Patholi with goruchikkudu kaya and sanaga pappu (Patholi with cluster beans and chana dal powder)

Patholi in Andhra cuisine refers to a dry subzi. The main ingredient is either yellow split dal, pesara pappu (moong dal) or chana dal or toor dal. Either blended soaked dal paste or dal powder is added to any sautéed vegetables like cluster beans, kundru sandita or leafy vegetables like methi (fenugreek) or drumstick leavrs and pan fried. Patholi is a popular side dish for either rice or roti. Usually it is served with buttermilk pulusu or raita.

Patholi is known by different names in different parts of India eg. paruppu usili in Tamil Nadu, or a popular Malvani dish Vatli dal in Maharashtra , Goa and Konkan region. In Goa and Konkani cuisine, patoli is a steamed sweet dish with rice flour, coconut and jaggery wrapped in turmeric leaves!

Coming to patholi from Andhra Pradesh, this is a different version from the other recipes that I posted earlier. In this version, I used powdered chana dal (chick pea dal) cooked with sautéed cluster beans.
The advantage with this version is, you do not need to soak, grind, make idlis and process the idlis before you use. It is less time consuming. The dal can be processed dry with chiles and jeera seeds and saved in a jar. No refrigeration or freezing is needed! When I made this dish, all of us liked the flavour and taste!

Ingredients:

•      1 cup goruchikkudu kaya pieces ( cut cluster beans)

•      1/2 cup chana dal

•      1/2 cup diced onion

•      2 red chile

•      2 Tsp. jeera seeds

•      1 Tsp. mustard seeds

•      3 Tbsp. oil

•      Pinch of hing

•      A few curry leaves

•      Salt to taste

Directions:

1.      Wash and cut beans in to small pieces.
2.      Dice the onion.
3.      Coarsely grind chana dal in a mixer, adding one red chile and jeera seeds.
4.      Set aside.
5.      Boil beans in a pressure cooker for one whistle.
6.      Or microwave the pieces till they are half cooked.
7.      Heat oil in a thick and deep pan.
8.      Add red chile, mustard and jeera seeds.
9.      Add asafetida.
10.      When mustard seeds splutter add curry leaves.
11.      After a minute, add onion pieces and sauté till the pieces are translucent.
12.      Add cooked beans.
13.      Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
14.      Sprinkle the dal mixture and mix thoroughly.
15.      Add salt.
16.      Cook for 2 minutes.
17.      Sprinkle less than half a cup of water and mix well.
18.      Cover and reduce the heat.
19.      Keep stirring regularly.
20.      If necessary, sprinkle a little more water.
21.      Cover and cook on low heatfor about 5 to 6 minutes.
22.      When the chana dal mixture and vegetable are fully cooked, turn off the heat.
23.      Cover and let it rest for five minutes.
24.      Transfer and serve.
25.      A nice side dish for rice or roti.
26.      Popular combination for this subzi is Roasted eggplant chutney or raita

Sandita (cucamelon) patholi with dal paste steamed (Andhra) (Sandita patholi with steamed moong dal paste)

Patholi in Andhra cuisine refers to a dry subzi. The main ingredient is either yellow split dal, pesara pappu (moong dal) or chana dal or toor dal, soaked for about an hour and ground to a coarse paste. The ground paste is added to any vegetables like cluster beans, kundru, sandita, or leafy vegetables like methi (fenugreek) or drumstick leaves and pan fried. Patholi is a popular side dish for either steamed rice or roti. Usually it is served along with buttermilk pulusu or raita.

Patholi is known by different names in different parts of India eg. paruppu usili in Tamil Nadu, or a popular Malvani dish Vatli dal in Maharashtra, Goa and Konkan region. In Goa and Konkani cuisine, patoli is a steamed sweet dish with rice flour, coconut and jaggery wrapped in turmeric leaves!!

Coming to making of patholi from Andhra Pradesh, this is a different version from the one I posted earlier. In this version, the ground dal mixture is steamed like idli and then the idlis are either grated or processed in a vegetable processor.  This process is less oil consuming. You can prepare more of the dal mixture and store in a freezer to use later. The dish looks nice and appealing.

