I made this essentially Tamilian dish on Saturday, called “Kothavarangai Usili”. The secret sauce is fresh organic cluster beans (called kothavarangai in Tamil, Gor-chikkudukaaya in Telugu, and Guvar in Hindi/Urdu) and our very own Daana Organic Toor Dal.
Soak the toor dal in warm water. Drain all the water, and roast it in a tadka of mustard seeds, split urad, chana dal, curry leaves and dried red chillies. If you have soaked it enough and roasted it, the dal will be just cooked just right (neither raw, nor soft from over cooking). Thats the trickiest part of the recipe. The dal literally needs to be “al dente” and completely dry.
Now add this into a blender, along with freshly grated coconut and “pulse” it up, ie break it into fine granules but NOT a paste.
Steam finely cut cluster beans with salt (again make sure there is no water. This dish has to be dry), and add the granulated dal.
Garnish with some coriander leaves (dhania).
This is traditionally eaten with the Tamilian kadhi called Mor-Kozhambu and rice.
Full of body, texture, aroma and flavour. Try it out.
