kollu kozhambu | horse gram curry

Soak horse gram (Kollu) overnight for about 12 hours. Pressure cook it for about 14 whistles. Let it cool down. Keep the horse gram water aside. Now heat a pan, add toor dal, black peppercorns, 6-7 garlic cloves and sliced onions. Dry roast briefly so that pepper cooks and the raw smell of toor dal, garlic and onions goes away (4-5 minutes should be sufficient).

Once it cools down, transfer to a mixer jar. Pour a little water and grind to a fine paste. Heat up a Kadai, add 2-3 tbsp of cooking oil. Add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, 7 garlic cloves and a few curry leaves. Let it fry for a minute or so and then add the ground paste and then pour the water used for pressure cooking horse gram. Increase the flame and let it come to a good boil.

Add kashmiri chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and tamarind paste (diluted in water). Add all of these and mix well. Add little bit of water and continue to cook for about 7-8 minutes till the raw smell goes away. Mash the cooked horse gram and add it to the gravy. Cook for another 4-5 minutes. Kollu Kolambu is ready to be served with rice .