Kadle Kalu Usli a.k.a black chana Sundal a.k.a sauteed black chick peas - easiest offering during Navaratri

Nimellarigu Navaratri Habbada Shubhashayagalau (Wishing everyone a Very Happy Navaratri festival)

Today is the 7th day in the Navaratri series and is typically started off with Saraswati pooje or by praying to the Goddess of knowledge. We had this discussion with kids last weekend at our Balavihar about what kind of knowledge was worth seeking, there were some really enlightening kinds of responses. Any adults up to playing along? Of the nine nights, the first 3 days are dedicated to Goddess Durga who is worshipped to kill the ego within each of us and everything that hinders a path of self realization, the second 3 days are celebrated in the worship of Goddess Lakshmi to provide us with the wealth of tools to seek knowledge and make us equipped to make the journey and the last 3 days are celebrated in the worship of Goddess Saraswati to bless us with the actual knowledge or the self realization. It is the wisdom to realize who I am (for each of you to know who you are :-)). Beautiful, yet very hard to come by. Takes years of practice and quest which we are all on - different paths, stages, speeds and means but same goal.

With that thought on the significance of Navaratri pooja, I will take you to my kitchen to share one of the most commonly prepared offerings during the festivals in the South India. It is popularly known as Sundal in Tamil Nadu while we call it Usli or Usali in Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh has a sibling of this dish called vada pappu but the legumes are uncooked and is more like the kosambari but without any garnishing or seasoning. A protein rich dish, easy to put together and is completely saatvik in the traditional form(no onion or garlic is used in these recipes).

There are uslis made from a variety of legumes and dals and you will see these when you visit homes during Navaratri. The basic principle is the same while replacing the star of the dish. Some of the popular varieties of Usli in Karnataka are - Kadle Kalu usli (Chick peas - either black/brown colored or the golden garbanzo), Hesaru kalu usli(whole moong), Alasande kalu usli (cow peas), Hurali kalu usli(horse gram), Kadle bele usli (chana dal), hesaru bele usli(moong dal). You will also find peanut usli, green peas usli, corn usli etc. You get the picture, right? Take a legume, follow a few simple steps and you will end up with a delicious snack. Yes, this can be eaten as a snack, side dish during a festive meal or any time you prefer :-)

Basically, the legume is cooked (how you cook and how much you cook entirely determines the deliciousness and the presentation of this dish), sautéed with herbs, coconut and green chilies. Lemon or lime juice is added for the tartness. That is all there is to it. Now, pick a legume of choice and make this easy usli. The ingredients I have given are the whole traditional nine yards for this dish, but don't panic if you don't have the curry leaves or if you choose to skip green chilies and use red chilies or put less or more coconut than suggested. It will still be a delicious usli. I would strongly recommend asafetida though as that is the flavor I identify a festive usli with :-), it reminds of care free childhood days, nammamma in her kitchen wearing a silk seere and scurrying about to get all the dishes and arrangements ready. Ah, the smells, sounds, taste and nostalgia, doesn't take much to transport me to Mysore.

In Mysore, when we went to visit the doll displays around the neighborhood, we would get an equivalent of current day return gift called baagina. Neatly packed in eco friendly cups made from leaves and dried to hold stuff (we call it Donne in Kannada) and sometimes put inside another small pouch, the baagina would be different for adult women and little girls which I thought was very unjust. So the moment we were out of a friend's house, I would grab nammamma's packet and compare notes. Anything interesting would shift to my packet while all uninteresting stuff would stay in hers :-). And here is a very important discovery based on facts that this is not just a childish gesture but a gene with a very definite marking and gets transferred from generation to generation. I saw DD do the same thing last weekend when we went to a friend's house as her bag didn't have the usli in it :-). Obviously, she has not seen me do it and I am usually pretty careful sharing the not-so-proud moments of my childhood with her :-). By the time we reached home, the usli packet had journeyed involuntarily into her bag and thus became rightfully hers.

I have 2 ways of preparing usli - both delicious but slightly different based on who I am serving it to. If there are  a lot of younger kids and people that do not eat spicy food, I follow the easier/milder version and if I am preparing it for people that enjoy a little spice in the dish, I follow the easy/spicy version:-). So here are both ways of making a usli and you get to choose how you will make it for your loved ones.

Enjoy the usli, go out and dance some Garba or Dandiya if you can manage and don't forget to come back as I have lined up a few delicious recipes. See you all soon again.

