Kadala Curry Recipe – Kerala Kadala Curry For Puttu, Appam

Kadala curry is the most popular, traditional side dish for puttu and appam/palappam in Kerala. Its a very healthy side dish recipe which is ideal for breakfast. In Tamil, we call this as Kondakadalai Kurma, Chana gravy in English, Kala chana kurma in Hindi. Last week I shared Kerala Puttu Recipe in my space. As I promised in that post, here is the Nadan kadala curry recipe with coconut.I watched this You tube video to try the authentic recipe as its my first attempt. It came out very well and tasted yummy with Puttu. I am sure it tastes well for appam and dosa too. Though the procedure seems little bit lengthy, its worthy to try. Even though Black chana is widely used for this recipe, I think even white chana would do. After trying this authentic version, I am looking for a simple kadala curry recipe without coconut. Friends, please mail me the recipe in my inbox if you have any. Ok, now lets see how to make Kerala style Kadala curry recipe for Puttu, Appam.

Kadala curry recipe - Kerala Nadan style

Kerala kadala curry recipe

Cuisine: Kerala

Category: Side dish for Puttu,appam

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml Black Chana/ Kondakadalai - 1 cup Coconut oil – 1 tbsp Tomato - 2 nos  Big onion - 1 no Ginger,garlic paste - 1 tbsp Green chilli - 1 no ( slitted) Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Coconut bits - 1/4 cup ( optional) Water & salt - as needed To grind Coconut oil - 2 tsp Grated coconut - 1/2 cup Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp ( I used Kashmiri chilli powder) Dhania powder -1.5 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Big onion - 1/2 no or small onion - 4 nos Cinnamon - 1 inch piece Cloves - 3 nos Cardamom - 2 no Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp Water - as needed To temper Coconut oil - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Red chilli - 1 no Big onion – 1/2 no ( chopped finely. I din’t use) Curry leaves - few

METHOD

Wash and soak the chana overnight. It would be doubled in quantity after soaking. Slice the onion,chop tomato into small pieces. Set aside. Heat coconut oil in a pressure cooker and saute the onions, G&G paste till the raw smell of paste goes off. Now add the slitted green chilli, tomato pieces. Saute till tomato turns mushy.Add the coconut bits (if using) and saute well. Add the soaked chickpeas, turmeric powder, salt and 1.5 cups of water.Let it pressure cook in low flame for 2 whistles.Remove the lid after the steam is released. Mix well. In the mean time, heat coconut oil in a kadai and saute the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, onion, grated coconut, fennel seeds.Saute till grated coconut turns slightly golden.To this, add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, dhania powder and mix well. Let it cool. Then grind everything to a smooth paste adding enough water. After opening the cooker, add the ground paste, 1/2 cup of water and let it boil for few minutes till the gravy reaches desired consistency. When the gravy boils, check for taste.Add more salt or chilli powder if needed. If you want very thin, watery gravy add 1/4 cup more water. If you want thick, switch it off after boiling for sometime. I made it slightly thick. In a small kadai, heat coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds, pinched red chilli, chopped onions and curry leaves. Add to the gravy. Mix well and serve with puttu, appam, dosa !! Enjoy ! NOTE : If you want to thicken the gravy, you can grind a handful of cooked chana to a paste and add it along with coconut paste.By doing this, gravy will thicken quickly and adds a taste too.

Note

Adjust the quantity of spice powders are per your taste. In some recipes, I found dhania seeds were used instead of dhania powder. So you can also try that for variations. Do not add more water while cooking chana. Use only the needed else gravy will be too watery and you have to boil it for longer time to thicken it.

Try this yummy, traditional Kerala style Kadala curry and enjoy with puttu, appam