhal. The kuzhambu can be slightly thin at this point, it will thicken as it boils. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the kuzhambu thickens and the flavors meld. 
Heat oil in a small pan and splutter the vadagam and curry leaves. Pour this over the kuzhambu and serve hot with steamed rice.

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