MATVADI / MATODI PALYA / PARUPPU USILI / METHI CHANADAL SABZI

Today i have for you all.. an authentic South Indian dish ,which is very healthy and proteinaceous . It tastes n smells heavenly.Yep i am speaking about ” Matvadi Palya ” of Karnataka and ” Paruppu Usili ” of Tamilnadu . Both the dishes are almost the same with slight changes and a different name. They are also known as ” Menthi koora Patholi ” in few region .Hmm..What’s in a name .. lets just relish this yummy side dish.. Did i tell you that its one of my favorites too…

Matodi Palya is basically a dry stir fry made from soaked lentils with choice of veggies in it. It is common in Brahmin’s home . As guessed , this traditional recipe is passed to me from my mom. But i find the authentic version is time consuming and calls for liberal use of oil .I have cut down comparatively oil and time consumption when  compared to my mother’s method by cooking it a little differently . But still it doesn’t fall under quick side dish category or low cal category. Once in a while its ok…

Those of you who haven’t tried it pls give it a try.. you’l be hooked by its taste .. its just yummmm….Here goes the recipe.. Today i have used methi leaves for the matodi palya / paruppu usili . .

MATVADI PALYA

Smitha Kalluraya

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Course Side Dish

Cuisine karnataka

Servings 4 serving

Ingredients

 

• 4 cups methi leaves / fenugreek leaves, , tightly packed
• 1 - 2 tsp Lime Juice
• to taste Salt

To Grind

• 1 cup Chana Dal Bengal Gram
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• Ginger, - a small piece
• 4 - 8 Green Chilli, - based on your spice level

To Temper

• 1 tsp Mustard
• 1 tsp Urad Dal black gram
• 1/2 tsp Chana Dal Bengal Gram
• 1 Red Chilli, broken
• few Curry Leaves, -
• or two a pinch Hing /Asafetida
• 1/4 tsp Haldi turmeric

Instructions

 

• Wash and soak chanadal for 2-3 hours.Once dal is soaked well, discard extra water.
  
• Meanwhile clean methi leaves,wash and chop finely.
• Grind chana dal along with coconut,ginger and green chilli to a coarse paste. Do not add any water.
  
• Transfer the coarse paste to a wide container.
  
• To the coarse bengal gram paste , add chopped methi leaves and salt .Mix well.
  
• Prepare a steamer. Once water starts boiling place the container having methi dal mixture inside the steamer and steam cook for about 15-20 mins. Switch off. Allow it to cool . Later puff it up using a fork to break the lumps.
  
• In a non stick / heavy bottom pan take oil. Add mustard seeds,urad dal n chana dal.One they splutter add haldi,hing ,curry leaves and broken red chilli pieces. saute for a min.
  
• Next  add pre semicooked methi chana dal mix. Mix well. Keep the flame on sim and stir in between . Continue the process for another 5-10 mins so that raw smell goes and methi chandal sabzi gets a nice roasted taste n appearance.
  
• Turn off the flame and squeeze lemon. Mix well. Serve hot matodi palya topped with ghee with steaming rice / chapathi / eat as such .
  
• 

Notes

1. Make sure to grind dal coarsely, if it becomes a paste then you will not get the perfect texture.So drain water completely.
2. In the authentic version steaming step is not there. Once u grind the lentil, its cooked directly on stove top in medium flame .This calls for more oil else lentil paste will stick to the bottom.Also takes more time. But if you wish you can do this way too.
3. If you want you can make it with tuvar dal or a combination of tuvar n chana dal.
4. Instead of methi leaves you can also use chopped cluster beans or beans.
5. Traditionally no onions are used while making this. But if you want while tempering you can add chopped onions.
6. Instead of green chilli you can use red chillies or combination of both .