Kandi Pachhadi (Tur dal Chutney) - Telugu Recipes

Ingredients:

* Pigeon Peas – 100gms
* Cumin Seeds – 1/2tsp
* Red Chilies – 3 (Break Chilies Into Small Pieces)
* Water – As Required
* Salt – To Taste
* Bengal Gram – 1tsp
* Black Gram – 1tsp
* Mustard Seeds – 1/2tsp
* Cumin Seeds – 1/2tsp
* Curry Leaves – Few
* Asafoetida – 1/8tsp
* Oil – 5tsps

Method:

Heat a pan and add the pigeon peas. Fry pigeon peas stirring on low flame. Roast pigeon peas till they release a nice aroma. For even browning roast the seeds stirring on low flame. It takes 5 minutes to roast the peas. Transfer the roasted peas into a plate and spread them to cool.

Heat the pan and add cumin seeds and red chili pieces. Fry the ingredients till they are crisp. Transfer the cumin-chili mixture to a plate and cool.

For grinding the chutney one can use mixer grinder or a stone grinder. For better texture of the chutney stone grinder works best. However if taken care in adding water while grinding even mixer grinder works well.

Grinding the chutney using a Mixer Grinder:

To a mixie jar add the roasted pigeon peas and roasted cumin-chili mixture. Grind the ingredients to a coarse texture and add salt. Add water little by little and grind the chutney to a coarse texture. Take the prepared chutney into a bowl—chutney is ready for seasoning.

Grinding the chutney using a Stone Grinder:

A stone grinder is one on which one can grind spices to a paste. A mortar and pestle is also another stone grinder. Here I am using the spice paste maker (first Variety Stone Grinder Mentioned Above—See the Movie Clip) to prepare the chutney. To simplify the process grind the chutney to a level in a mixer grinder.

To a mixie jar add the roasted pigeon peas and roasted cumin-chili mixture. Grind the ingredients to a coarse texture and add salt. Add water little by little and grind the chutney to a coarse texture. Take this coarse textured chutney on to the stone and add sufficient water. Grind the chutney rolling the stone pestle applying some pressure. While grinding on a stone grinder the pigeon peas gets crushed. As this process of stone grinding is done with hands (applying pressure) the pigeon peas gets crushed partially giving the chutney a nice texture. Add sufficient water at intervals while grinding. While grinding the chutney spreads to the sides, collect the chutney by pushing with hand to the centre and grind. Grind the chutney till desired texture is reached. If the chutney appears dry add sufficient water and mix. Take the prepared chutney into a bowl—chutney is ready for seasoning.

The chutney becomes dry when kept aside for some time—pigeon peas absorb water from the chutney and the chutney becomes dry. It is advisable to season the chutney just before serving, so that, one can add sufficient water to the chutney to retain the consistency.

Seasoning:

Heat a pan and add oil to it. When the oil is hot add bengal gram followed by black gram. Fry the ingredients stirring on low flame. When the seeds start changing color add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Fry the seasoning till the seeds crackle and the bengal gram and black gram change into golden color. Then add asafoetida and curry leaves. Fry the seasoning well and switch off the stove. Add the prepared chutney and mix well. The chutney is ready to be served. Serve the chutney with hot rice adding ghee. Try different combinations of serving this chutney—serve with Avakaya Or Vankaya Pachhi Pulusu Or Sambar.

Points To Observe:

Fry the pigeon peas till you get a nice aroma—it will take five minutes when stir fried on low flame. Stirring the pigeon peas roasts evenly.

Adding water along with the roasted ingredients will not give the proper texture to the chutney. To grind, we may require more water—if more water is added while grinding, the chutney grinds to a paste. So it is advisable to grind the dry ingredients to the desired chutney consistency and then add water and mix while grinding in a mixer grinder.

The ingredients will get chopped in a mixer grinder whereas the ingredients gets crushed in a stone grinder--hence the difference in taste and texture.

In olden days as they do not have mixer grinders, chutneys are made using stone grinders only. Grinding the chutney using a stone grinder requires some energy (Man Power). To simplify the process I have ground the chutney to a level in a mixer grinder and then used the stone grinder. This way we get the desired texture and taste with less labor.

Chutney gets dried when kept for some time. Add required amount of water to maintain the consistency. Also check the salt after adding water. It is better if we season the chutney just before serving so that water may be added to the chutney to maintain consistency.

Using fresh curry leaves gives a great taste to the seasoning.
Serve the chutney with hot rice and ghee. Ghee enhances the taste of the chutney when mixed with hot rice.

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