Lab-Lab Beans aka Hyacinth Beans Chundal

Chundal ('ch' as in chair, not choir) is a specialty around Navarathri time - the nine nights, ten days long Indian festival going on right now. Each of the nine evenings, a different chundal is on the menu along with a sweet dish.

Almost all beans and pulses and lentils are fair game for making this style of chundal, referred to as sundal by most Tamilians. Black chickpeas, green chickpeas, chickpeas, dried peas,  kidney beans, white navy beans, black turtle beans, black-eyed peas, as well as the top favorite Lab-lab beans aka hyacinth beans aka mochakottai.

Soak the dried lab-lab beans overnight. Drain and pressure cook with salt till cooked but not mushy. This is the tricky part as lab-lab beans is pretty tough to cook quickly. Sometimes, I've had to pressure cook it twice to get the right consistency - firm to the touch and holding shape, but soft melt-in-the-mouth texture when eaten.

Fairly quick and easy to make, with the main flavoring coming from tempering*, plus grated ginger and green chilies, this is a low-fat protein-rich snack that kids enjoy at home.

*Tempering: Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, add a teaspoon of urad dal; when it turns golden brown, add mustard seeds; when they pop, add some cumin seeds, torn curry leaves, grated ginger and finely sliced green chilies. Add in the cooked lab-lab beans, adjust salt to taste and serve warm. Optionally, fresh grated coconut can be stirred in as well.

Navarathri Chundal

The the 10-days 9-nights festival of navarathri brings back sweet memories... Friday the 12th through Sunday the 21st of October was the Navarathri festival this year.

Chundal ('ch' as in chair) as we called it at home (or Sundal as many others refer to it) is a staple item during Navarathri.

I was not particularly fond of chundal when I was growing up. It was just different types of protein-packed beans mildly spiced and mixed with grated coconut+chilies paste, usually. Nothing exotic. Nothing terribly inviting.

But, now that I have a toddler to make nutritionally balanced food for, chundals have come in very handy. During Navarathri time, traditionally, no garlic or onion or strong masala spices is added to flavor the chundal. However, at other times, I make several variations of the basic chundal just to see which flavor appeals to the discriminating toddler palate ;)

Chundal can be served as a snack on its own, or as a side to complement a meal. Lentils, grams, beans of all kinds can be used. My favorites have been chick peas - both dark and light varieties, black-eyed peas, lima beans, butter beans, fava beans, yellow split peas, brown lentils, navy beans, pinto beans, kidney beans and black beans.

Traditional method: Simply soak the beans overnight (or allow to sprout, if preferred), cook till tender but firm, not mushy. Add some salt and ground coconut+chilies paste^†, garnish with tempering and curry leaves.

^†combine dry grated coconut with some green or red chilies in a blender and grind to a powdery paste with very little water - amount of chilies depends on how hot you like it; and usually, for 2 cups of cooked beans, I use roughly ½ cup dry grated coconut

Alternately, I like to add raw green diced mango, or grated carrot, maybe some freshly grated ginger - just about anything to make it a little more interesting.

black-eyed peas chundal

Black-eyed peas, chick peas, lima beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans seem like such an easy way to add nutrition to everyday foods.

This recipe here for "chundal" (sometimes, called "thoran") is a general method for preparing these beans as a snack or side - can substitute black-eyed peas with any of the other beans, while keeping the rest of the ingredients and method the same.

Also, sprouting the beans before using in this recipe seemed like a good idea, so, I started doing that for my wee tot lately, even though cooking the sprouts sort of diminishes the nutritional value a bit... every little bit counts when they are picky-eaters.


Ingredients
1½ cups dry black-eyed peas
1 small yellow onion, sliced
½ cup fresh or dry grated coconut
1-2 dry red chilies (or fresh green chilies)
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste
water as needed

tempering:
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ cumin seeds
1 Tbsp canola oil

chiffonade 4-5 curry leaves for garnish(optional)

Preparation:

1. soak the black-eyed peas overnight, or for about 4-6 hours; drain, rinse and cook in pressure cooker, or stove-top, till cooked but still firm and not mushy; set aside
   
2. grind the coconut, garlic and chilies into a coarse paste and set aside
3. heat oil in a pan, add the tempering: dals first and when they turn golden brown, mustard seeds and when they pop and die down, add the cumin seeds, turn the heat to medium-low
4. add the onions and sauté till it turns translucent
5. add the cooked black-eyed peas, coconut paste, turmeric, cumin, coriander and salt to taste; stir well
6. off heat, stir in lemon juice, garnish with curry leaves and serve warm as a snack or side, along with rice, rasam, sambar, or even roti