Garelu and Perugugarelu (Avada)

Kanumu is the last day of the 3 days Sankranthi festival. Heard from my friends that they will have a feast with a variety of non-vegetarian dishes on this particular day. But, for some of us who are vegetarians, there is a saying "Kanumu nadu minugu thinali" meaning; "should eat urad dal on Kanumu". I personally think since urad dal is a good source of nutrition it is a substitute for meat for vegetarians. Anyone who knows why, do please let me know.
2 cups Urad dal
Chili-ginger paste - Optional
2 tsp Rice flour
Oil to fry

Soak urad dal in water for 2 – 3 hours. Drain water and grind to a smooth batter. Add salt to the dal while grinding, by adding it later the dough will become soggy and watery. Add less quantity of water while grinding. Solid dough gives a good shape to the garelu.

For spicy or karam garelu add chili-ginger paste to the dough. Also chopped onions can be added if you like onion garelu (ulli-garelu).

Heat oil in a kadai (I personally prefer a traditional concave shape kadai for maximum usage of space with less oil) and never let the oil be screaming hot! It burns the first batch.

Add 2 tsp of rice flour to a bowl of water and mix well, keep aside. Wet both hands in this water and take small lemon size dough and place it on the palm of your hand. (A wax paper or Aluminum foil can also be used) flatten it into a nice circle and then make a small hole with a finger in the middle. Gently slide this into oil without disturbing its shape.

Let fry for a few seconds and then keep turning back and forth so it will not burn.Once garelu turn to golden yellow, it’s time to remove from the oil. Place them on paper towels so the excess oil is absorbed.

Ginger (allam) or sesame (nuvvu) chutney compliments garelu.

For perugu garelu also called as avada:Take 4 cups of fresh curd in a big bowl. Add salt and beat it well with a ladle. Make tadka with 1 tsp of ghee and 1tsp of oil using few mustard seeds, jeera, fenugreek seeds and vammu. Add a red chili, hing and chopped green chilies, ginger and few curry leaves. Fry till nicely done and add to the curd. Keep aside.

After frying garelu add piece by piece to the curd and let soak for 1/2 hr and serve them.

2 comments:

ΓΑΣΤΕΡΟΠΛΗΞ said...

what is ural dal? is it a kind of legume? which one? please name it in English

Uma. said...

Hi raeteponahe

Thanks for stopping by.

Urad dal is a kind of pulse, a lentil usually available in whole or split form in black(with husk) or white colour. It is highly nutritious and widely used in Indian cooking. English name should be white/black lentil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urad_(bean)