Black Matar Pulao

 

                                  Black matar pulao served with banan chips, mango chunda, 

                                      bitter gourd potato sabzi, salad and onion tomato raita

Black matar (or kala vatana) are small, dark green-to-black dried peas known for their earthy, nutty flavor and firm texture, often used in Indian cuisine. These high-protein, fibre-rich legumes are staples in Maharashtrian usal, Sindhi matarpao, and Himalayan dishes, providing a healthier, iron-rich alternative to green peas that stays firm when cooked. They are low in fat and, due to high fiber and low-glycemic index, excellent for managing blood sugar, heart health, and weight loss. Known for excellent shelf life, lasting up to three years, making them a sustainable crop. They are highly nutritious, fiber-rich legumes providing significant protein, iron, and essential minerals per serving.

My husband loves its sabzi and I keep preparing it. My daughter said once that delicious pulao can be made too. So I ventured to prepare black matar pulao and it turned out very tasty.

Ingredients

½  cup black matar soaked overnight, pressure cooked for 20 minutes with salt and 1 ½  cups water.

1 cup rice washed, cleaned and soaked for ten minutes

2 tbsps oil or ghee

¼ tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

2 cardamoms

A small stick of cinnamon

1 onion finely cut

½ inch piece ginger peeled and finely cut

2 tbsp moringa leaves (optional)

Salt to taste

2 cups water

Insturction

-          Keep the black matar ready after cooking. Soak the rice for ten minutes before starting to make pulao.

-          Heat oil or ghee in the pressure cooker and when heated, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cardamoms, cinnamon stick, and oinion.

-          Stir and when the onion becomes transparent, add the moringa leaves, cooked black matar, soaked rice and salt.

-          Stir well and add 2 cups of water. Any water remaining after cooking the matar should be part of this 2 cups.

-          Pressure cook for 5 minutes, allow it to cool and open.

-          Serve with curd or raita, pickle and papad.

 

Bitter gourd Potato Sabzi

 

After making the bitter gourd scramble, two bitter gourds were still lying in the refrigerator. For two days, it almost felt as though they were silently calling out to me, guiding me toward a new preparation.

A clear image of the dish had already formed in my mind—I could almost see how it would look once cooked. Strangely, I could even sense its taste beforehand, as though the flavors had already touched my tongue.

On the third day, I finally decided to prepare a sabji using bitter gourd and potatoes. And when the dish was ready, it looked exactly the way I had visualized it in my mind’s eye. Even more surprising, it tasted precisely the way I had imagined. It was such a beautiful and almost magical experience.

So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients

2 bitter gourds, washed, cleaned and slit longitudinally and sliced, Remove any hard seeds

1 large potato, cleaned, peeled and cubed

1 onion finely cut

1 tomato cut into small pieces

1 tbsp oil

A few mustard seeds

¼ tsp Turmeric powder

¼ tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp dried mango powder

Salt to taste

½ cup water

Instruction

-          Heat the kadai with oil, ad mustard seed. When they splutter, add the potato cubes           

          

       Stir for a few seconds, add the cut onion, stir.

-          When the onion becomes transparent, add the cut tomato and the bitter gourd, salt and the masala powders.

-          Mix well for a few seconds, add water, reduce the flame, cover the vessel and let it cook for ten minutes. Check in between and add more water if needed. When the potatoes are cooked, remove from fire.

-          Serve with chapatis, or with rice and dal.

Pothichoru

 

Pothichoru is a traditional Kerala lunch packed in a wilted banana leaf, literally translating to "packed rice". While in school, many of my classmates used to bring pothichoru daily , which consisted of boiled rice, chammanthi, and pickle. In our many years of train journeys, we used to pack pothichoru to eat while in the train, and children carry fond memories of this ritual. The items packed used to be boiled rice, pulissery (packing this liquid in a pouch made from banana leaf and banana tree thread is an art in itself, which I have mastered), green gram thoran, chammanthi, and omelette.

Recently, on our trip to Bangalore I packed pothichoru for our lunch. Since we were starting at 6 am, I kept the items simple – vegetable pulao and curd that was set in a container the previous evening.

The banana leaves were washed thoroughly, then wilted by carefully passing all parts of the leaf over a low flame, moving continuously. Then the midriff of the leaf at the back was carefully thinned out, so that the leaf could be folded.

The pulao was kept in the centre of the leaf.  

The leaf is first folded around the pulao from both sides longitudinally, then horizontally. 

Then it is packed in a news paper. 

The heat of the cooked food interacts with the leaf, which enhances the taste of the dishes, particularly over several hours.