Lima beans

Lima beans is my mom’s favourite “kaal” and again it is another high protein recipe. Here goes the recipe Ingredients: Fresh or frozen lima beans1 cup, 1 finely chopped medium sized onion, 1 tea spoon ginger garlic paste, 1/2 table spoon ground green chilli paste,1 table spoon garam masala, 1/2 cup grated fresh coconut, 1/4 cup [...]

Kadle Kalu – brown or green whole grams or harbhara usal

Kadli kaal as it is pronounced in Dharwad is basically the same as chana masala sabji from the north. We make it a little differently. Ingredients: Kadle kaalu 1 cup, 1 medium sized onion chopped into small pieces, 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped and pounded, 1 table spoon cooking oil, red chilli powder or green [...]

Hurli kattin saaru

Kattin saar is basically a curry made of the “kat” or stock obtained by cooking lentils like chana dal, black eyed peas (alsandi) or even hurli! Did you know that? So anytime you make hurli or alsandi kaalu, you can make kattin saar. Doesn’t always have to be in conjunction with chana daal preparation. Ingredients: [...]

Hurli kalu – Horse gram ( hulge or kulith)

Hurali kaal or horse gram is another high protein recipe. It is said that this is fed to race horses so they get a lot of strength! Ingredients: Hurli kalu 1 cup, 1 medium sized onion chopped into small pieces, 2-3 cloves of garlic diced and crushed, 1 table spoon cooking oil, masale khara 1 [...]

Madki (Matki) kalu

Sprouted lentils or bean sprouts are called Madaki or matki kaalu. It is also called usali or usal. The process of sprouting takes about 2-3 days. These days you find sprout makers in the grocery stores but I’ve never used that. The idea is to create an environment where germination takes place and the sprouts [...]

Alsandi Kattin Saar

Tili saaru or kattin saaru is typically made when we make holige, kadabu or any of the desserts with chana dal. However you can also make it with alsandi kattu or hurali kattu. The liquid that you drain out after cooking alsandi or hurali kaalu is used as “kat”. This is a kind of vegetable [...]

Alsandi (chavli) kalu – Black eyed peas

Alsandi kaalu or black eyed peas is another of my favourite kaalu’s and here is the recipe. Ingredients: Alsandi kalu 1 cup, 1 medium sized onion cut into small pieces, 2-3 cloves of garlic cut and pounded, 1 table spoon cooking oil, masale khara 1 table spoon, cumin powder 1 tea spoon, dhania powder 2 [...]

Hesar Kaal (Full Moong Lentil)

Hesar kaal is one of the specialties of north Karnataka cooking. I still remember the days when my granny’s sister – chigawamma – used to visit us from the village. She always gets us katak rotti, hesar kaal, yengai, jhumkad vadi, peanut chutney and khaara (red chilli chutney)! Ooooh – how I long for that [...]

Madaki Usali

Madaki kaal is a kind of lentil and is used a lot in north Karnataka and Maharashtra. It is called Usal in Marathi and Usali in Kannada. Sprouted lentils are a high source of protein and ofcourse tastes good too.   Ingredients: Madaki kaal, cooking oil, fresh curry leaves, ginger, garlic, grated coconut, red chilli powder or [...]