Baalekayi Palya - smokey & spicy green banana dish, turning a leaf (page) from a favorite book

Another season of Dasara/Navaratri is over and we are already looking towards the fast approaching Deepavali and then the Holiday season starting with Thanksgiving. Where did 2014 go already? Summer cooled down into Autumn and I have started to see leaves change colors around me, I am already an old timer at my new job (honeymoon period over, start delivering :-)) and DD is busy with her senior year of school. Yes, my baby is getting ready to fly the nest come next September :-(. Ah, well I can either whine about next year or enjoy the togetherness until then and I choose the second one.

After all the sweets and other delicacies I made at home and also had to eat at friend's places in the name of Dasara, we are trying to get back to something simple and appetizing this week. I actually wanted to stay away from lentils and oil for a couple of days as we had our filling of both these heavy ingredients with all the usali and sabudana vada among other things :-). I made a lip smacking ginger chutney and steamed some oats masala idlis which seemed to help the lost taste on the tongue majorly. Back to eating vegetables with a side of some spicy chutney helps get back to normalcy.

Over the years, I have acquired a bunch of cookery books, not counting the ones I borrow from time to time from the public library. Some of these books are bought based on extensive research and recommendation while some are purchased as an impulse buy. Some of these books have many dog ears as I go back to them again & again while some of them sit in their pristine, new form as I don't touch them often enough until some day I get rid of donate them as part of a clean up :-). One of the books I love flipping through is Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan, I haven't tried a whole lot of recipes (not yet) from this book but I like it for the rich photos it has. One of the recipes that caught my attention on a random flipping is this green banana crumble as she calls it.

It is a simple enough recipe, I have made it a few times enhancing the spice powder to suit our palate and here is the 'modified from original' version of the green banana crumble or palya as I call it :-). If you have a charcoal grill, it is time to bring it out. Bananas roasted directly over flame have that wonderfully smokey flavor in this recipe. If you really don't care for it or are not inclined to spoil your gas stove by directly roasting them on the flame (I do understand this, I totally do), then go for the boil or steam method described below. The dry powder enhances the taste and makes the bland vegetable come alive with the spices. The best part about this dish is it can be eaten just like that and enjoyed as a snack too :-)

Baalekayi or plantain (green banana) is a commonly used vegetable in India. They stand cooking very well since they are firm and have an absolutely delicious taste albeit a little bland. The variety used as vegetable is never eaten ripe as a fruit. We grew bananas at home in Mysore and they were the small, yellow bananas which we ate when ripe but used to get the green variety for cooking. Nammamma's favorite recipe was the kootu or gojju with this vegetable. Amma makes crispy, dry fry(vepudu in Telugu) or an onion flavored soft cooked side dish. I love all of them, here is another side dish (or a main dish depending on how you eat it) made with green bananas that is a perfectly homely accompaniment to a rice-centric meal.

What do you need to make baalekayi palya? 

2 firm green bananas (I use the non-Kerala variety)

1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

1 Tbsp shredded coconut

Spice powder: 

2 Tbsp chana dal

1 Tbsp urad dal

1 Tsp coriander seeds

1/2 Tsp cumin

1/8 Tsp fenugreek seeds

4-6 dry red chilies

pinch of asafoetida

Seasoning: 

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tsp mustard

1 Tsp chana dal

1/2 Tsp urad dal

1 dry red chili broken

1 green chili (optional)

few curry leaves

How do you make baalekayi palya? 

• Wash, pat dry the skin of green bananas and remove the ends on both sides. 
• Make a few slits using a knife (don't cut the bananas into pieces though) and smear a drop of oil all over the skin. 

• Roast on a flame turning the vegetable all around until the skin turns black and becomes charred. Keep the flame on medium so the banana cooks to become soft but not mushy. 

