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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Muthira(Horse gram) puzhukku

Sometimes, the simplest dishes are the best tasting. If you look at the cooking styles of your mothers and grandmothers, you will see how they make good use of locally available ingredients and with minimum fuss, come up with dishes that make you go in for second and third helpings. This muthira (horse gram) puzhukku is one such dish that my mother makes and which I tried out today after calling her at work for the recipe.
What you need:
Horsegram - 1 cup (soaked in plenty of water overnight)
Raw plantain - 1, peeled and sliced into medium sized pieces (Other vegetables that can be used are yam and pumpkin or a combination of these)
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli - 2, roughly torn into pieces
Black peppercorns- 5 or 6, crushed slightly
Fresh grated coconut - 1/3 cup
Coconut oil - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few sprigs

Add turmeric powder, salt, red chillies, plantain and pepper to the horsegram, add enough water and cook in a pressure cooker until 8 or 10 whistles. I know that sounds like a lot of time, but horsegram takes a while to get cooked. Once the pressure goes down, transfer the cooked contents to a heavy kadai and boil for a few minutes until most of the liquid evaporates (It should still retain some liquid). Add the grated coconut and curry leaves. Mix well. Switch off the heat and mix in the coconut oil.
Serve with rice and a papadam on the side.
This goes to Nags who is hosting the Saas, Bahu aur Sensex contest.
Saas Bahu aur Sensex is a movie that is being released by Warner Bros on the 19th of this month and it celebrates women who handle different roles in life with great aplomb. Specifically, it is about a few housewives who watch saas-bahu serials and also invest in the stock market and reap rich dividends from their investments.
This also goes to Lucinda who is guest hosting My Legume Love Affair which was started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

15 comments:

sra said...

This is the first time I've heard of horse gram being used in conjunction with veggies, v unusual.

Dibs said...

Hello Jayashree. I like horsegram, but dont know many recipes with it. This looks great. The previous post is lovely too. Never tried making any halwa!

Thanks for wishing my mom for her b'day. She is still learning to comment, and will hopefully come here soon, and thank you herself :-)

anudivya said...

Hey... puzhukku (the kerala type) is usually made with tapioca right? Or am I wrong?
This must taste great with rice!

Indian Khana said...

We making just dal out of it...but this looks yummy...

amna said...

that's a very original recipe. thanks a ton for participating. hope you enjoy the movie ;)

Unknown said...

THis new for me... i will try... nice click,,, fantatic entry... thxs for sharin...

Jayashree said...

Sra, the veggies really add to the taste of the dish.
Dibs, I love your mother's blog. She writes from the heart and that comes through on her blog.
Divya, it is not always made with tapioca. It can be made with just muthira or jackfruit or you can combine veggies like plantain, yam or pumpkin with the muthira.

Jayashree said...

Priti, thx.
Nags, the movie sounds interesting. Will let u know how it goes.
SK, thx. let me know how it turns out if u do try it.

jayasree said...

Oh this puzhukku evokes lots of memories for me... Ideal combination to this is kanji and one of my favorite combo. I too make this often. Liked the idea of adding kurumilagu to it.

Sunshinemom said...

I too made this one recently but am yet to post it! We make puzhukku with saboot moong. Will try it with kollu next time!

Jayashree said...

Jaya, the kurumolagu is just something I threw in as I was putting in the red chillies. I thought it would add a different kind of spiciness and it did.
Harini, with moong? must try that out some time.

Susan said...

Something very new to me. Why do I have a feeling I will never see this offered in my favorite Indian restaurants, regardless of their not catering to Western tastes? This looks like homecooking at its best.

Unknown said...

If you add some yem, koorka and tapioca with horse gram , puzhukku will be so tasty

Unknown said...

If you add yem,koorka and tapioca with horse gram,puzhukku will be so tasty

Unknown said...

If you add some yem, koorka and tapioca with horse gram , puzhukku will be so tasty