Tori Saar Upkari

There are cookbooks and there are cookbooks. And then there are mothers who are treasure troves of recipes. This time around when my parents visited us, I made it a point to specifically ask for some dishes and made note of the recipes. I found that Amma's style of amchi cooking isn't exactly the way Rasachandrika has it. There are minor tweaks here and there. This saar-upkari is a great example.

I've made two kinds of saar-upkari before. This one feels like a saar-upkari with a twist in the tale.

1 cup Pigeon Peas

1 tbsp Coriander Seeds

4 Red Chillies

1 tbsp Tamarind Paste

2 tbsp Coconut

1 tbsp Jaggery

Salt to taste

For the seasoning:

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

For the Upkari:

Cooked Pigeon Peas(from recipe above)

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

4-5 Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

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

Grind together about 2 tbsp of cooked pigeon peas with the coconut, coriander seeds, tamarind paste, and red chillies. Add some of 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 mustard seeds and the asafoetida. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves. Add this to the saar.

Upkari

In a kadhai, heat the oil. Add the mustard, red chillies and the curry leaves. When the mustard splutters, add the cooked pigeon peas, salt and jaggery and the ground paste. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.

This is my idea of a super sunday!