• In the meantime, dry roast all the ingredients listed under 'spice powder' except for asafoetida until the lentils turn pink in color. 
• Cool and make it into a powder along with asafoetida, keep aside until ready to use. 
• Once the bananas are cool, peel the skin off. hold the skin from a knife marking and it will peel off easily.

 

• Remove any charred particles by washing it in water. 
• Grate the cooked bananas (use the largest possible gratings, smaller ones tend to make the dish mushy and pulpy). 
• Heat oil in a wide pan, add mustard and the dals listed under seasoning, let mustard pop and dals turn pink before adding the chilies and curry leaves. 

• Add the grated banana, salt, coconut and the spice powder and give it a gently mix. 

• Cover and lower the heat and let cook for about 2 minutes until the flavors come together. 
• Switch off and serve warm with rice, roti and just by itself. We ate with a yummy spinach pachadi and rice. 

Notes: 

• If you do not want to roast the bananas, alternatively, you can boil them in a pot of water until they turn soft, about 15 minutes or cut them into halves and steam them in a cooker. Take care not to let them become mushy.
• Increase or decrease the chilies depending on your heat tolerance
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and a dash of lemon juice if you like. 
• Once roasted, dunk the bananas in a pot of cold water for 10 minutes and the skin peels off easily. 

Tondekayi (Ivy gourd) Idigayi - tiny miracles in the kitchen

After spending the last 6 months together, amma, nana left yesterday to go back to Bengaluru. We dropped them at the airport, didn't want to come back home, so went on a very unplanned shopping trip as a time pass and reached home only in the evening. The house seems empty and Flora is trying to make sense of the new scene at home, missing amma who very promptly fed her twice a day, missing the ever running warmth of the room heater in the down stairs room, waiting for one of us to get up and pet her. I guess it is more difficult for her without understanding completely or not being able to talk about it. I got up this morning and the dishes that used to be miraculously arranged in their places were still in the dish washer, there was no coffee in the coffee maker announcing that today is different from yesterday. I miss having them around in the house with amma asking 'what is for lunch today?' soon after she returned home from her daily morning walk. We will mope around a little bit, wait to hear their voices after they land in Bengaluru & safely reach home and then a new routine sets in from tomorrow with school and work, we will march ahead like brave soldiers but that tiny painful nagging inside keeps reminding us that we are again a small nuclear family staying far away from rest of the family..I made this Tondekayi Idigayi last Friday when we all had our lunch together.

Nammamma was not enthusiastic about certain vegetables and Tondekayi/Dondakaaya/ivy gourd was one of them. I don't remember eating this vegetable much at all. One of my cousins got married when I was in my +2 and they had made the Tondekayi+cashew nuts palya with loads of shredded coconut in his wedding and as I was the only representative from my family for that wedding, I came home raving about it to nammamma. But she didn't catch on easily to this vegetable and it remained one of those vegetables that I would see in the market but not necessarily pick up every time.

Post my wedding, Amma taught me how a simple stir fry with tender dondakaaya could make a nice side dish, she would sometimes cut thin roundels or chop them vertically, fry it in an extra dose of oil, finish it off with some salt and a spice powder making an excellent side dish for a rice based lunch or dinner. One day, she made a stuffed dondakaaya which was unbelievably tasty, just the fact that the vegetables were not chopped up but stuffed with the masala made so much of a difference that a bowl full of stuffed dondakaya was gone just like that within minutes. Looking at the finger long ivy gourd, you wouldn't imagine that something like that could be stuffed, right? Also, it doesn't have a crown like a brinjal and so there is the question of how and where do you stuff the masala? Believe me if you haven't seen this before, the stuffing may take a little extra dose of patience and some time but transforms this watery, bland vegetable into some sort of a miracle.