Ingredients:

•      1 cup moong dal (split green dal without skin)
•      1 cup sandita (cucamelon)
•      1 small onion
•      2 or 3 red chiles
•      1 Tsp. mustard seeds
•      2 Tsp. jeera seeds
•      Pinch of asafetida
•      3 Tbsp. oil
•      A few curry leaves

Directions:

1.      Soak moong dal in enough water for one hour.
2.      Drain the water and grind in a blender with one or two red chiles and some jeera seeds.
3.      Avoid adding any water, as much as possible.
4.      The mixture can be coarsely ground.
5.      Prepare idlis with this batter using an using idli plates.
6.      Cool the idlis and either process them in a vegetable processor or grate them manually.
7.      Set aside the mixture.
8.      Wash and cut sandita in to quarter pieces.
9.      Peel and dice the onion.
10.      Heat oil in a thick deep pan.
11.      Add red chile to the hot oil.
12.      After a minute, add mustard and jeera seeds and mix.
13.      Add asafetida.
14.      When mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves.
15.      Add onion pieces and sauté till they turn translucent.
16.      Add sandita and mix well. 
17.      Cook for 3 to 4 minutes till they are partly cooked.
18.      When the pieces are soft, add the dal mixture.
19.      Add salt.
20.      Keep stirring and cook on low heat for 5 to 6 minutes.
21.      Turn off the heat and keep it covered for a few minutes.
22.      As the dal mixture is already cooked, time taken to finish the dish is less than time taken in the traditional procedure.
23.      Popular combination for this subzi is Roasted eggplant chutney or raita
24.      In fact, the prepared mixture can be kept in small packs in the freezer and used anytime.

 



  

dondakaya patholi (Andhra) (Kundru/tindora/gherkin moong dal patholi)

Patholi in Andhra cuisine refers to a dry subzi. The main ingredient is either yellow split pesara pappu (moong dal) or chana dal or toor dal, soaked for about an hour and ground to a coarse paste. The ground paste is added along with spices to any sautéed vegetable and cooked for a few minutes. Patholi is a popular side dish for either steamed rice or roti and usually served along with raita or pacchadi or.maggiga pulusu.

Patholi is known by different names in different parts of India eg. paruppu usili in Tamil Nadu, or a popular Malvani dish vatli dal in parts of Maharashtra, Goa and Konkan region. In Goa and Konkani cuisine patoli is a steamed sweet dish with rice flour, coconut and jaggery wrapped in fresh turmeric leaves!!

Now, coming to Andhra patholi, there are different versions of how to make the same dish. I will try to give the recipes for different versions. Many vegetables like cluster beans, kundru, sandita (cucamelon), asparagus, methi leaves (fenugreek greens), or mulaga aku (drumstick leaves) can be used in making patholi.

In this recipe, I have used dondakaya (kundru) and moong dal. After grinding the dal with spices, I added the wet paste to the sauteed kundru and cooked along. In this method, you need to add more oil to get the nice texture and taste.

Ingredients:

•      1 cup moong dal (split green dal without skin)
•      1 cup  dondakaya
•      2 or 3 red chiles
•      1 Tsp. mustard seeds
•      2 Tsp. jeera seeds
•      Pinch of asafetida
•      3 Tbsp. oil
•      A few curry leaves.

Directions:

1.      Soak moong dal in enough water for 1 hour.
2.      Drain the water and grind dal in a blender with one or two red chile and jeera seeds.
3.      Avoid adding water as much as possible.
4.      The mixture can be coarsely ground.
5.      Set aside the ground paste.
6.      Wash and cut dondakayalu in to small long pieces.
7.      Heat oil in a thick pan.
8.      Add red chile to the hot oil.
9.      After a minute, add mustard and jeera seeds and mix.
10.      Add asafetida.
11.      When mustard seeds sputter add curry leaves.
12.      Add dondakaya pieces and cook while stirring often.
13.      When the pieces are getting soft, add the dal mixture, using your palm, so that it is kind of sprinkled.
14.      Add salt and keep stirring.
15.      Reduce the heat and let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
16.      Moong dal will give a nice aroma and the wetness from the mixture will be gone.
17.      Turn the heat off.
18.      Cover and let it stay for a few minutes.
19.      A nice main dish for rice or quinoa or roti.
20.      A popular combination for this subzi is  (Roasted egg plant chutney) Vankaya pulusu pacchadi or kheera raita