Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu 2 WAYS (or) Lentil Meatballs Curry

1. Wash and soak Chana dal for at least 2 hours.

2. In a mixer add the soaked Chana dal, green chilies, coconut, fennel seeds and grind into a slightly coarse mixture. Do not add any water.

3. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl along with turmeric salt and 3/4th of the chopped onion. Mix the ingredients together with hand.

4. Now prepare the small balls as shown in the video. You could use a tablespoon of mixture to make same size balls. This makes almost 16-20 balls.

1. Soak tamarind in a 1/2 cup of warm water and its extract juice.

2. Roughly chop the tomatoes and puree it separately.

3. Finally make coconut paste by grinding rest of the 1/4th chopped onion, coconut and water.

1. Heat oil in a kadai/ Sauce pan, add cinnamon, cloves, garlic, onion and saute until onion turns translucent.

2. Now add ginger garlic paste and saute for few seconds or until the raw flavor is gone.

3. Mix in Turmeric, Salt, Chili powder and cook for few more seconds.

4. Then combine the prepared tomato puree, cover and cook for 5 minutes on a medium low heat.

5. When the tomatoes are cooked now, add the coconut paste with little water and cook until oil separates, about 7-10 minutes.

6. Finally add tamarind extract and simmer for 5 more minutes.

7. Now your Curry is ready. Allow it to simmer for few more minutes to deepen the flavors.

1. Firstly check the consistency of the curry, If the curry is too thick add little more water. Bring the curry to a boil on a medium heat.

2. Place one ball gently into the boiling curry and check if it dissolves. If so, then check tip 3.

3. If the ball doesn’t dissolve and holds its shape then add the rest slowly one by one into the curry. It must be place on a single layer and you cannot layer the balls.

4. Cover & cook the ball in the curry for 5-7 minutes, Anything more will give hard balls. Do not stir, Just swirl the kadai/ sauce pan in between.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

1. In a Frying pan/ kadai add oil for frying, Once the oil is hot, add a small pinch of the mixture and it should raise up to the surface immediately.

2. Then add the Prepared balls in small batches and deep fry them until golden brown.

3. Drain the excess oil. You could serve this as a starter.

4. Finally add the fried balls to the boiling gravy and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

1. To thicken the curry you could use little ground channa dal mixture.
2. You could oil the idly pans and place the prepared balls and steam for 5- 10 minutes. And add the steamed balls to the curry and cook for 5 minutes.
3. If the balls seem to dissolve, grind 2 tbsp of channa dal and add it to the mixture. The balls must be stiff.
4. For balls you could also use toor dal or half toor dal and half channa dal. The key is to coarse grind the mixture without excess moisture.
5. You could add your own seasoning to the balls like curry leaves, coriander leaves etc..