Navratri Special: Chana Dal Sundal

Vijayadashami is the 10th and last day of Navratri. It’s also an auspicious day to start formal education. Lord Hayagriva, God of Knowledge is also worshipped on this day. Chana dal sundal is made as an offering on this auspicious day.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Chana dal – 1 cup
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
• Ginger – 1 cm piece
• Green chillies, 2
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves , a few
• Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
• Asafetida- a pinch
• Salt, to taste
• Oil for tempering

Method

• Wash the chana well and soak for a couple of hours
• Drain the water, wash well and cook the Chana dal in a pressure cooker adding just enough water to submerge the Chana dal (approx 1 cup water). Cook for just one whistle as we do not want to overcook the Dal
• Chop the green chillies and ginger into fine pieces
• Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the Urad dal, curry leaves and sauté for few minutes. Add the asafetida, ginger and green chillies and sauté for few more minutes
• Add the tempering, turmeric, and salt to the cooked chana dal and sauté on slow flame for few minutes. Add the grated coconut and remove from fire

Enjoy the delicious sundal 😊

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Navratri Special: Black Chana Sundal

The next Sundal is Black Chana Sundal for Ashtami/Navami. I love to eat this sundal with Poori and halwa.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Black Chana – 1 cup
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
• Ginger – 1 cm piece
• Green chillies, 2
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves , a few
• Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
• Asafetida- a pinch
• Salt, to taste
• Oil for tempering

Method

• Wash the chana well and soak it overnight in plenty of water
• Drain the water, wash well and cook the Chana in a pressure cooker adding enough water to submerge the Chana (approx 1 cup water). Cook for 3-4 whistles until the Chana is well cooked. Keep aside.
• Chop the green chillies and ginger into fine pieces
• Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the Urad dal, curry leaves and sauté for few minutes. Add the asafetida, ginger and green chillies and sauté for few more minutes
• Add the tempering, turmeric, and salt to the cooked chana and sauté on slow flame for few minutes. Add the grated coconut and remove from fire

Enjoy the delicious sundal 😊

Navratri Special: Peanut Sundal

The next sundal variety for Navratri is Peanut Sundal. This is my mom’s recipe and it came out really tasty. My mom’s suggestion of adding red chilly, coriander powder, coconut masala powder, really made a difference to the sundal and enhanced the taste

Ingredients

• Peanuts, with the skin – 1 cup
• Red chilly – 1 whole
• Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
• Coconut – 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves, a few
• Lemon juice – 1-2 tsp
• Asafetida – a pinch
• Salt, to taste
• Tumeric powder – a pinch
• Sugar – 1/4 tsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

• Wash and soak the peanuts overnight
• Next morning, drain the water and cook the peanuts in a pressure cooker for 1-2 whistles, adding turmeric powder and water just enough to submerge the peanuts
• Dry roast the red chilly, coriander seeds, and coconut and dry grind to a fine powder. Keep aside
• Heat oil, add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the urad dal, asafetida and curry leaves. Add the cooked peanuts, the ground masala powder and sauté well for 3-4 minutes
• Add lemon juice and sugar, mix well and remove from flame

Serve hot and enjoy 🙂

Navratri Special: Horse Gram (Kollu) Sundal

Horse gram is a very healthy legume that is rich in iron. Known as Kollu in Tamilnadu, it’s used to make a variety of dishes like Kollu Rasam, Kollu poriyal, Kollu chutney. It is also used as an offering to Lord Ketu during Navratri. I made horse gram sundal on day 5 (Monday) of Navrathri.

Ingredients

• Horse gram (Kollu) – 1 cup
• Spinach – 1/4 cup
• Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
• Ginger-green chillies paste – 2 tbsp
• Garam Masala – 1 tsp
• Jaggery powder – 2 tbsp
• Salt, to taste
• For tempering
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Asafetida – a pinch
  • Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
  • Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Chopped coriander leaves, a few for garnishing

Method

• Clean and soak the horse gram overnight
• Next morning, wash it well and cook it in a pressure cooker, adding just enough water for 3-4 whistles or until well cooked
• Cook the spinach, grind it and keep aside
• In a pan, add coconut oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, asafetida. When the mustard splutters, add the spinach, ginger-green chilly paste and saute for some time
• Add the cooked horse gram, garam masala powder, grated coconut, salt and jaggery powder. Stir well and cook for 5-10 minutes, covered with a lid
• Remove from fire and garnish with coriander leaves

