The Diary of a Displaced Housewife is now Life In Fuchsia…


'The Diary of the Displaced Housewife' is now 'Life in Fuschia'

Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Ubiquitous South Indian Sundal





The ubiquitous south Indian sundal – made with peanuts, chickpeas, black-eyed beans, kidney beans.. you name it. For many, this will bring back memories of home. Sundal makes itself seen everywhere from beaches to temples and puja rooms in homes across South India. I made this dish for a recent tea I hosted (Gosh that sounds so fancy… but really, it was just us girls getting together!) and was great alternative to the usual fried goodie that makes its appearance with chai.

This also is a great source of nutrients and makes and easy quick snack if you use black chana/ garbanzo beans or any other high protein bean or lentil.

Next time you’re in madras, head to the beach, and look out for the vendors shouting out “ Thanga mangaaaa Soooondalll”!

This is my entry for the ongoing My Legume Love Affair 23 hosted by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.  This marks the first entry from me to any foodie blog event! Yipee yay for that! 


Masala Chickpea Sundal




What you need:
Garbanzo Beans/ Chana – 1 ½ cans or 1 cup if using dried
2 Whole Red Chilies
1-½ tablespoons Oil
1/4 teaspoon Mustard
1 teaspoon Urad Dal
Salt to taste
Curry leaves – 6 to 7 leaves
Half a Lemon

Garnish:
Green Mango – chopped fine or grated on the large side of a box grater
Coriander Leaves – chop fine

Masala:
3 Green chilies
¼ inch Ginger
1 tablespoon Grated fresh Coconut

Getting down to business:
If you’re using dried garbanzo beans, soak the beans overnight and pressure cook till cooked. (I would do one whistle and then 10 minutes on medium low heat.) Once cooked, drain and keep aside.

Coarsely grind all the ingredients for the masala. Keep aside.

Heat oil and add in mustard. Once it starts spluttering, add in the urad dal. As the dal starts changing color follow with the curry leaves and red chilies. Don’t let the red chilies burn or turn black!

Next, add in the ground masala. Sauté for a minute.  Throw in the cooked chana and the salt. Stir for a minute or two. Remove from the fire and give the whole thing a squeeze of lemon.

To serve:
Transfer to a serving bowl an top with the mango and coriander leaves. This sundal tastes great at room temperature and doesn’t need to be served hot, so feel free to make ahead and relax!
If you would like to go really authentic, serve the sundal in newspaper cones just like at Marina beach in Madras, the motherland of all kinds of Sundal!

Lots of love
The Housewife


Recipe courtesy Mallika Badrinath

16 comments:

  1. i like this as a snack sometimes as a salad kind..
    really healthy and delicious one..nice picture

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  2. I love chickpeas and this one looks like an easy peasy recipe :) Loved the 1st pic!

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  3. my favorite...looks lovely and delicious..........superbbbbb

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  4. Hi, nice recipe, I love the addition of raw mango to it. Now to your question on zucchini chutney, I hope you know that meetha neem is nothing but karvepa aaku or kadi patta or curry leaves. You can surely add anything else to substitute and make it your own, i mean the taste will be slightly different, that's all. So, go ahead, experiment :)

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  5. I have been using chick peas like a mad man, this looks like another wonderful way to prepare them!
    thanks for sharing!

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  6. sounds delightful! i'm always looking for more ways to use chickpeas and thia looka perfect!!!

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  7. Looks lovely! Congrats on your first entry. :)

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  8. @ Prani - I love having this as a snack especially since it's so easy to make!

    @Rachana - Thanks Rachana! I hope you get to try it out sometime!

    @ Sanyukta - Hey! Thanks for coming by! I love sundal too!

    @ Priya - Hi Priya! Thanks for getting back to me... I have lots of karvepa akkulu sitting in my fridge! Now I'm all set to make your chutney!

    @ Chef Dennis - I hope you get to try this out..it's very indian in flavor and the contrast of the mellow coconut and the tartness of the mango really play well together...

    @ Belinda - Hey Belinda! Thanks for dropping by! This is such a great pick me up in the afternoon!

    @ Cocina Savant - Hey there! Thanks for coming by! I hope you get to make chickpeas this way... do let me know how it works out!

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  9. @ Judy - Thank you! It's very exciting... I'm already looking out on another event to be a part off!

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  10. I love chickpeas and this sounds like a great snack!

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  11. @ Biren - I love chickpeas too! I can eat them in any which way!

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  12. Chickpeas hold a special place for me in the legume world. Let them be ubiquitous. : )

    Thanks, Houswife, for sharing your recipe for MLLA!

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  13. @ Susan - Thank you Susan! I'm so excited about my first contribution to an event! :)

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  14. This sounds sooo delicious. Good luck with entering the event, food blog events are so fun! :)

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  15. @ The Cilantropist - Hey There! I'm uber excited about the web event! Hopefully it's the start of many many entries to different events!

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