But then again since everyone is rushing through life, sitting down to prepare a whole bunch of (remember what I said about the taste, making a small quantity of this dish will brand you as a very lousy cook in the eyes of your family, so think large quantities) of these can put quite a dent in the precious time. So when I saw this recipe on a TV recipe show, which was the best of both worlds, I was in. The masala had almost the same ingredients as amma's spice powder and didn't make you actually stuff it into the vegetables, what a time saver :-). I made a few changes to the original recipe, added grated coconut along with the other ingredients and ground into a powder, reduced the oil a little bit and actually followed amma's way of cutting the Tondekayi.

I agree with nammamma that the vegetable itself is bland and doesn't homogeneously blend into all recipes but cooked right, this can make some very appetizing dishes.

Back to the name of the dish, idigayi refers to the whole vegetable (iDi ~ whole) and you don't chop the vegetable in this recipe but prepare it in such a way that it absorbs the juices from the masala nicely and cooks to be a delicious curry. Note that this is a dry palya that can be mixed with rice but because of the amount of masala available also goes well with your roti or chapati.

What do you need to make Tondekayi Idigayi?
1 lb fresh, tender Tondekayi - about 3 cups
2 Tblsp of tamarind juice or 1/2 tsp tamarind concentrate diluted with water
1 Tsp crushed jaggery/brown sugar
1 Tblsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 Tblsp oil
1/8 Tsp turmeric powder
For the masala: 
3 Tblsp kadle bele/chana dal
1 Tblsp uddina bele/urad dal
1 Tblsp coriander seeds
1 Tsp cumin
1 Tsp mustard
3/4 Tsp fenugreek seeds
2 pieces of 1 inch long cinnamon
2 cloves
4-5 black pepper corns (adjust to taste)
5-6 dry red chilies (adjust to taste)
2 Tblsp grated coconut
For seasoning:
1 Tsp mustard
3-4 curry leaves
1/8 Tsp asafoetida
1 dry red chili broken into pieces (optional)

How do you make Tondekayi idigayi? 

• Wash, pat dry and chop the ends of Tondekayis. 
• Make a vertical slit from one end to the middle of the vegetable, flip it over and make another slit from the other end to the middle. The trick is to make the two slits at a 90 degree to each other so that they don't meet in the middle and actually cut the vegetable open. If you do this right, the Tondekayi will still stay together but will have opening for the masala to seep into. 

• Heat a thick pan, add all the masala ingredients except for coconut and dry roast until you get a nice aroma and the dals turn pink. Add the grated coconut and roast for a couple of minutes before switching off. Let cool. 
• Heat the oil in a wide pan, add asafoetida, mustard, curry leaves and red chili pieces (if using), let mustard pop, add the prepared Tondekayis to the pan along with salt. 
• Mix it in, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. 
• Open the cover, add the tamarind juice or diluted concentrate, jaggery and turmeric powder. Put the lid on and cook for  another 3-4 minutes until the vegetables look soft. 

• Meanwhile take the cooled masala ingredients and make a powder in your blender.
• Add the masala powder to the par cooked tondekayi, mix it well, turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes with one or two stirrings to make sure nothing is getting stuck to the bottom of the pan. 

• Taste a Tondekayi at this time to make sure it is cooked through and the masala flavors are in the vegetable, switch off. 
• Serve warm with rice or roti. 

Notes:

• Select tender tondekayi, if it feels slimy while cutting or the vegetable is mushy do not attempt this dish. The vegetable should feel firm to touch and have a white inside. if the inside is pick or red, it is almost too old to be cooked. 
• Initial cooking with the tamarind juice and jaggery helps prepare the vegetable to accept other flavors, covered cooking also makes the Tondekayi cook faster. 
• You can soak a small key lime sized tamarind in warm water for about 20 minutes and extract juice by squeezing the tamarind or use the store bought concentrate. Dilute the concentrate in 2 Tblsp of water and add it to the vegetables.
• You can make large quantities of the powder and refrigerate it. I would skip coconut if storing for long or use dry coconut instead. 
• The idigayi should have ample masala powder in it, the quantities above are good for the amount of vegetable used, don't skimp on it.
• Amma uses almost double the quantity of oil and so did the TV show lady but since I reduced the oil, I cover and cook in its own moisture until the vegetable is soft.

