100 Idiot proof Sundal ( Dry lentil curry)

Sundal is a dry Tamil curry, eaten as a snack. “Thenga Manga Pattani Sundal” is a cry you’ll often hear on the marina beach from kids selling sundal garnished with mango slivers and grated coconut. Sundals are traditionally cooked and given away to guests during Navarathri.

A variety of lentils like Mung dal, masoor dal, chana dal etc are commonly used as listed in column 1. The boiled dal can be flavoured in numerous ways as listed in column 2.

Let us first go down column 1 to see the various lentils that can be cooked into sundals.

0:. Split and husked Mung dal needs just soaking. Soaked mung dal can be eaten raw and is used along with a variety of salad vegetables. It is served as a prasad in Karnataka temples and is called Kosambir. Kosumalli is the Tamil equivalent.

2. 1:.Split chana dal is used to cook Kadalai paruppu sundal.

2:.Whole Bengal gram is used to cook the Konda Kadalai Sundal.

3,4,5:.Whole urad dal, whole horse gram and whole masoor dal are cooked into the not so common Ulundu Sundal , kollu sundal and Masoor dal sundal.

6:.Whole Mung dal becomes the Pachai payaru sundal.

7:.Chana dal ( and all other dals) can be roasted and then cooked into a Sundal with a nuttier flavour.

8:.Let whole, unhusked dals sprout. They can then be cooked into sprouted Sundals .

9:. Apart from lentils, Sundals can be cooked with a variety of peas ( green peas, chickpeas etc) or beans ( red kidney beans, navy beans etc) or even nuts like ground nuts. The cooking process is the same. Soak the dried peas or beans overnight, drain them, add water and pressure cook them till done. Mix in flavouring, add garnish and serve.

The flavouring :
Mustard, red chilies and curry leaves fried in oil is the garnish for most Tamil sundals. Various additives like grated coconut, mango slivers etc can be mixed in. A variety of flavouring techniques are listed in column 2 . Use them to flavour Sundals or use your favourite flavouring – It is tough to go wrong with lentils !

And this goes to Susan's Legume Love Affair event & Eat Healthy - Protein Rich contest.