Beans Paruppu Usili Curry

Volume

Serving for 4-5 people.

Ingredients

- 0.5 kg beans
- 2 tumblers toor daal
- Water
- 0.25 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp salt + 5 tsp salt
- 30 red chillis (dried)
- 1 tsp asofoetida
- Til oil
- 2 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp urad daal
- 10 curry leaves

Other Requirements

- Sauce pan (with a lid) + ladel
- Extra vessels
- Mixie
- Idli maker

Steps to Prepare

1. Soak the Daal

  1. Take 2 tumblers of toor daal and add enough water to cover all of it. Allow it to soak for 2 hours. If at any point all of the water has been absorbed, add more water to cover the daal.

2. Prepare Paruppu Usili

  1. Add 30 red chillis (dried) to a mixie, and add 5 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of asofoetida to the mixie. Do not add any water.

  2. Run the mixie a few times, pushing less grinded materials back into the centre each time. Ensure that a dry, powdery mixture comes out.
  3. Then add a few hands full of toor daal (not all) to this mixture in the mixie. Be careful not to add too much water as this is added. The overall output should still remain coarse, and not too fine or liquidy. Therefore, be careful not to run the mixie for more than a few seconds at a time.

  4. Remove the mixture and place it in a vessel.

  5. Repeat the process, but with only the remaining toor daal (no chillis) a few more times, until all of the toor daal has been used up.
  6. Add all of the mixtures together in one vessel.

  7. Mix the different mixtures together, so that the daal and chilli powder are uniformly mixed. Taste test to make sure that a spicy, coarse powder has been formed.

  8. Now add 1 drop of til oil to each container in the idli maker. Spread the oil across the container.

  9. Add the powdered mixture to each container, as if it was idli batter.

  10. Arrange the levels of the idli maker, pour 1 inch of water into the base, and set it on the stove.

  11. After 10 minutes, once it starts whistling, set the flame to low. Once it starts whistling consistently again, switch off the stove.
  12. After another 10 minutes, open the idli maker, and remove the paruppu usili idlis.

  13. Note that in this process, we might have created about 20 such idlis. We only need around 7 (1/3 the quantity) for this curry. Because paruppu usili takes time to make, it is recommended to store this in the freezer and re-use whenever needed.

3. Cook the Curry

  1. Cut 0.5 kgs of beans and boil them in enough water to cover all of the beans. Add 2 tsp of salt to the boiling water.

  2. Once the beans are soft and well boiled, drain the water out so that the beans are fairly dry.

  3. Take 7 idlis of paruppu usili and start crushing them. The remaining pieces need not be very fine grained, but need to be broken down to small pieces still.

  4. Now add 2 tbsp of oil to a saice pan and allow the oil to heat up. Once the oil is hot, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds begin to sizzle, add 2 tbsp of urad daal and 10 curry leaves.
  5. Then add all of the crushed paruppu usili (7 idlis worth). Toss it around in the sauce pan for a few minutes. In this process crush any remaining larger pieces of the paruppu usili. Ensure that all pieces are getting soaked in the oil, and are becoming crisper and better cooked. If more oil is needed, more can be added.

  6. Then add the dried beans also to the mix. Mix them thoroughly, and continue the process of mixing and roasting.

  7. Add another 2 tbsp of oil, and ensure that all of the curry is getting covered in some oil and getting crisper in the process.
  8. Spread out the curry, to cover maximum surface area, and allow it to roast for a while.
  9. Once the curry has reached a good colour and crispness, taste test and switch off the stove. Allow it to remain in the vessel for another 10 minutes and leave the lid on.

  10. Finally, it can be transferred to the final container.

Serve the curry as a side dish with any rice based dish.