Paruppu Usili / Bele Palya

wow! a long break really. Motherhood being my highest priority, I just had to shutdown my blogging for sometime and that sometime became a year. Now, I feel, it is time for me to get started. Planning to post at least one or two recipes a week. Let's see how it goes. Please wish me good luck. 

First of all, a big hello to all the regular visitors of this site. To start with, here is the recipe for Paruppu usili. It is called Bele palya in Kannada. A recipe cannot be more easier than this one. In a nutshell, bele palya is nothing but roasted spicy ground dal that is mixed with either cooked chopped beans or cooked plantain flower/vaazhaippoo or chopped methi leaves. Here, I have used the green beans. To be exact, the cluster beans. Its other names are  Gavar/Guar/Guwar/Guvar bean. The hero of the dish is of course the Bele or Paruppu or Dal. I have used Toor Dal or Thuvaram Paruppu. Here is the list of ingredients.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1 and half cups

Dry red chillies - 5 to 6

Salt - as required

Refined oil - 5 tablespoons

Cluster beans - handful - finely chopped and cooked well with enough salt 

(either Vaazhai poo - plantain flowers or Methi leaves can be substituted)

Mustard seeds - 2 teaspoons

Asafoetida powder - Hing powder - 1 teaspoon

Method:

Wash well and soak the toor dal for one or two hours.

Meanwhile chop the beans and cook with little salt and keep it aside.

Now, drain the water from the dal and grind with salt and dry red chillies using very very little water. (For chillies and salt to mix well with the dal, grind a handful of dal with the chillies and salt first and then add remaining dal and grind all together). Keep it aside.

Take a NON STICK kadai and pour the oil. Always keep in medium heat. 

Temper the mustard seeds. As it pops, add the asafoetida powder and immediately add the ground dal.

Keep stirring until all the oil is absorbed.

Then, stir every one or two minutes. The dal changes color to bright yellow and gets roasted.

In 10 to 15 minutes, you will notice the dal becoming a crumbled mixture. 

At this point in time, add the chopped cooked beans and stir well.

Turn off heat after a couple of minutes.

Serve with Rasam saadam or curd rice or just enjoy it as it is. 

Its a very easy dish. Specially a spicy No onion No garlic dish.

I have also used very very basic ingredients  Using turmeric powder, curry leaves and urud dal is opitonal. Cook this dish and let me know the feedback.