Tamil Nadu x Italy
Paruppu urundai spaghetti
Tamil lentil balls in tangy kuzhambu over spaghetti. Meatballs went veg and moved to Madurai.
80 minTime
22 gProtein each
mediumSpice
2hPlan ahead. Soak for 2 hours first; the 80 minutes come after.
Make it your way
Grandma's wayThe original. Handle with reverence.
The original626kcal
22 gprotein
13 gfibre
80minutes
Per serving, worked out from the ingredient table. Grandma's way is the starting point the other versions are compared with.
Ingredients
Method
7 steps- 1Drain the soaked toor dal and chana dal and grind coarsely with the dried red chillies, fennel seeds and a little of the salt, without water. Chop 60 g of the shallots and mix them in with half the curry leaves, the grated coconut and the asafoetida.
- 2Shape 16 balls with wet hands and steam 12 minutes on an idli plate.
- 3Soak the tamarind in 300 ml of the water, warmed, for 10 minutes and squeeze out the pulp.
- 4Peel and slice the remaining 100 g shallots and the garlic. Heat 2 tbsp sesame oil on medium heat, crackle the mustard and fenugreek seeds, add the rest of the curry leaves, the shallots and garlic and fry until golden. Add the tomato and cook until soft.
- 5Add the tamarind water, the remaining 200 ml water, turmeric, sambar powder, salt to taste and jaggery. Boil 10 minutes until thickened.
- 6Slip in the steamed balls and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes without stirring hard.
- 7Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and toss with a ladle of sauce and the remaining sesame oil. Serve topped with the balls, more sauce and chopped coriander leaves.
Serve it like this
Twirl the spaghetti into a nest, set three or four lentil balls on top, spoon sauce over and scatter coriander and a few fried curry leaves.
