Parupu Usili

Food

Vegetables  - 1/2 kg.	Mustard seeds - 1 ½ tsp.
Toor dal -1 cup	Red chillies- 12 nos.
Channa dal -1 cup	Asafoetida - a small piece
Oil - 200 ml	Salt - to taste

Method

Soak both the dals together with sufficient water for about an hour. Add chillies, asafoetida, salt and grind the soaked dal coarsely. Heat 100 ml. oil in a kadai; add half the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Next add the cut vegetables and cook them till soft and tender. Remove the cooked vegetables from the kadai. Add the remaining mustard to oil and let them splutter. Next add the ground dal mixture in the kadai and cook till it becomes soft and dry. Finally add the cooked vegetables and mix it with the dal thoroughly. Cook for some more time and remove from fire.

(Beans, cluster beans, snake-gourd, banana-flower are the vegetables best suited for this preparation)

Note: The vegetables can be pressure cooked, if necessary. Channa dal can also be used to prepare usili. The water in which the dal is soaked is rich in protein. Hence it need not be wasted. 

Sujatha Pradeep

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