Kollu Thuvayal – Horsegram Chutney

Kollu known as horse gram is a brown legume which has a lot of health benefits. It helps in reducing weight and extra fats in the body. This Kollu Thuvayal is my grandmother’s recipe. There is a saying in tamil “Koluthavanakku Kollu Elachavanuku Ellu” meaning – for a fat person eating kollu will reduce weight and for a lean person Ellu will help in increasing weight. I really like the rhyme in this saying..

I have been wanting to try recipes with Kollu since a long time. Finally grabbed a packet of kollu and this is my first recipe with it – Kollu Thuvayal. This chutney is an easy one that goes well with idli/dosa and even rice.

PS: to all my friends out here – I got Kollu/Horse gram from our Spice Shop. It is available there..

Now to the recipe…

[Preparation Time-10 mins : Cooking Time- 10 mins]

Ingredients:

• Kollu / Horse gram – 1/4 cup
• Coconut (grated) – 2 to 3 tbsps
• Dry red chillies – 5
• Tamarind paste – 1 tsp
• Salt – as needed

To temper:

• Oil – 2 tsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Asafoetida – a pinch
• Curry leaves – a sprig

Method:

• Heat a kadai and dry roast the horse gram in low flame until it is slightly brown. U will get a nice aroma and the seeds will start popping up. Keep it aside.

• In the same kadai add a tsp of oil and roast the red chilles until brown. Keep it aside. Now roast grated coconut for a few mins and keep it aside.

• Take roasted horse gram and red chillies in a mixer and grind it into a coarse powder.

• To this add roasted coconut, salt, tamarind paste and required water. Grind it into a semi-coarse paste.

• Heat the kadai with oil and temper with the ingredients mentioned under “to temper”. Add the ground Kollu Thuvayal and mix. Just heat for a minute and switch off the flame.

Kollu Thuvayal is ready.

Serve with idli, dosa or rice.

Tips:

1. Roasting kollu is the most important step in this chutney. Do it in low flame. If it gets burnt, it will spoil the chutney’s taste.
2. U can skip the coconut if u dont want.
3. Adjust water according to the consistency of chutney required.