Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Kat Chaaru/ Kattina Saaru/ Katachi Amti

This is a thin lentil soup, best eaten with rice.
It brings back my childhood memories; every vacation of mine was spent in my maternal grandmother’s place.
It is a huge ancestral home, built nearly 200 years ago.
It was a combined family; nearly 20-25 people lived together.
The number climbs to 30 people during the vacations.
The lunch always used to be a family affair, and it was traditionally served in banana leaves.
It used to be fun… it was party everyday!!!!

This was usually prepared by one of the many grandmothers living in the house... Her name is Kanthavva…. Very sweet lady… she has a very fond of cloths…

Here goes the recipe…

1. 1 Cup split chickpeas ( senaga pappu ), soaked for 30 mins and boiled in a pressure cooker till mushy.
2. 2 tsps ghee
3. Key lime size tamarind , soaked in a cup of water
4. 1 tsp pepper corns
5. 3-4 garlic cloves
6. 4-5 broken red chilies
7. ½ tsp mustard seed
8. ½ tsp cumin/ jeera seeds
9. a generous pinch of asafetida
10. pinch of turmeric
11. ½ inch cinnamon
12. 2 cloves
13. 5-10 curry leaves
14. Bunch coriander, chopped finely

Crush the pepper corns, jeera/cumin, cinnamon and cloves into a fine powder using a stone pestle add in the garlic cloves and crush them.

Heat the ghee in a pan, add mustard seed, let them splutter, add curry leaves, asafetida, turmeric and red chilies toss for few seconds then add the pepper mixture to it and toss for few seconds.

Mash the boiled chickpeas and make it into a paste and add it to the pan, then add the tamarind pulp, salt and heat till light foam appear on the top. Don’t boil, as charu/saaru loses taste when boiled.

Serve with hot rice, ghee and some tomato/mango pickle……

forgot to take a picture of this... as we were very busy savoring this with rice ;-)

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