Stuffed green chilies - Bharwan mirchi

The past week has been a big blob with all boundaries of day and night merged together. It has been hectic at work and I am as sleep deprived as can be. I have loads of catching up to do, didn't get to spend any time with DD or BH over the weekend as they tended to themselves, didn't make my weekend calls to catch up on folks back in India and didn't get to visit many of my favorite blogs and check out what they have been cooking. But then, the new week is a new beginning and so far seems to be sane enough that I will be able to get back to all my other stuff outside of work too :-).

What I rediscovered over this 'no time for anything else' week and weekend was that cooking still helps me stay grounded and actually massages my tired bones and nerves, my kitchen is a place I find myself at peace. So I did cook, infact we had guests over on Saturday for dinner, and that was very pleasantly distracting as I took some time off from gaping at my machine or sticking the phone to my ears. I am glad I am pretty good at what I love to do, think about my poor family if I was a wretched cook and still insisted on cooking no matter what :-)

I told you about the hot peppers that have been growing in my backyard, right? We already made Mirchi ka Salan twice as that is what DD wants every time we have those mirchis harvested :-). So, I called dibs on the 3rd round and sneaked them into this other favorite of ours. I first tasted this in one of my Marathi friend's lunch box, she had got one single piece to go with her rice and after gobbling up the whole thing I was still craving for more and she had to part with her secret recipe to keep me away from her lunch box next time ;-). I have seen a few versions of the Bharwan mirchi and have also tweaked the original recipe I got originally to suit my taste and here is a wonderful tasting besan stuffed green chili.

We got the sapling labelled 'hot peppers' and now that I have seen them full grown they are neither Jalapeno nor Anaheim but have thick skin, moderately hot and stand cooking well.

Almost always, when we visit South Indian restaurants, I end up ordering the cut mirchi platter for an appetizer. If you do not know what I am talking about, it is the hot chilies, dipped in a batter of basan & spices, deep fried in oil, cut in bite sized pieces, stuffed with more spices and raw onion and deep fried again and served with chopped onions and lemon wedges :-), ok, ok I will come back with that recipe another time. Notice the 'double deep fry' in there? That is not so good for any of us on a regular basis, right? So I always lean towards other options where possible and you can enjoy the tangy stuffed mirchi below just like you would a cut mirchi platter but definitely with lesser oil. I call this my 'reversed mirchi bajjis' as the basan is stuffed inside the jacket of the chilies.

What do you need to make basan stuffed green chilies?
12 green chilies (Anaheim or Jalapeno or other similarly thicker skinned variety)
1.5 cups besan
1 Tsp mustard
3-4 curry leaves - chopped small
2 Tbslp oil
Stuffing:
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
5 Tblsp  oil
3/4 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/8 Tsp asafoetida
2 Tblsp lemon juice
2 Tblsp cilantro/coriander leaves - chopped fine

Garden fresh green chilies, with some grape tomatoes thrown in for color

How do you make basan stuffed chilies? 

• Wash, pat dry the chilies, remove the stem ends and make a vertical slit from top to bottom without cutting the chili. 
• De-seed the chilies and keep aside. 
• Mix all the stuffing ingredients in a wide plate except oil until they are well combined. 

• Add oil and make a soft, crumbly mixture, this should stay in shape when molded. 
• Take spoonfuls of stuffing and stuff them into the chilies, be generous on the stuffing as it helps to mellow down the hot chilies. 

• Heat remaining 2 Tblsp of oil in a wide pan, add mustard and chopped curry leaves. Let the mustard sizzle.
• Arrange the stuffed chilies in a single layer, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. 

• Open, turn the chilies over, cover and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes until the chilies wilt and the basan cooks completely. 

• Serve warm. 

