Paruppu Urundai Kulambu | How to Prepare Paruppu Urundai Kulambu Recipe

This is a very traditional dish from Tamil Nadu. This dish is rich in proteins. My mom used to make this quite often but now with the time constraint, we hardly cook this. I come from a large family with lots of cousins. This was always made in a huge quantity when the whole lot of us were around.
Lentil dumplings have to be steam cooked before adding it to the tamarind-coconut sauce. The simple spicy steamed lentil balls have a heavenly taste. We love it so much so that every time one of us will run to the kitchen and nick a few balls to the terrace and gobble them before anyone can find it. We really enjoy irritating our grandmom during its cooking and she would chase us away till the entrance of the house. The people in the neighbourhood would tease that her voice is heard even at the other end of the village. This dish always reminds me of my good old childhood days and is very close to my heart.
Recommended: Diwali suzhiyan – Deep fried dumplings with coconut, lentils and jaggery

Paruppu urundai kuzhambhu Recipe
Ingredients
For the lentil balls:
- 1/2 cup toor dhal
- 1/2 cup channa dhal
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- 3 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 coriander powder
- 1 inch chopped ginger
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2 tsp chopped corainder leaves
- salt
For the Sauce:
- 1 lemon size tamarind extract
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup grated coconut
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp
vadagam - 5-6 curry leaves
Instructions
Method For the lentil balls:
- Soak the dhals in water for 3 hrs. Drain the water completely and grind them into a thick paste.
- Add the onions, garlic, coconut, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, ginger, curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt.
- Mix them thoroughly and roll them into small balls. Steam cook them and keep aside.
For the sauce:
- Grind the grated coconut and fennel seeds into a fine paste and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a kadai. Add the vadagam and cook for a min.
- Now add the onions and saute them for 2-3min.
- Add the tamarind extract and coconut paste. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder. Simmer the flame. Cook till the raw smell disappears.
- Add the curry leaves and bring the gravy to a boil.
- Gently add the steam cooked lentil balls in a single layer . Cook on a low flame with the lid on for about 5-10 min. Give it a gentle stir every 2 min and serve warm with hot rice.