Tendli and chana sookha

Tendli chana is a Mangalorean specialty. It is served on all special occasions, such as wedding celebrations, special birthdays and feast days. 

Today being the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, I wish you all a very happy feast. May Mother Mary bless us all with good health, wisdom and compassion for each other. 

Mangalorean Catholics celebrate this feast with a lot of fervour. This feast is also called "Monthi Fest". The feast involves blessing new paddy grains, attending Holy Mass and partaking in a traditional family meal served on banana leaves. The meals comprises of odd number of vegetable or lentil dry dishes,  a vegetable curry, rice, pickle and vorn ( a desert made of moong dal, rice, and jaggery). No meats are cooked in this meal. It is believed that, this meal is one of the tastiest meals you'll ever have. 

This year, on this occasion, I cooked three vegetables, tendli chana, gosalem and moong. My mother and sister used to cook 5 or 7 vegetables. Those many vegetable preparations would be easily consumed as the whole family ate together. But that is not ideal for a small family of three people eating one meal. And that's the extent of the meal served with rice and cucumber salad. It's also a day to be grateful for the new harvest and life's many blessings and the meal is also aptly called "Novem" meaning new.

Today I share my mother's recipe for tendli chana, eaten with much love at my home.

Ingredients:

1. Black chana - 1/2 cup (soaked in water, overnight)
2. Tendli (Ivy gourd) - 250 gms, cut in half, lengthwise.

Masala: Grind the below in a mixer, with a little water

1. Red chillies - 5 - 7 nos
2. Garlic - 5 nos, medium
3. Onion - 1 medium
4. Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
5. Cumin - 1 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. Tamarind - a small piece

To add later:

1. Coconut - 1/2 cup
2. Jaggery - 1tbsp

Tempering:

1. Oil - as needed
2. Garlic - 6 nos, medium
3. Curry leaves - 20 washed and wiped leaves

Method:

1. Cook the black chana in a pressure cooker with a little water. Add salt. Take 3 whistles and then cook on slow flame and take two more whistles.
2. Once the pressure is released, add the tendli to the cooker and take one more whistle. Do not add more water.
3. Once the pressure has eased, open the cooker, add the ground masala and cook for another five minutes. Check for salt.
4. Add the jaggery and coconut. Continue cooking for a few minutes. Switch off the flame.
5. Temper the ingredients in a small pan and pour over the vegetable. Mix gently.

 * Some recipes call for roasting the dry spices. But that's completely optional.