Notes: 

• The recipe I got from my friend adds a Tsp of coriander powder and 1/2 Tsp amchoor powder. I skipped the coriander completely and use the lemon as it helps build moisture and potentially reduces the oil used. 

• These mirchis need to cook in a slow process - low heat and covered pan are key to a good stuffed mirchi. 
• Low heat also ensures basan cooks thoroughly but not get burnt and the chilies turn lighter green in color.

• Serve as a snack with some chopped onion and a few drops of lemon juice squeezed on top. 

Patholi - Dal & vegetables dry curry

I went for my annual health check last week and came back a bit more confused :-). Good thing is that there is nothing wrong with my numbers and I am as healthy as can be. Talking to my health coach (fancy, huh) I was reminded that quinoa is not all proteins though has high protein content per serving compared to anything else I might be eating in my vegetarian diet. She reiterated the fact that every edible thing has carbs and you just find ways to reduce its intake and start burning extra calories.

I came back home and did my research on 1 cup cooked white rice Vs brown rice Vs quinoa and after a wonderful knowledge session aided by the power of google, concluded that my forefathers were the smartest people to eat fresh food, as close to the source as possible without getting into processing them. Bottom line is the more you process and refine the food, the further away it tends to go from the healthy range. I am not here to lecture everyone on how they should stop eating processed foods, it is essential and convenient in the age we are in but try to make sure majority of your food is un(or under) processed, keep things in moderation, do not obsess about it much, exercise and enjoy life :-).

One thing that always comes back without change is that the main source of protein for a vegetarian like me comes from lentils and I love my lentils. I use quite a bit of sprouts, whole legumes in addition to the regular dal to boost the nutrition quotient. Dal is a regular at home and we do eat it in some form or shape every day. Having said that it can be quite boring to eat the same saaru/huli (Rasam/Sambar) every day and our cuisine offers every conceivable variation to suit every conceivable palate.

Patholi is a dry curry made with lentils and vegetables - each serving brings you both proteins and vitamins. Nammamma didn't make this very often as Karnataka has a special called nuchinunde (I will post it later sometime) which is steamed and delicious. Patholi is my mother in law's recipe and she usually adds Gorikayi (Guvar beans also called cluster beans) or makes it with just sauteed onions. Both taste great. You can add regular green beans instead of the cluster beans.

What do you need to make Patholi? 
2 cups chana dal/kadle bele
2 cups finely chopped gorikayi/cluster beans
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1.5 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 Tblsp oil
1/4 Tsp asafoetida
1 Tsp mustard seeds
1 Tsp (8-10) black pepper corns
4-5 curry leaves
1 dry red chili broken into pieces (optional)
1X1 inch piece ginger root
4-5 green chilies (adjust to suit your spice level)

How do you make Patholi?

• Soak chana dal in water for about an hour.
• Wash and drain the water from the dal and grind it with green chilies and ginger pieces into a coarse paste. Try not to add water while grinding and run the blender in pulse mode to get the right consistency. 
• Cook the cluster beans in 1.5 cups of water until they are soft but not mushy, strain the water and keep the cooked beans aside.
• Heat a Tblsp of oil, add the asafoetida, mustard and pepper corns. Let the mustard crackle. Add the curry leaves, dry red chilies and fry for about 30 seconds. 
• Add the thinly slices onions and saute until onion turns light pink.

• Add the ground dal mixture and spoon the remaining oil around the inside edge of the pan, cover and cook for 6-8 minutes on medium heat.

• Mix it once, add salt and continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes stirring frequently to avoid burning until the dal turns a shade darker in color and the raw smell is gone. 
• Add the cooked cluster beans and mix it well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes and switch off. 

• Patholi is typically eaten with either a tangy pulusu or a majjige huli.

