Paruppu Usili / Beans-Lentils Curry

What do you do when you miss your mom so much and she is several miles away ?

Here's what I do ? I go to my kitchen and pamper myself with my favorite dish , just that I cook it myself,

but exactly the way she does :) I am a foodie only when it comes to her food :)

This paruppusili is one such dish from my mom's kitchen, I can never make it as perfect as she does it,

but It's still good enough to remind me of her favors , some consolation !

This dish is a mix of lentils and any one vegetable, ideally beans or banana flower. This is a nice

grand side dish that is served in typical tambrahm weddings. I make it when I have guests at home,

since it gives that nice extra punch and richness to a regular vegetable side dish. This goes very well

with rice and mor kozhambu (or majjiga pulusu) . This is very rich in proteins

since its made with a mix of lentils. And Kids just love it too.

Here's the recipe (from my mom's kitchen :) )

Ingredients :

Beans - finely chopped (1 Cup)

Toor Dal - 1/2 Cup

Channa Dal - 1/2 Cup.

Salt - to taste

Red chilles - 3 to 4

Hing or Asafoetida - a pinch

coriander leaves - 2-3 Sprigs

Seasoning :

mustard seeds - 1 Tbsp.

Split Urad dal - 1 Tbsp.

Curry leaves - 5-6

Oil - 1 Tbsp.

Preparation :

Soak the lentils for an hour atleast.

Chop the beans well.

Method:

Time Taken - 30 min.

Difficulty Level - Medium

Drain the lentils thoroughly. In a mixer/blender, add red chillies, curry leaves , asafoetida, salt and

grind it to a coarse mixture.

TRansfer it to a bowl and steam it until it is done (roughly about 10 min.). Steam the beans also in another bowl alongside.

Let it cool and grind it again in the mixer/blender to get a corase powder. Set it aside.

Heat a pan on the stove. Once it gets hot , add the oil and then add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.

Add the urad dal and curry leaves and let the urad dal turn golden brown, add the ground lentils mixture and also the beans.

Mix them well, cover it and let it cook for 5 min.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot.

This can be mixed with rice and also used as a sidedish with rice and mor kozhambu.