Black chickpeas or kothukadalai as it is known in Tamil, is a widely available pulse which is full of proteins. It is used in various different ways in South Indian cooking. This recipe was taught to me by my aunt who is an expert cook. Even though it is slightly time consuming, the taste is 'yummy'.
Preparation Time: 20 mts Cooking Time: 20 mts Serves: 3-4
Ingredients:
Kothukadalai (black chickpeas ) - 1 cup
Raw rice / basmathi rice - 1 cup
Big onions - 3 nos
Biryani leaf (tej patha/ biriyani elai ) - 1
Cloves - 2 nos
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Black cardamom - 1 no 
Refined oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
To grind into a paste:
Big onions - 2 nos
Garlic pods - 2 nos
Mint leaves (pudhina ) - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Method:
Soak the kothukadali for 10 hrs. Pressure cook in a cooker with enough salt & keep it aside. Grind all the ingredients for masala in to a fine paste
. Wash the rice, drain the water & keep it ready. Chop the onions in to fine pieces. Heat oil & ghee in a pan & fry the biriyani leaf, cloves, cinnamon & cardamom. Add the chopped onions & fry well. Then add the ground masala & fry well till the raw smell goes off. Add the rice & fry till all the water from the rice evaporates & it leaves the sides of the pan. Then add the boiled kothukadalai, salt & enough water. Cook it in a pressure cooker or a rice cooker. Kothukadalai pulao is ready. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves. This pulao will taste good with onion raitha.
. Wash the rice, drain the water & keep it ready. Chop the onions in to fine pieces. Heat oil & ghee in a pan & fry the biriyani leaf, cloves, cinnamon & cardamom. Add the chopped onions & fry well. Then add the ground masala & fry well till the raw smell goes off. Add the rice & fry till all the water from the rice evaporates & it leaves the sides of the pan. Then add the boiled kothukadalai, salt & enough water. Cook it in a pressure cooker or a rice cooker. Kothukadalai pulao is ready. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves. This pulao will taste good with onion raitha.Variations:
We can make this pulao with kabuli channa instead of black chick peas. We can skip the coconut while grinding the ingredients for the masala.
Tips:
- We can make the kothukadalai masala separate & cook the rice separate & mix them all together. This will ensure that the pulao doesn't lump up.
- Instead of grinding the coconut, we can use equal quantities of water & coconut milk. This will give a rich taste to the rice.
Taste it & enjoy.
Nice recipe, Aunty and I am very very fond of kothukadalai. Will sure try out the recipe :)
ReplyDeleteAnd nice profile picture,Aunty, guess you changed it!
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ReplyDeleteI call a similar recipe "pudhina pulav" and make it without the kadalai. I made your recipe with the kadali and R was like, "it tastes close to your pudhina pulav but with a crunch". The subtle difference is in the paste as follows:
ReplyDeleteI grind:
pudhina(1 cup), corriander(1 cup), coconut (2 big spoons), cloves(4-5), GREEN chillis with salt, tastes very similar! (no powders)
The green chilli gives it a good flavor!
In the cooker I saute onions, the paste and then cook the rice like you do! I agree with DS, the pointer you gave for water and rice is very useful. DS, if it makes you feel better, I learned it the hard way as well!:)
As always, Thank you Aunty!:) I must tell you that your blog is very addictive!:)-loving it!:)