15 Jun Beans Paruppu Usili
Beans & Dal Poriyal – Tamil Vegetable Dish
This Beans + Dal vegetable dish is a perfect match of taste & health, and doesn’t take a lot of work either. Serve it with Sambar or Rasam rice, and you’ll wonder if you’ve made enough.
INGREDIENTS – 4 PAX – Red Gram Dal (Toor/Arhar) – 1 cup, Dry Red Chillies – 3, French Beans – 500 gms, chopped into 1 cm pieces, Asafoetida – Pinch, Salt – To taste. For Tempering – Oil (5 tbsp), Mustard Seeds (1 tsp), Bengal gram dal (1 tsp), Dry Red Chilli (1), Cumin Seeds (1 tsp), Curry Leaves (3 sprigs)
PREPARATION – (1) Soak Red Gram dal & 3 Red Chillies in water for an hour. Drain & blend into a smooth paste. Add salt & asafoetida. Mix & keep aside. (2) Wash & chop French Beans, steam till al-dente. The fresh, green colour you see in the picture despite my poor photography, and the crunchy, juicy taste of the vegetable comes from steaming, not from pan-cooking.
COOK – (1) In a thick-bottomed pan (non-stick gives you better results, but the fun is in cast-iron), pour in Oil, then Mustard Seeds. (2) When the seeds start popping, Add in the Cumin, Bengal Gram Dal, 1 Dry Red Chilli, & Curry Leaves. (3) Once the flavours release, pour in the Dal Paste. Cook this on a low flame till the paste begins to separate and look like bread crumbs, but soft. You’ll need to stir regularly. (4) Just as the Dal Paste becomes crumbly, pour in the steamed French Beans, adjust salt, and fry for a couple of minutes till the flavours blend.
Serve hot.
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