What do you need to make Kadle kalu usli?
1 cup dry black chick peas (see notes for alternatives)
1/4 cup grated coconut
1/2 Tsp salt
2-3 green chilies
1/2 lemon/lime (equivalent of 1-1.5Tsp juice)
1 Tblsp chopped cilantro
2-3 curry leaves
1 Tsp oil
1 Tsp mustard
1/8 Tsp asafoetida (* very important flavoring agent)

How do you make Kadle kalu usli?

• Wash, pick over dry kadle kalu and soak it in 3 cups of water over night or atleast till it plumps up and doubles in size (minimum 8-10 hours)

Perspective of dry and soaked chick peas, notice the moistness and size on the right

• Rinse, wash and pressure cook for 2 whistles with salt and 1.5 cup of water.
• Let it cool before opening the pressure cooker.
• Drain the cooked kalu, reserve water to be used as a nutritious stock in soups, rasams and the like.

Easier & Milder version:

• Remove stems of the green chilies, slit vertically and cut into 2 or 3 pieces horizontally.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, let it pop, add the green chilies and sauté for 30 seconds.
• Add the asafetida and curry leaves followed by cooked & drained kadle kalu, add grated coconut, chopped cilantro and mix well.
• Add the lemon/lime juice. Taste test and adjust salt or lemon juice to taste.
• Switch off, you can serve this hot, warm or cold.

Easy & spicier version:

• Take the grated coconut, half of cilantro, and the green chilies to a blender and pulse them into a coarse crumble without adding any water preferably.
• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and let it pop, add the curry leaves and asafetida followed by cooked & drained kadle kalu.
• Add the coconut paste, mix it well. Add the lemon/lime juice and the remaining cilantro.

• Taste test and adjust salt or lemon juice to taste.
• Switch off, you can serve this hot, warm or cold.

Notes:

• You will have to control the cooking time based on the legume you choose, some need the pressure cooker to cook fast and some fall apart if you use pressure cooker. The idea is to cook them soft and juicy but not mushy. For example, I always cook whole moong in an open vessel, takes about 15-20 minutes if you have soaked and plumped the moong before cooking.

• Soaking the dry legumes not only reduces the cook time but also gives the right texture to it. So plan an evening before and soak it in plenty of water over night.
• If using canned chick peas (I haven't seen black chick peas in cans though), be careful to choose a brand that doesn't have the peas cooked too soft that they break while sautéing.
• If using frozen coconut, thaw it and bring it to room temperature.
• Sautéing green chilies in oil tones the spice down and also spice intolerant people can fish out the big pieces of the chili while eating and avoid the heat.
• If you have to use a couple of spoons of water to make the coconut paste, increase the heat once you add and let the water evaporate before finishing it up.



BOlu gojju(curry without vegetables) - when the spices took over

Gojju as far as I know is a very Karnataka recipe, it is typically a curry with ground spices and boiled or stir fried vegetables in it. I have other gojju recipes on the blog, check it out if interested. But today's recipe does not have any vegetables in it.

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with this dish. You may have some version of it or call it by a different name but it goes by 'BOlu Gojju' in our family. This funny named dish (BOlu~empty/bald since it is devoid of vegetables, gojju~curry)is one of my doddamma (my mother's older sister) and amma's signature recipes. My doddamma was one of those cooks who made everything taste divine (remember the mosaravalakki?), I can't even pick a favorite from her menu as I would eat every bit of everything she cooked. The only issue I had with her was her extreme 'rules in the kitchen' - do not touch this with wet hands, do not touch this without wet hands, don't ever serve food with right hand, do not put plates in the same pile as the dishes, etc, etc..:-). Nammamma being the flexible one, I almost had a free reign in the kitchen and used to be terrorized by Doddamma whenever she stayed with us.

Once when I asked doddamma how she made such delicious stuff with barely any ingredients, she looked up at me and said, "We barely had ingredients to use but had to feed a big family", I think necessity is truly the mother of invention. Times changed and by the time I was old enough to notice her cooking, there was plenty in her kitchen. Whether she made a vegetable curry, a saaru, a ghee laden dessert or a simple bolu gojju they were all finger licking good except that she would never allow you to lick your fingers :-). Me & my little brother have spent many a school vacations with this doddamma as my cousin was transferred to many rural medical facilities and doddamma moved with him and his young family. Rich, unadulterated milk from the villagers, fresh vegetables brought to the door steps every morning all no doubt made the food much tastier but I can never forget those breakfasts in her kitchen - golden crisp akki rotti with a dollop of home made benne (butter) and a side of yogurt so thick it would not fall down if you tipped the cup over, a menthya dose with a heavenly aroma served with more benne and coconut chutney made in the traditional stone grinder, or avalakki vaggarane (seasoned poha) on a green banana leaf with a mouth watering midi uppinakaayi(baby mangoes pickled whole).

