Avarekalu Usali

And finally, one of my favorite foods will finally see the light of the day  on this blog. I have written so much about my love for this beans, but I never did a post on this recipe. The biggest problem being the quality of the beans. Here we get only the frozen ones so tiny that the texture of the final product is not remotely similar to the one I grew up eating.But after all these years, I figured out, frozen is still better that nothing at all.

This Usali is served with chapatis, akki rottis, doses and goes well with jolada rotti too. A dollop of butter definitely adds to the meal and I like mine with oodles of ghee.

We will need,

Avarekalu /Lilva beans/Indian beans  2 cups
Onion 1.5 medium
Garlic 4 cloves
Ginger 1"
Green Chillies 5-8 (adjust according to taste)
Peanut oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves a handful
Turmeric  a generous pinch
Coconut 1/2 c shredded
Salt
Cumin 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/8 tsp
Juice of 1/2 lime
Coriander fresh a handful

Method:

• Clean the beans and wash it in several changes of water. Set it aside to dry.
• Combine onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies in a food processor and pulse till minced. Else mince all these ingredients on a cutting board using a knife.
• Heat oil in a pan. Throw in the mustard and curry leaves. Once they stop spluttering, add the minced onion mixture. Saute till the rawness disappears, about 10 minutes.
• Throw in the beans, turmeric and coconut. Stir to combine. Transfer this mixture to a pressure cooker and add about 1 cup of water. Stir and cook till the beans are soft. (depending on the cooker used, mine is done at the first whistle) Remove from heat.
• Meantime, toast the cumin and fenugreek separately on a medium hot skillet till fragrant. Remove from heat and crush it into a coarse meal. Set it aside.
• Once the cooker is cool enough to open, open the lid and stir the mixture. Throw in the toasted cumin and fenugreek meal. If the Usali is too dry, add about 1/4-1/2 cup of water and cook the mixture for another 5 minutes. Usali is usually quite thick with just enough moisture to soften the accompanying bread
• Finish with salt, lime juice and fresh coriander. Serve with a bread of choice

Sending it to the MLLA 46 hosted by Susan herself .