Kultha Saar-Upkari

The Arusuvai Friendship Chain found its way to cold Gurgaon. I was out in the Himalayas when Lakshmi's packet got to me. I opened the packet on Monday morning and instantly knew what the contents were. Horse Gram!! Although this is of the pulses that is almost alien to most Indian homes, Amma had this in her kitchen and we've had this once in a while for Sunday lunch.

I graduated with a degree in Botany and we studied this in our third year. The professor told us about the goodness of horse gram and said, "This is not eaten by humans, it is only fed to horses." I stood up and told her that this was not the case and that we ate it at home too. I was the object of ridicule for about a while as classmates thought I must belong to some weird family to be eating horsefeed at home.

I was rather excited to see the contents of this packet as I have not seen this in local markets. It was served for lunch one day at Camp Kyari, near Corbett. I figured the hill people must be eating it too. I cooked the stuff this afternoon for lunch. And I'm sharing the recipe for Kultha Saar-Upkari with all of you. I was so impatient that I attempted to take pictures when the saar was still steaming hot.

Kultha Saar

1 cup Horse Gram

4 Garlic Cloves

4 Red Chillies

1 tbsp Tamarind Paste

1 tsp Coriander Seeds

Salt to taste

For the seasoning:

6 Garlic Cloves, crushed

1 tsp Oil

Pressure cook the horsegram with 4-5 cups of water. Drain the liquid into a vessel. Keep the horsegram for the upkari.

Grind together about 2 tbsp of cooked horsegram with the coriander seeds, tamarind paste, red chillies and garlic. Add this paste to the liquid in the vessel. Add the salt and bring to a boil.

In a frying ladle, heat the oil and add the crushed garlic pods. Add this to the saar.

Upkari


Cooked Horsegram (from recipe above)
1 tsp Oil
4 Red Chillies
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
4-5 Curry Leaves
1 tbsp Jaggery
1 tbsp Coconut, scraped
Salt to taste

In a kadhai, heat the oil. Add the mustard, red chillies and the curry leaves. When the mustard splutters, add the cooked horsegram, salt and jaggery. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Uncover and add the scraped coconut.

Serve this with rice and some papads on the side. Ideal lazy Sunday lunch.

Thanks Lakshmi for the lovely surprise ingredient you sent over. Nandita, your surprise ingredient will reach you shortly. I hope you have fun with it.