Notes: 

• Use a non stick pan to reduce the oil intake in this recipe. 
• For a lower calorie version, steam the ground dal mixture in your cooker (same procedure as making idli) and once it is cool, fluff up the cooked dal and saute it with fried onions and cooked beans. This version takes much less oil compared to directly frying the dal. 
• Take care to grind the dal into a coarse paste - every dal should be broken up into tiny pieces but should not become a paste. 
• If you blender needs water to run while grinding, go ahead and add it and take the course of steaming the dal before sauteing it. The steaming also absorbs the water and gives you fluffy cooked dal.
• Wash the cluster beans, remove both ends by snapping them off with your fingers and also removing any strings that may be part of the beans before chopping them.
• Covering the pan and letting the dal cook in the steam that develops helps reduce oil. 
• You can use the water used to cook the beans as a broth in any of your curries for an added flavor.

Bhindi (Okra) Jhunka - Blog hopping for taste

Oh Boy! time really flies, it seems like only yesterday when I did my last blog hop post about Cajun potatoes and here I am with another one. Exciting journey, exciting explorations and lots of fun.

Radhika who has been running the blog hop Wednesdays, paired me up this time with Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes. Now, here is a person I have only met online in the context of food blogs and i have visited her blog for the last month or so since I discovered her on the previous hop. She has amazing energy, cooks a wide array of dishes and going by the number of posts she has blogged in the last few days, you would think she is on a mission (incidentally she is really on a cooking marathon). Priya has been blogging for a while now and has a wonderful collection of recipes on her blog. I do honestly admit, I had short listed 4 recipes from her blog and finally gave into this okra dish. I am glad I did as we all enjoyed this side dish very much.

Okra/ladies fingers/bhindi/bendekayi is one of my favorite veggies, I know I say this for most vegetables. What can I do? I am just a regular veggie lover. Look for other okra recipes here and here. Okra is unique, not very tempting to look at and slimy when you cut into it but properly cooked, this makes for some of the tastiest dishes you would have had. I am familiar with jhunka and make it plain or sometimes with bell pepper but had never thought of making it with okra. The addition of ajwain in this recipe was a clincher and we loved the flavor pop in the mouth.

Thanks Priya for a keeper recipe :-)

What do you need to make Okra Jhunka?
2 cups thinly sliced okra roundels
1/2 cup thinly slices onions
1/2 cup gram flour/basan
1/2 Tsp ajwain/om seeds
1 Tsp mustard
1 Tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 Tblsp cooking oil
3-4 curry leaves
2 green chilies - slit lengthwise
1 Tblsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish

How do you make Okra Jhunka? 

• Wash, pat dry okra - make sure every okra is completely dried. 
• Trim the ends and cut the okra into 1mm thick roundels.
• Heat a pan on medium and dry roast the gram flour constantly stirring for 8-10 minutes or until the flour turns light brown and you get the nice roasted smell. Keep aside.
• In the same pan, add oil, mustard seeds, ajwain, green chilies and curry leaves. Let mustard pop. 
• Add the onion slices and let it fry for a couple of minutes until onion sweats and turns pink. 

• Add the okra pieces, salt, turmeric powder and cover and cook undisturbed for 3-5 minutes. 

• Once the okra is soft, add the roasted gram flour, red chilies powder and mix well.
• Continue to cook on medium low heat for another 5-8 minutes, the gram flour when comes in contact with oil gives out a wonderful aroma. Priya says the oil leaves sides, I didn't see it since I hadn't used a lot of oil to start with. But the taste was perfect. 

• Take off the heat and garnish with chopped cilantro or coriander leaves. 
• Serve with rotis or hot rice. we had ours with rice and rasam. 

Notes: 

• Roast gram flour on medium heat and constantly stirring so it doesn't burn. 
• Make sure okra is cooked before adding the gram flour.

