Katiki Pesarapappu Pachadi ( Moong Dal Chutney )

This is one of my favourite chutneys. My mom used to make it very often just for me. When I made this chutney after marriage for the first time, my husband was pleasantly surprised to know such a chutney existed. It doesn't take much time to make this one and goes extremely well with plain steamed rice or even as a dip for idli or dosa.

Ingredients:

• Moong Dal - 1 cup
• Tamarind Pulp - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red whole chillies - 2-3 or to taste
• Water - as needed to grind.
• Salt -to taste

For Tempering:

• Oil - 3 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida ( Hing ) - 1/8 tsp
• Curry Leaves - 5-6

Directions:

• In a grinder, add raw moong dal, broken red chillies, tamarind pulp and turmeric powder and grind with minimum water required for grinding into a smooth paste.
• Transfer into a bowl and add salt and mix well.
• For tempering, heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds. Add urad dal, let it turn reddish. Add hing and curry leaves. Pour this over the chutney and mix well. The chutney is ready.

With the heat of oil in tempering, the raw flavour of dal will disappear and it will taste very good. Hence be little generous on oil.
Mix this chutney with plain steamed rice and a dollop of ghee. This is the best way to eat this chutney. However you can use it as a dip for idli and dosa.

Variation:

• You can soak the dal for about 15-20  minutes before grinding. I prefer unsoaked dal for the crunchy texture.