Rangoon Na Vaal

I'm always on the lookout for super simple side dishes that I can pack into our lunch boxes. We usually carry chapatis with us and I find myself running out of ideas for sides just about all the time. These months are some of the busiest ever that I have in a year. I am not very fond of take aways at dinner time and I have all the bad luck one can have when it comes to ordering a lunch dabba at work. I mean how do you explain bhindi-aloo and chane ki dal when I order and mixed vegetable/shahi paneer and dal makhni when I don't.

So I'd much rather carry curd rice than risk eating some oily, mushy bhindi-aloo. (How on earth can you pair potatoes with lady's finger?) Late one night, I was flipping through Tarla Dalal's Dals. This book is a part of her mini series and I bought it years ago hoping to add to my otherwise miniscule dal range. (Would you believe that until 5 years ago, I made sambar or dali saar with dal. Dal always meant Toor Dal. And that was really that!) This seemed like a fairly simple recipe and I decided to try it out the next day. I made some changes to her recipe as I was half asleep when I made this and didn't refer to the recipe too much once I noted the ingredients. It turned out absolutely great and I am thrilled to have one more recipe for my beloved creamy broad beans/field beans.

1 cup Hyacinth Beans

1/4 tsp Carom Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

4 cloves Garlic, crushed

2-3 Cloves

Salt to taste

Coriander Leaves for garnish

Soak the hyacinth beans in water overnight. Pressure cook the beans with enough water for 4-5 whistles.

In a pressure pan, heat the oil and add the carom seeds. Add the asafoetida, cloves and the crushed garlic. Add the salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Add the cooked beans along with the water in which they were cooked. Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. Mash a few of the beans with the back of a spoon. Add the coriander leaves and serve hot.

I'm sending this to dear Sug for the second edition of Vegan Ventures.

Quick, simple, healthy, not to mention lipsmackingly tasty. Could you ask for anything more? But just in case you do, here's more food for thought: Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Anu, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya M, Lakshmi, Lakshmi Venkatesh , Sripriya, Viji, Kamalika, DK, and Pavani.