Thursday 29 April 2010

Mochakottai pulikuzhambu/ Endu anapa ginjalu pulusu


I love this beans. We call it as mochakai. I have no idea how it is called in english. After some search I came to know that they are addressed as field beans but I am not quite sure about it. May be this beans is localized only to certain regions so that we do not have an english name. I haven't seen these beans in my husband's place (telangana region). In Madurai we get fresh ones in the month of december and  it will last until march or so. My mom said now it is available all year through. You can just boil  the fresh pods with salt and have them as a snack. You can prpare kootu and kuzhambu with fresh ones too. The fresh smell of the beans will be really mesmerizing. To have a look at the fresh bean pods please visit Kamala Boopathy's http://www.cookatease.com/fresh-mochai-field-beans-stir-fry. She really have some beautiful pictures in her blog.  After coming here I searched, searched and searched for these beans and atlast found these dry beans in a chinese shop. No need to say how happy I would have been and how irritated my hubby was :). This dish is a very native, village dish perhaps unique to tamilnadu or perhaps to south India. Andhraites do you use these beans? This dish tastes the best when prepared with dried anchovies. Here I have used brinjals. The brinjals too taste great in this gravy.

Ingredients :

Mochakottai ( dry mochhai)- 1 cup
Brinjal- 4 nos
Onion- 1 no
Tomato-1 no
Garlic- 6 pods
Green chillies- 3 nos
Curry leaves- 25 leaflets
Coriander powder- 3 tbspns
Chilli powder- 2 tspn (adjust according to your taste)
Turmeric powder and asafoetida powder- a pinch
Tamarind- size of a small lemon (soak and extract tamarind juice)
Coconut milk- 1/2 cup ( or use 2 tbspn of dried coconut powder)
Fenugreek, mustard and jeera seeds- 1/2 tspn (for tempering)
Oil- 4 tbspns
Salt to taste

Method : 

Soak the mochakottai in enough water for 8 h. This step is imporatnt to inactivate some natural protein inhibitors present in the beans which hinders with digestion. Now boil the soaked mochakottai in a cooker until they turn soft. The time taken for cooking differs depending on the beans. Mostly a single whistle is enough. Cut onions, tomato and green chillies into small pieces. Cut each brinjal into four pieces. Soak and extract tamarind juice. Extract coconut milk if you use fresh coconut meat. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough add the fenugreek seeds. When they turn brown add mustard and jeera seeds. Let them splutter. Now add onions, garlic pods, curry leaves, green chillies, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder and saute well until the onions turn translucent. Add the tomato pieces and saute until they become soft. Now add coriander and chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds and add boiled mochai and brinjal pieces. Mix everything together and then add tamarind juice, coconut milk or coconut powder and enough water. Boil everything well. Add salt after the brinjals are cooked. Simmer until the oil seperates on the top. A very tasty kuzhambu will be ready and it tastes yummy with hot rice, idly, dosai and chappathi. 

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Use brinjals with this kuzhambu. It tastes yummy. Add longitudinally slit green chillies too. They also taste wonderful in this gravy. Use this kuzhambu the next day of preparation. This helps the masala and salt to seep well into the beans making it very tasty. Happy cooking !!!

I would love to submit this recipe to Suma's 'Delicios Dals' From India  event. She needed a traditional dhal recipe for her event and I am sure this dish fits in very well :)

Thanks to Indira of Mahanandi for her kind info about the telugu name of this beans and its usage in Andhra.

16 comments:

  1. Looks yummy, love this bean too, have posted a recipe using the same bean in my blog.....

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  2. Manju,,mochai kulambhu super neenga sollirukka ella ingredients um poetu seithu saapta superah irukkum,,en amma mochai kathirikkai poettu seivaanga super taste ah irukum,,

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  3. manju
    nice one yarr.is this same as amarakkai
    really delicious and very healthy one too ..
    thanks for sharing this recipe dear

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  4. Mochai kottai kulambu combined with brinjal,sure to taste divine

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  5. Manju,

    I think you are expert in pulikuzhambu. Mochakottai pulikuzhambu looks really yumm.

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  6. Lovely bean dish , very healthy is it soya bean??

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  7. Never heard of mochakottai pulikuzhambu before. It looks delicious..Thanks for sharing..

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  8. Manju, in our part of Andhra (Nandyala), we call these beans, whole beans - Anapakaayalu and the plump seeds inside - anapa ginjalu. Like you mentioned, we boil them in salted water and shell the seeds to eat. Very tasty and popular winter snack item for us too. I haven't come across these beans here in US so far.

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  9. Mochakottai kuzhambu makes me hungry, just love with papads and steaming rice topped with ghee...my all time fav..

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  10. Thank you friends :)

    Welcome yummy team :)

    Indira thanks a lot for the info. Rajender knew it after I told him the telugu name. I do not know the meaning for it's tamil name :). I haven't seen fresh pods in Germany too. The dry ones I found in a Chinese shop, so definitely it does have a place in Chinese cuisine.

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  11. Manju, from today onwards your good name will be 'Pulikolzambu'Manju! sariyaa!!!...;) nice post!

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  12. Nice one Manju....we do the same way but without ginger :)

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  13. nice one,..we do same way...frst time here..lov ur collections...good work yar..keep rocking..glad to follow u!

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  14. Thanks for the lovely entry. They are very popular in Karnataka and they are called avarekalu there. Infact they use it in variety of dishes.
    In rayalaseema where my husband comes from, they are called anapakayalu. I know in coastal Andhra, lauki/sorakaya is called anapakaya. (I think aanapakaya has become anapakaya.)
    Check the frozen section at Indian grocers and you may get them. I do get them here and I had published one recipe long ago.
    After writing this, I checked Indira's comment. :)

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  15. Swathi pulikuzhambu is mz husbands favourite so by default I make it often :)

    Anne Thakkudupaniyanne nakkala....:)

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  16. Thank you Suma :) Thanks for the info too...here I have checked but haven't found....

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