Huli/Koimbu Grinded (Varat Arachi Koimbu)

Raw Masala

Huli/Koimbu Grinded (Varat Arachi Koimbu)
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup thoor dhal
• 1 1/2 tsp of rasam powder(sarina pudi, malagapudi)
• 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 cup cut/diced vegetables(fresh beans, squash, eggplant and potatoes, spinach etc)
• 1 large tomato (optional)
• 3 or 4 whole green chilies or 1 big diced green pepper (optional)

Masala ingredients:

Roasted masala

• 4 tbs of coriander seeds(kotambari beeja)
• 2 tbs of chana dhal
• 1/2tsp of methi seeds(menthya)
• 2 tbs of urad dhal
• 5 red chilies
• 1/4 cup of grated coconut

(Roast the coriander, chana dhal, methi seeds, urad dhal and chilies with a drop of oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the coconut and turn off the heat. Continue to twirl the contents of the pan for a couple of minutes. When cool, blend everything smooth with 1/2 cup of water.)

Garnishing ingredients:

• 1 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1 tbs of oil or ghee
• pinch of hingh(optional)
• pinch of hingh (optional)
• few curry leaves(optional)

Blended masala

Method: Cook thoor dhal in a pot with about 3 cups of water on medium heat. To reduce the cooking foam from spilling over, place a spatula in the pot. When the dhal is 1/2 cooked add the vegetables, tomato and the chilies. Cook till all the vegetables and dhal are cooked well. The dhal is usually mushed and vegetable should be soft and wilted. Add the blended masala, salt, rasam powder and tamarind to the pot and let it boil for a minute . Turn off the heat. Garnish:To garnish, heat the oil or ghee in a small spatula(or a pan), splatter mustard seeds, add hingh and turmeric. Pour the contents to the pot. Add curry leaves for flavouring.

Cooking Tips: You can pressure cook the vegetables and the thoor dhal together. Instead of tamarind paste, you can soak real tamarind( small lemon sized) in 1/2 a cup of water for a few minutes. Squeeze the tamarind juice out and use it in the preparation above. Throw the squeezed rind out. The Huli/Koimbu should be pretty thick and not too liquidy.

Serving Tips: Serve on hot rice with a tsp of ghee. Can be eaten with roti's, dosaes etc.