Green Beans and Lentil Crumble

My dear husband is so delighted when I cook his favourite South Indian dishes, especially if the dish is accompanied by the always present sambar (or rasam) and rice! It has been a while since I actually cooked the whole suite, and thought that the weekend deserved a special treat! Called Parrapu Usili in Tamil, the dish is relatively easy to make. I hope you will like this dish yourself, give it a try- the crunch and flavour is indeed irresistible...

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, finely sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 tsp salt

The Crumble:

• 2 cups toor dhal (yellow split lentil)
• 3 red dry chilies
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 3 tbsp oil
• 2 tsp salt

The Tempering

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urad dhal (split black lentil)
• a few curry leaves

1. Boil the beans in water along with turmeric, salt. Strain and set aside.
2. Soak the dhal in warm water for an hour, strain and grind along with chilies, pepper and ginger.
3. In a large nonstick pan, heat the oil and fry the lentil mixture on medium flame, stirring continuously till the lentil crumbles. That is the sign of it being cooked.
4. Add the cooked beans and salt and fold them in the cooked lentil crumble.
5. In a separate pan, heat the oil and add the mustard. When it splatters, add the urad dhal and curry leaves and fry till the dhal is golden in color. Remove promptly and pour over the bean and lentil crumble.

Drumstick Sambar, Green Pea Curry and Green Bean Crumble, served along Rice