Stir-fried fenugreek leaves with lentil crumble

The most common dish with fresh fenugreek leaves is potatoes or meat, but you all know I tend to stray from the standard.

This is a very interesting dish from the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. It combines steamed lentils into a cake with sautéed fenugreek leaves. The earthy and spiced lentils pair beautifully with the bitter fenugreek leaves. This dish has complex flavours and is one that I really enjoyed. You can serve it as a side during a meal, but I like to serve it as an appetizer.

Southern Flavours is another cookbook from Chandra Padmanabhan that I adore. The recipes are varied across the southern states of India, and each recipe turns out very well. The recipes, like this one, are authentic and wonderfully flavoured. This cookbook is for those who want to go beyond the ordinary and enjoy very localized cuisines from the South.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

For the lentil crumble:

1/2 cup pigeon peas (toor dal)

1/2 cup split chickpeas (chana dal)

3-4 dried red chiles

About 1/2 cup water

3-4 green chiles

1 tablespoon ginger paste

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

A pinch of asafoetida powder

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

A steamer with a metal tray

For the leaves:

4 cups tightly packed fresh fenugreek leaves, washed very well in 3 changes of water

1 teaspoon salt

Water

For the tempering:

4 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon split black gram (urad dal)

1-2 dried red chiles

15 curry leaves

To make the lentil crumble:

Soak the toor dal, chana dal, and dried red chilies in 6 cups of water for 2 hours or overnight. Drain well when ready to use.

Add the soaked lentils, red chillies, green chiles, ginger, turmeric, asafoetida, and salt to a small blender with about 1/4 cup water. Blend into a thick, coarse paste. Add just enough water to get the purée going in the blender.

Grease the metal tray and pour in the purée. Smoothen out to an even layer. Steam for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, open and allow the steamed cake to cool down and dry out.

You can now either cut the steamed lentil cake into squares or break it up with your fingers into an uneven crumble. I like to cut these into squares rather than break them up for a purely visual presentation purpose. Set aside.

For the leaves:

Bring the leaves to a simmer in a pot with salted water—Blanch for 1 minute or a touch more if the leaves are not tender. Drain and cool in running water, so top the cooking. You do not want these cooked to death and get a drab grey colour. Set aside in a colander to drain and cool. Drain well by pressing down on the leaves gently when cool.

To finish:

Heat the oil in a large wok or deep frying pan, large enough for all the ingredients. Add the tempering ingredients in the order listed and sauté for 30 seconds till the mustard seeds begin to pop. Add the lentil crumble and toss well in the oil. Sauté for 3-4 minutes on medium heat so the cakes get lightly coloured.

Add the blanched fenugreek leaves, separating them out while adding so it's easier to mix in. Toss well with the crumble and sauté until very hot. Turn out onto a plate or bowl and serve immediately. For a more contemporary preparation, layer the cakes on a plate first and then add the cooked leaves on top. You can choose to add a toothpick to each to allow your guests to pick them up easily.