This delicious okra jhunka goes to Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesday

Menthya Matvadi palya - Fenugreek flavored, lentils loaded dry curry

If you haven't heard this name before, it sounds funny. Well, it sounds funny even if you are familiar with it. I really don't know the origin of the name. But just walk with me past the funny sounding name and let me introduce a recipe bursting with flavors. I love greens and menthya soppu or methi or fenugreek leaves are my favorite. This is one of the items regularly on my grocery shopping list (yes, I have a list but mostly stray away from my list:-) depending on what catches my eye in the grocery store). In spring and summer, I grow my own menthya soppu. If you love Menthya soppu like I do, go ahead and give this healthy recipe a try. It is wholesome with proteins, greens and just a tiny spoon of oil.

This year, I have menthya growing in multiple containers on the deck to be harvested at different times, smart yeh? There is so much difference in the freshness and flavor of a home grown menthya soppu and a store bought bunch. It is easy to grow menthya in containers and you do not have to fret for not having a backyard vegetable patch. Make sure you take a pot of atleast a foot and half depth so the roots can grow into the soil. If your pot is not deep enough, the roots will get squiggly and go all around the soil horizontally which makes them stringy to bite. Deeper pots ensure the roots go in and you can pull them up easily and chop the ends. The sprouts show up on 4th day if the weather is warm enough and continues to grow. You can harvest tender and flavorful menthya leaves in 2.5-3 weeks.

Back to today's recipe, matvadi palya or maatoti palya (as we called it when we were kids) is an easy to prepare dry curry that goes well with your rotis/chapatis or rice. I follow nammamma's suit and make a yogurt based gravy such as raita or majjige huli to make a complete meal. The palya can be eaten just by itself which is what I love do :-)

What do you need to make Menthya matvadi palya? 
1 cup toor dal/togari bele
2 cups chopped fresh menthya soppu/fenugreek leaves
1 inch piece of fresh ginger root
3-4 green chilies (adjust to suit your spice tolerance)
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 Tsp grated coconut (fresh or frozen)

For seasoning/vaggarane: 
1 Tsp cooking oil
1 Tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp asafoetida
3-4 curry leaves
1 red chili broken into 2-3 pieces

How do you make Menthya matvadi palya? 

• Soak toor dal in 3 cups of water for 1.5 - 2 hours.
• Wash, drain the soaked toor dal.
• Take the drained toor dal, green chilies and ginger into a blender/chopper and pulse them to a coarse paste. Use 1-2 Tsp of water if needed for the blender to operate - See notes. 

• Clean menthya leaves thoroughly and chop them discarding the root ends. 
• Add salt, coconut and chopped menthya soppu to the ground mixture and mix well. 

• The mixture needs to be steamed until the dal cooks. I use my presssure pan, with water at the bottom and a pan containing the dal-greens mixture in it.

• Steam it (no weight if you are using pressure cooker) for 20 minutes, switch off, take the pan out and let it come to room temperature.

• Using your fingers or a fork, break the cooked mixture up and fluff it up. 
• In a wide pan, heat a Tsp of oil, add mustard, asafoetida, red chili pieces and curry leaves. When mustard splutters, add the cooked mixture in and give it a good mix. 

• Let it roast on low heat for 5 minutes before taking it off the heat. Serve it piping hot with rice or rotis. 

Notes: 

• I use my Indian mixie/grinder in pulse mode for this and do not use water while grinding - use small portions to allow the mixie to do its job. 
• The toor dal needs to break down but not become a paste, so take care not to grind for long.
• You can use your idli stand and place small balls of the dal-greens mixture for steaming in it. 
• Use fresh, tender menthya leaves and feel free to load it with extra leaves in this recipe. 
• There is no onion, garlic in this recipe. Remember it is the menthya soppu in the limelight and do not over crowd it with ingredients.

Variation: 

• You can replace Chana dal/kadle bele for toor dal but nammamma always makes matvadi palya with toor dal as it makes the menthya soppu flavor stand out better than chana dal. 
• You can use a combination of chana dal and toor dal (use 1:1) for a blended taste.