Togarikalu Saaru | Fresh Pigeon Peas Rasam

We get various varieties of beans like fresh peas, hyacinth beans(avarekalu),lilva toovar(pigeon peas), fresh chickpeas etc in the market during winters.Our family is a big fan of Avarekalu and during the season my mom buys them in kilos every week and prepare various dishes with it.But the process of shell the beans and peeling the skin is time consuming and is labor intensive process, I really don't have that much patience to shell them like my mom does. But thankfully finding the shelled beans is not that difficult these days, it is easily available even in mumbai. I get all these shelled beans varieties like avarekalu,togarikalu in the local markets here easily.

We prepare Avarekalu Saaru using the fresh tender avarekalu beans which pairs up nicely with Ragi mudde or plain steamed rice.I followed the same process and prepared this Togarikalu saaru and it tasted equally delicious. You can use togarikalu to prepare pulao or kurma or if they are tender you can boil them with salt and eat them fresh.

Togarikaalu Saaru |  Fresh Pigeon Peas Rasam:

Serves 3-4

Prep time:10 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 40 mins

Cuisine:South Indian | Category: Rasam-Sidedish

Ingredients:

1 cup Togarikalu(fresh Pigeon Peas/lilva toovar)

1/3 cup grated fresh Coconut

1 1/2 tsp Tamarind extract

2 tsp grated Jaggery

3 tbsp of chopped Coriander leaves

Salt to taste

to roast and grind:

1 tsp Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

5-6 Pepper Corns

3-4 Red chillies

for tempering:

2 tsp Oil/Ghee

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 Red chilli

a sprig of Curry leaves

Method:

• Wash the pigeon peas and add 1 cup of water and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles.

• Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns and red chilies and let them cool and grind to a coarse powder.

• Add 1 ladle of cooked fresh pigeon peas, grated fresh coconut, coriander leaves, tamarind extract, salt and jaggery to the ground mixture and grind it to a fine paste by adding water.

• Add the ground mixture to the cooked pigeon peas(with water) and bring it to a boil again, reduce the flame and cook for 8-10 mins until the mixture is cooked nicely.Check the taste and adjust the seasoning as required.

• In a small tadka pan heat ghee/oil and crackle mustard seeds and add red chillies and curry leaves and fry them and add this tempering to the boiling rasam and cook for a couple of minutes.

Serve the rasam with plain steamed rice and papad or Ragi mudde.

Notes:

1. You can follow the same process for Avarekalu Saaru by replacing pigeon peas with tender hyacinth beans.

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