Of Navarathri and beaches, Sundal and Paasi Payaru Kuzhambu…
This week we bring you two recipes – Thengai, Maangai, Pattani Sundal (dried white peas, soaked, boiled and tempered with spices, fresh coconut and tangy raw green mango) and Paasi Payaru Kuzhambu (whole green moong dal curry).
Navarathri is here! To many Tamilians, that means Golu (an arrangement of dolls in themes celebrating Hindu mythology) hopping, Sundal (legumes, soaked, boiled and tempered with spices), pori (puffed rice) and Ayudha Pooja.
Navarathri, that celebration of good over evil where the vanquisher is in female form, lasts for nine nights. The festival celebrating the power of the Hindu Goddesses sees many households vying with their Golu displays ranging from mythological themes to more modern ones like environment protection. Golu hopping, visiting these displays at the homes of friends, is a must, even in these rather strange times, as is gorging on the prasadams offered at said homes, a different one for each of the nine days. While the most popular prasadam is Sundal of various kinds, the tart and tangy puliyodarai (tamarind rice) and creamy thayir saadam (yoghurt rice) are among my favourites too.
The celebrations culminate on Navami, the ninth day, celebrated as Ayudha Pooja / Saraswathi Pooja in Tamil Nadu and similar across the counry – Goddess Saraswathi, the provider of knowledge and all instruments is worshipped. Being a writer’s household, Ayudha Pooja held a special place in Ayah and Aiyah’s heart. It meant spring cleaning for weeks before, and believe me, there was a lot of cleaning to be done, especially in that massive library room of Aiyah’s which hadn’t been cleaned the whole of the preceding year for fear of angering the chronicler who knew just where every book and paper he possessed was kept and woe betide anyone who moved it without his supervision! Ayah didn’t make prasadams for the nine days – she was too busy Golu hopping – but come Ayudha Pooja, out came the Kadalai Paruppu Sundal (Sundal made with channa dal) and the bags of pori, aval and jaggery to be offered to the veena playing, white clad Goddess.
This week, we chose to showcase the Thengai, Maangai, Pattani Sundal, rather than Ayah’s Kadalai Paruppu Sundal because Sundal to me also means the beach... This recipe evokes memories of fun evenings spent at Edward Elliot’s Beach in Besant Nagar, a weekly escapade from the daily academic routine that Ayah subjected us to... Warm, humid evenings on the then relatively clean beach, braving the fear of water to step into the salty waves and almost drowning, evenings that were filled with musical cries of “thengai, maangai, Patttaaani sundal ma!”, from the raggedy young boys and girls selling buckets of the delicious snack – Ayah was easily convinced to buy some for us, and off we walked back to the car proudly holding our newspaper cones filled to the brim with the sundal and vainly trying to make sure that not a single pea hit the sandy ground... Along the way we also acquired Ayah’s favourite snack – Mookku Maangai (parrot beak raw mango) dusted with salt and chilli powder, carefully served in squares of newspaper - ah, bliss! Of course, all this was before we became phareigners – while I would readily brave the runs for a taste of Elliot’s beach’s sundal, not so my extremely cautious better half who reminds me of the evils of street food on every visit back home! Je suis desolé (yes, I did do a semester of French)!
Thengai, Maangai, Pattani Sundal also holds a special place in the darling daughters’ hearts because it earned Ayah the name of Sundal Mami (Sundal Aunty). This is a story that will touch a chord in the hearts of any ‘70s / ‘80s kid who grew up in Madras or most of India for that matter. Ayah and Aiyah did not believe in the educational value of the television and so we didn’t own that prized device until the 1982 Delhi Asian Games, which is about when most of the country bought their colour sets. However, friends of Aiyah’s had gotten their treasured television a couple of years before and graciously hosted us every Sunday for the evening Tamil movie on Doordarshan and pot luck dinner, dinners that taught us the right way to eat rasam and rice, but that’s a story for another day. In the midst of hassling the brat, aka me, to finish my homework in time for the movie, Ayah hurried whipped up the Sundal, her contribution to TV night – what restraint it took for starving youngsters to wait for the interval, which in those days was halfway into the movie! And so, Ayah became Sundal Mami to all those Tamil movie buffs – those were the days...
What has Paasi Payaru Kuzhambu got to do with Navarathri, you ask. Well, my mother-in-law’s version of Sundal for Ayudha Pooja was made with paasi payaru and she made it a point to boil an extra cup of the whole moong dal to make into a kuzhambu that was a staple in Ayah’s kitchen as well. And so, to me, Navarathri has also come to include this simple recipe, which was also the first curry I learnt to make — all those years ago as a young post grad student in America, with little money and no time on my hands.
So, with the Goddess’s blessings we bring you the beach style Thengai, Maangai, Pattani Sundal and the simple but flavourful Paasi Payaru Kuzhambu.
Note:
1. This particular recipe calls for the use of Pattani Sundal, dried white peas, and tastes best made as is. However, you can make the same with any kind of dried legume - channa / chickpeas, channa dal, moong dal, the options are endless. The principle is the same - soak the legume overnight, cook / pressure cook until boiled, drain and temper. As simple as that. Caution: some legumes cook quicker than others, so you will need to vary cooking time.
2. You can also omit the fresh green mango and coconut to make a simple sundal, also with any legume.
Ingredients:
1 cup dried white peas, soaked overnight and drained
Water to soak the peas (~ 1.5 cups)
Water to boil the peas (~ 2 cups)
2 tablespoons raw mango, chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh coconut, chopped fine (or grated)
Salt to taste (~ 1 teaspoon + ½ teaspoon)
Tempering:
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
2 dried red chillis, broken into halves
½ teaspoon asafoetida / hing / perungayam
1 sprig curry leaves
Method:
1. Soak the dried white peas in water overnight (at least about 8 hours) – the water must be at least about one inch above the peas.
1 cup dried white peas, soaked overnight and drained
Water to soak the peas (~ 1.5 cups)
2. Drain the soaked peas and transfer to a pressure cooker with about 2 cups water and a teaspoon of salt. Cook for 4-5 whistles.
Water to boil the peas (~ 2 cups)
Salt to taste (~ 1 teaspoon)
3. Once the pressure is released, open the pressure cooker and check if the peas are cooked – if you press them, they should mash easily, but still retain shape.
4. Drain the peas and set aside. Reserve some of the cooking water.
5. In a pan, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the urad dal and fry till golden brown. Add the chillies and still till it darkens slightly. Add the hing and the curry leaves.
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
2 dried red chillis, broken into halves
½ teaspoon asafoetida / hing / perungayam
1 sprig curry leaves
6. Next add the drained peas and remaining salt along with a little bit of the drained water (about a teaspoon, to mix in the salt). Saute for about 30 seconds and turn off the flame.
Salt to taste (~ 1 teaspoon)
7. Add the chopped coconut and raw mango and mix in.
2 tablespoons raw mango, chopped fine
2 tablespoons fresh coconut, chopped fine (or grated)
Note: While this particular recipe calls for the use of fresh coconut and mango, you can omit this and make a regular sundal.
8. Serve hot as a lovely teatime snack or as prasadam for poojas.
Serves: 4
Apprentice Rating: Nil, but this is one of the easiest recipes to make.
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