Tomato Pulusu + Kothavaranga(Chikudikai/Beans Variety) + Mango Milk Shake

Indian cooking is simple and easy. A little thought can go a long way in reducing the time you spend in the kitchen. This write up is a real time presentation of making a meal. Firstly, let us desire to cook - See pics below.

Kothavaranga Curry: Kothavaranga (frozen), grated coconut, red chillies

Tomato Pulusu: Toor dal, tomatoes, green chillies, tarmarind pulp

Mango Milk Shake: Mango pulp (readymade), milk, sugar

Now let us make these 3 dishes in less than 40 minutes!

Optimized Method of Preparing all three dishes in parallel

Timer begins at 00:00 (m m: s s)

00:00 - Fry 1.5 cup toor dal in a pan (without oil) till slightly brown.

03:00 - Place fried toor dal in a vessel and fill with water. Add a little turmeric powder.
In another vessel add kothavaranga (or any beans variety you have), which is usually available in frozen vegetable section. Add salt to this. Place both vessels in a pressure cooker. Cook for about 12 minutes

07:00 - When the veggies are cooking away, prepare rice in rice cooker

10:00 - Time to prepare Mango Milk shake. In a blender, add mango pulp- 4 cups (available in stores) , milk - 3 cups, sugar- 1 cup. Blend well.

15:00 - The cooker will be done by now. Take it off the stove and place it on the counter and let it cool.

18:00 - The milk shake should be done by now. Pour into a container and place in fridge.

20:00 - Should be able to open the cooker. Take out the boiled beans and toor dal.

22:00 - Heat oil + mustard + urad dal + red chillies in a pan. Once the seeds splutter add the boiled beans and let it fry.

26:00 - In another vessel, heat oil + mustard + fenugreek seeds + slit green chillies (4) + turmeric (0.5 tsp) in a pan. Once the seeds splutter add half a can of diced tomato pieces. Fry these pieces for a while

30:00 - At this point, the beans need your attention. Sprinkle grated coconut (you should always have a packet in your freezer) and stir.

31:00 - Back to tomato pieces. Now add mashed toor dal ( and when I write mashed, it better start resembling a semi-solid soup, if such an entity exists) and some chopped coriander leaves.

Tip: Chop Coriander leaves, wash them and freeze them. This helps them retain the aroma and works nearly as well as the fresh ones.

33:00 - Beans should be done. Take them off the stove. Now to the toor dal mixture, add about a teaspoon of tarmarind pulp and stir.

Tip: Tarmarind from the indian stores is usually hard and takes herculean strength to squeeze the juice. Instead, take a bar of tarmarind , add little water to it and microwave. This will reduce it into a simpering mass. Can store this in the fridge for several days and use when required.

37:00 -Rice should be done.

38:00 - The pulusu should be done by now. And you still have 2 minutes remaining!

Tip: Get your better half to do the cleaning now. :-)


Serve with rice, and don't forget the chilled mango milk shake in the fridge for dessert!