Kongunadu Kollu kadayal
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 4
Ingredients
To Pressure cook:
  • Kollu/Horse gram - ½ cup
  • Tomato - 1 big ripened
  • Green chilli - 1
  • Turmeric powder - ⅛ tsp
  • Water - 2 cups
To fry:
  • Coconut oil - 2 tsp
  • Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
  • Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
  • Peppercorns - ¼ tsp
  • Dry red chillies - 1 or 2
  • Garlic cloves - 4
  • Small onions - 10 to 12
  • Curry leaves - 4
  • Coriander leaves - 4
To temper:
  • Coconut oil - 2 tsp
  • Curry leaves - 6
Other ingredients:
  • Salt - ½ tsp or as required
Instructions
Pressure Cooking:
  1. Take ½ cup horse gram in a plate, look out for specks and discard, if any.
  2. Add horse gram to a pan and dry fry for 3 to 5 mins in low flame until aromatic.
  3. Wash fried horse gram 2 to 3 times and add it to a pressure cooker.
  4. Add 2 cups water, 1 chopped tomato, 1 green chilli, a big pinch of turmeric powder and pressure cook for 8 to 10 whistles in medium heat.
  5. Once pressure is released naturally, drain the cooked water and keep it separately.
Frying:
  1. In a pan, add 2 tsp coconut oil. Once hot, add 1 heaped tsp coriander seeds, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ¼ tsp peppercorns, 1 or 2 dry red chillies and give a quick stir.
  2. Then add 4 garlic cloves and 12 peeled small onions (do not chop) and fry.
  3. After 2 mins, add 4 curry leaves and fry till onions turn transparent.
  4. Finally add 4 coriander stalks with leaves, give a quick stir and turn off the stove.
  5. Transfer to a plate and let it cool down.
Grinding:
  1. Once cooled, transfer the fried contents to a mixie jar and grind coarsely.
  2. Then add cooked and drained horse gram to it along with cooked tomato and green chilli.
  3. Then add ½ tsp salt and grind coarsely.
  4. Do not add water to grind as you will end up in paste and the texture will affect the taste.
Tempering:
  1. In a pan, add 2 tsp coconut oil.
  2. Once oil is hot, add few curry leaves.
  3. Once the leaves splutter, add ground horse gram to it.
  4. Add horse gram cooked water to mixie jar and add mixie rinsed water to the tempered pan. You shall add more water to adjust the consistency now, but it is not required as this curry is generally served thick.
  5. Let it boil in medium heat for 2 to 3 mins.
  6. That's it, serve with hot rice and ghee.
Notes
1.Coconut oil can be replaced with sesame oil but coconut oil gives nice flavor to this curry.
2.Small onions can be replaced with 1 big onion, but small onions give the authentic taste.
3.Dry red chillies can be increased to spice up the curry.
4.Green chiilli can be skipped to bring down the spice level.
5.Traditionally, this curry is served thick. You shall increase water to thin down, if desired.
6.You shall skip grinding in mixie and mash using mathu/potato masher for traditional touch and elevated taste.
7. You shall use Kollu cooked water to make rasam and just serve this as thick thogayal without tempering. It can be mixed with rice or served as side-dish for rasam or curd rice.
Recipe by My Healthy Kiddo at https://www.myhealthykiddo.com/kongunadu-kollu-kadayal/