Thuvarai kai Kozhambu

October - January months are such a welcome season in Bangalore for two reasons. One is the awesome cold weather and second is the availability of tasty fresh lentils, avarakkalu (mochai kottai) and thuvarekalu (thuvara kottai). Ofcourse, the menfolk just dread this season for reason number 2 :).

This is a simple recipe for making thuvara kalu gravy, basically very similar to the pidukku paruppu recipe in terms of the spices and flavouring used.

Ingredients:

Thuvara kalu (shelled) - 1/2 kg

Onion - 2 medium

Green chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 8-10

Tomato - 1

Ginger - 1/2 tbsp

Garlic - 1/2 tbsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp  (I use 1/4 tsp Amti masala)

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Method:

Wash the thuvarai kottai and keep aside. Slice the onions, tomatoes, slit the green chillies into two and chop the curry leaves. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add the onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Fry for a few minutes until the onion turns golden brown. Add the chopped tomatoes. Fry till the raw smell of tomatoes is gone. Add the ginger and garlic paste, chilli powder and salt and keep frying until the raw smell of masala is gone. Finally add the beans. Add some water just to cover the beans, stir and close the lid. If using a pressure cooker, just 1 whistle, with the cooker on high flame, should suffice. If using a kadai, cover and cook until the beans are cooked throughout (approximately 5-7 minutes)

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve as a side with dosa/idli/roti or mix with rice.

Verdict: This is an extremely tasty legume. Make the best of it during the winter months. Adjust the spices to your taste.

Thickening the gravy:  In most of these curries, there is a necessity to thicken the gravy. When we add potatoes to the preparation, we can directly mash the potatoes to get the desired consistency. At other times, you could make a paste of rice flour, besan or corn flour. Just dissolve half a tablespoon of the flour to a couple of table spoons of water. Add the paste to the gravy, bring to a boil and let it keep boiling for a minute or two to get rid of the raw smell.