Recipe Celery Poriyal

[karadekoolaid]

This is a slight variation of a recipe I found on the web: Dahlia's Poriyal

Ingredients:

3-4 sticks celery, diced
1 tsp grated ginger
2-3 fresh green chiles, finely chopped
2 tbsps grated coconut
1 tbsp cooked chickpeas
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Oil for cooking
Water to cover

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pan or frying pan and add the grated coconut, the urad dal, the fresh chiles and the ginger. Cook for a couple of minutes.
• Now add the mustard seeds and saute until they begin to pop. Add the turmeric and coriander and stir once or twice.
• Now add the chickpeas, the celery, the salt, sugar and enough water to just cover . Lower the heat to medium and cook through until the celery is tender.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

2-3 fresh green chiles, finely chopped

Any type of green chile, I assume? I think jalapenos would work well here, though there's flexibility to make it serranos, thai chiles, habaneros, or whatever your pain tolerance may be.

Another question: are those very dry kaffir lime leaves, or bay leaves? It looks like they're probably introduced in the third step, and not stirred in after the dish is prepared.

I really like the techniques in this recipe, including pan frying the dry dal and mustard seeds. I also like the quick-and-easy part. But, I do have more questions:

Heat the oil in a pan or frying pan and add the grated coconut, the urad dal, the fresh chiles and the ginger. Cook for a couple of minutes.

How high is the heat here? The third step lowers the temp to medium, so I assume this is medium-high. I've never tried pan frying grated coconut, but does this mean that it doesn't burn quickly? Are you looking for a particular level of browning, or does it respond well to pan frying along with the other ingredients?

 

[karadekoolaid]

Any type of green chile, I assume?

Yep - any kind will do. Most of the recipes I've seen from this part of India are fiercely hot, but there's no reason to NOT bring it to your own comfort zone.

are those very dry kaffir lime leaves, or bay leaves?

No, they're called curry leaves, Murraya Koenigii. Used in many Indian recipes, especially towards the Southern part of India.

How high is the heat here?

My omission. When I start the dish, the heat is high, and I move the ingredients around all the time so they don't burn. My method is, basically, stirfrying: lots of movement around the pan (I just toss the ingredients, but you could use a spoon as well) until I can smell the ginger and the coconut. Once the mustard seeds go in, they'll "pop" within 30 seconds or so. I then add the dry spices and almost immediately, the rest of the ingredients. Badly explained, probably because I do it so often that I assume everyone else does the same!! The coconut will be just, barely browned at the edges.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

No, they're called curry leaves, Murraya Koenigii. Used in many Indian recipes, especially towards the Southern part of India.

Ha...should have figured they were curry leaves, considering everything else about the recipe. Do you stir them in at the last step, when you add the water?

 

[karadekoolaid]

No, I stir fry them with the urid dal, chiles and ginger.
I really must concentrate a bit more when writing up a recipe!