Enjoy the sundal 🙂

Broken Wheat Payasam

Wheat is generally used as an offering to Sun God. I made wheat payasam on Sunday, during the Navratri week, which is also the day dedicated to Sun God. This broken wheat or dalia payasam is made in a similar method like the Kerala Pradhaman varieties. This is my mom’s recipe and came out good.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Broken wheat – 1/2 cup
• Coconut (to make the coconut milk) – 3/4 cup
• Jaggery – 1 cup
• Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
• Water – 2 1/4 cup

Method

• Dry roast the broken wheat till it emits a nice aroma and turns a little reddish
  
• Add two cups of water to the wheat and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. Keep aside
• Prepare the coconut milk as follows
  Add a little water to the coconut and blend in a mixer for a couple of seconds. Either use a cheese cloth or a strainer and extract the thick coconut milk. I used a strainer and extracted by pressing with a spoon and my palm. This procedure yielded around 1/4 cup thick coconut milk. Do not discard the coconut as we will need it for the next extraction
• Add 1 cup water to the coconut and follow a similar procedure to extract the 2nd extraction of coconut milk. I got around 3/4 cup of 2nd coconut milk extract.

• Add one cup water to the coconut and follow the same procedure to prepare the 3rd extraction of coconut milk. I got around 1 cup of the 3rd extraction.

• Note: If would like a dilute payasam you can prepare the 4th extraction of coconut milk as well. I stopped with 3 as I like a little thicker payasam
• Add the 3rd extraction and 2nd extraction of coconut milk in order and let it thicken
• This is how the mixture looks after adding the 2nd extraction of coconut milk

• This is how the mixture looks when it starts to thicken

• Dissolve Jaggery in 1/4 cup water, strain and keep aside. Once the wheat and coconut milk mixture is thick, add the Jaggery and let it simmer for around 10 minutes. Keep stirring at regular intervals

• Once the mixture thickens add the thick extract of coconut milk and cardamom powder and remove from flame

Your payasam is now ready 😊

Note: You can add some cashewnuts/raisins fried in ghee to garnish the payasam

Navratri Special: Val Beans (Mochakottai) Sundal

My next Sundal recipe is Val beans or Mochakottai sundal. Val beans have a delicate flavor and compliments a lot of dishes. They are rich in protein and fiber and this sundal can be quite filling.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Val beans – 1 cup
• Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
• Ginger – 1 cm piece
• Green chillies, 2
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves , a few
• Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
• Asafetida- a pinch
• Salt, to taste
• Oil for tempering

Method

• Wash the val beans 2-3 times and soak it overnight in plenty of water. When cooked Val beans have a slightly bitter taste hence you need to wash it very well
• Drain the water, wash well and cook the Val beans in a pressure cooker adding enough water to submerge the Val beans. Cook for 3-4 whistles. Keep aside.
• Chop the green chillies and ginger into fine pieces
• Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the Urad dal, curry leaves and sauté for few minutes. Add the asafetida, ginger and green chillies and sauté for few more minutes
• Add the tempering, turmeric, and salt to the cooked Val beans and sauté on slow flame for few minutes. Add the grated coconut and remove from fire

Serve hot and enjoy 😊

Navrathri Special: Chick pea sundal

My next Sundal for Navratri is Chick pea ( Kabuli Chana ) Sundal. The procedure is almost similar to the rajma sundal. If you have raw mangoes, you can add them to this sundal to enhance the taste.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Chick peas – 1 cup
• Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
• Ginger – 1 cm piece
• Green chillies, 2
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal – 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves , a few
• Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
• Asafetida- a pinch
• Salt, to taste
• Oil for tempering

Method

• Wash the chick peas well and soak it overnight in plenty of water
• Drain the water, wash well and cook the chick peas in a pressure cooker adding enough water to submerge the chick peas (approx 1 cup water). Cook for 3-4 whistles. Keep aside.
• Chop the green chillies and ginger into fine pieces
• Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add the Urad dal, curry leaves and sauté for few minutes. Add the asafetida, ginger and green chillies and sauté for few more minutes
• Add the tempering, turmeric, and salt to the cooked chick peas and sauté on slow flame for few minutes. Add the grated coconut and remove from fire

Serve hot and enjoy 😊

Variation: If you have raw mango, then it will enhance the taste of this sundal. If you use raw mango, chop into fine pieces and cook for few minutes till it is semi soft. Don’t over cook it, as we need it to be a little dry in the sundal. Add the raw mango pieces when you add the chick peas and sauté for sometime.