Broccoli Paruppu Usuli

Banana flower paruppu usuli is said to be the mother of all paruppu usuli. This lentil paste side dish has become a mandatory item in the menu of most weddings these days. My mom used to make paruppu usili during our summer breaks or when ever we had our relatives come over - long list from paati to cousins and we had a crowd of about 10+ at home. My grandma used to say that earlier days, they used to buy vegetables just enough for the family, when unexpected guests arrive in order to bring the vegetable/curry to required extra quantity during lunch they used to make paruppu usuli. Paruppu usulies are traditionally done with any vegetable from the beans family like green beans, avarakkai (broad), kotha varangai (cluster) etc. They are everyone's favorite as far as i know, i have never heard someone disliking it. Kids love it too, especially little A loves it too for the reason that it tastes like Vada.

Broccoli has been a vegetable that i mostly use in our stir fried salads or mushroom-broccoli salad. I have never made or cooked (should i say) an indian curry or side dish out of it. When AA's aunt and family visited us last month, we made a little snack with broccoli. Just microwave the shoots for 5 minutes and dip it a little in olive oil and simultaneously in (idli) milagai podi. Its a nice crunchy-karam desi appetizer for all. When the talk was about broccoli, AA's aunt happened to mention that she makes paruppu usuli with them. I had been wanting to try it since we all love brocolli and we all love paruppu usuli too.

To make the lentil mix (usuli) we need,

1/2 cup of channa dhal

1/2 cup of toor dhal or Masoor dhal (red lentil)

Soak them both separately for 30 minutes.

Drain well and grind them both by adding,

4 red chillies

some curry leaves

pinch of turmeric powder

pinch of asafoetida (hing)

salt to taste

Add very little water only if required, the paste should be thick just the way we grind for paruppu vada. Once the paste is ready, steam cook it for 10-15 minutes just the way we steam cook idli. It should cook till the time when you put in a tooth prick it should come out clean. Once done, allow it to cool.

Cut the Broccoli into tiny shoots and wash them well. Microwave them for not more than 10 mins or just steam them over boiling water for 10 minutes. We do not have to essentially cook them soft. The broccoli shoots should stay a little hard and crunchy.

When the lentil paste and shoots are ready, heat a wok or tava. Add,

2 tsp oil

Saute some mustard seeds, urad dhal and pinch of hing for tadka

3 red chillies

curry leaves

Stir fry briefly and add the broccoli shoots and crumble the lentil paste over it. Mix them well and leave the wok closed with a lid on low flame for a couple of minutes so the crumbs and broccoli blend well. Voila, broccoli paruppu usuli is ready to be had with rasam rice or the world famous satvik food - yummy bagala bath/curd rice/dadhyonnam. I fry it for a little bit longer since we love eating it as a starter or appetizer :-).