I think the bolu gojju was invented on a day either in hot summer or cold winter when there were no vegetables in the backyard, and there was no one at home to fetch it from the store. Or it was simply a day at the end of the month for a family on a regular income and they had to wait until the next pay day to hit the grocery store. Or it was a day when the mother just couldn't find a vegetable in God's green land to satisfy the conflicting needs and wants of her family and she decided to skip the vegetable all together and cook up something different. OK, those are all 'imaginations uncontrolled' as to how the humble bOlu gojju was born :-), I get carried away sometimes, and this is one of those times.

When I was writing this draft earlier this weekend a very tired BH was almost dozing off at the other side of the bed. I wanted to pick his brain for a few minutes and also subject him to a preview of the draft. He doesn't get caught easily on these chores, so attacking him when he is least expecting it and defenseless seems to work. In that dreamy state and to get a relief from the nagging, he said the bOlu gojju was born when the spices went on a strike as they were all tired of making up a perfectly harmonious gravy only to be out done by some vegetable. I think that might have been it, do you agree? So they told the lady of the house that she should create something where all that would be visible was the masala and its lasting taste and the kind hearted woman agreed with them and thus the Bolu gojju was born on a day when both the cook and the spices boycotted the vegetables.

The ingredients list though looks like a tall order, notice that they are all very common spices found in most Indian pantries. Amma usually made this with Pongal as a side dish. It is a perfect complement to the bland pongal.  This tastes so awesome you don't need to wait until you make pongal or even until you have run out of all your vegetables :-). And you don't even slog infront of a hot stove for more than 5 minutes.Don't go by the pictures, they don't do any justice to how the dish tastes. I can eat it anyday, it tastes good with hot rice or akki rotti too.

What do you need to make Bolu gojju? 
2 Tblsp grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
1 cup boiled black chana or black chickpeas
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
small piece of tamarind
1/2 Tsp crushed jaggery or brown sugar
1 Tsp salt
1.5-2 cups water
To Roast:
1 Tblsp chana dal
1/2 Tsp urad dal
1 Tblsp white sesame seeds
1/8 Tsp fenugreek seeds
1/8 Tsp cumin
1/4 Tsp coriander seeds
2 pieces of 1 inch long cinnamon
1 clove
6-8 black pepper corns
1-2 dry red chilies

How do you make Bolu gojju? 

• Dry roast all ingredients under 'To Roast' on medium heat in a heavy bottom pan, stirring frequently not to burn any ingredients for 5-7 minutes. 

• When the dals turn light pink and fenugreek gives out its roasted aroma, switch off, keep aside to cool down.
• Grind all the roasted ingredients with coconut, salt, tamarind and jaggery. Add water to bring it to a thick flowing (not dropping) consistency. 
• Add the chopped onions and boiled black chana. Mix well. 
• Seasoning is completely optional for this gojju (remember, you made this because your pantry & refrigerator were almost empty :-)). If you do like it, you may season it with a Tsp of mustard and 1/4 Tsp fenugreek roasted in a Tsp of oil until they pop. Throw in a couple of curry leaves. I did it just for the picture :-). 

To prepare the black chana:

• Soak a handful of dry black chana (black chick peas) overnight in water. 
• Drain, wash and pressure cook with a cup of water and a pinch of salt until it is soft, takes 3 whistles in my pressure cooker. 
• Switch off, let cool, drain the cooked peas and use it in the gojju. 
• I normally soak a bigger quantity and end up making some quick usili with the remaining peas. 

Notes: 

• Roast the masala ingredients on medium to low heat so they get roasted well without any raw smell. This is key to a great tasting gojju as it is not cooked or boiled afterwards. 
• If your tamarind feels wetwhen it comes from the package, add it to the other ingredients and roast it to remove the raw smell. 
• Since there are no vegetables added and the ground masala itself constitutes the bulk, plan to scale the proportions up or down depending on the servings you need. The above yields a medium soup bowl full of gojju. 
• Adjust black pepper and red chilies depending on your spice tolerance and the variety of red chilies you use. 
• I have not used garbanzo or kabuli chana or white chick peas in this recipe any time, may be because I associate this gojju always with black chana and it is as much about recreating the memory in my kitchen as much as enjoying the food. Try the substitution at your own risk -) if you have to.