Cherupayar – Vazhakkaya / Moong Dal – Raw Plantain Curry

This curry reminds me of our school vacations. There my grandmother used to prepare this curry in a manchatti (flat earthen pot) and on a viraku-aduppu (stove made of clay and wood for fire) which would give the dish a slight flavor of smoke. The taste of that curry was awesome.

As per Hindu beliefs, there are some special days when ladies don’t take rice food at all or take them only once a day. On these days a thicker version of this dish is prepared as a main dish with more proportion of raw plantain. Also at times raw plantain is replaced by tapioca.

Ingredients:

Cherupayar / Moong Dal       --    ½ cup

Vazhakkaya / Raw Plantain  --   ½ of a medium size

Green Chillies                      --   3 - 4

Turmeric powder                  --   ¼ tsp

Chilly powder                       --    1 tsp

Shallots/Pearl onions           --    2 medium size

Mustard seeds                    --    ½ tsp

Curry Leaves                       --   few

Shredded coconut                --   ¼ cup

Oil                                      --   2 tbsp

Salt                                    --   to taste

Preparation of Curry:

Cook the dal and raw plantain with turmeric powder and chilly powder in a pressure cooker. Normally it takes 3 – 4 whistles to get this cooked. You can also go for slow cooking as it is tastier as always. At times when I have time, I go for slow cooking. Since moong dal takes a long time to get cooked, you can soak them in water for a hour or so before going for slow cooking.

Grind the shredded coconut with a pinch of turmeric. Crush the pearl onions. Add these to the cooked dal and let it boil.

Heat oil in another pan and add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add curry leaves. Garnish the curry.

Submitting this recipe to the veggie platter's event Delicious Dals.

Recipe Courtesy: Amma