While Indian menu has gone haute with quite a few confluence of flavors like the Tandoori Paneer Pizza, Paneer Subs, some recipes have stood the test of time and do deserve veneration. Take for example, the Paruppu Urundai Kozhambu, or the Molagu Kozhambu, or the Kandathippili Rasam. I am not sure why these time tested recipes are relegated to the backburners of the stove while other dishes alone strut in the buffet tables at parties.
Frankly, these recipes can never be appreciated on an all-is-fine day. When kids lovingly pass on their virus to us, the uncanny disappearance of the olfactory and gustatory senses in us hankers for the sober yet piquant molagu kozhambu or molagu rasam. A recovery from a gastronomic extravagance is made possible by the humble kandathippili rasam. The monsoon friendly paruppu urundai completely eliminates the need to go out and buy vegetables in the rainy Seattle, in that it is the bliss of a modest lunch. As I write this flash backs of Amma’s paruppu urundai kozhambu blurs my vision!
Ingredients
Tamarind – size of a small lemon; chana dal – 1 cup, soaked for an hour; sambhar powder – 3 tsps; red chillies – 3; hing – a pinch; turmeric powder – 1 tsp; curry leaves – a few, salt – to taste; mustard seeds – 1 tsp; oil – 2 tsp to season.
Recipe
Extract about a cup of pulp from the tamarind. Grind together the soaked chana dal, red chillies, some salt, hing and a pinch of turmeric powder into a fairly thick paste. Roll the paste into balls. If it is a little too watery, add just a couple teaspoons of rice flour and roll them into small balls.
Add sambhar powder, turmeric powder, hing and salt to the tamarind pulp and bring it to a rolling boil. Add one chana dal urundai (ball) into the boiling gravy. In about a minute, the urundai would have been cooked and would float atop. Add the second urundai now and allow it to float on top. Add the other urundais slowly one after the other, making sure that the previous one floats.
When all the urundais float, the gravy would have thickened sufficiently. season mustard seeds in oil. When mustard seeds crackle, add curry leaves and temper it over the kozhambu.
Serve hot.
Bon Appetit!
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