Turichya Ghugrya (Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori Curry).

“Turichya Ghugrya (Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori Curry)” … a delicious Maharashtrian dish that tastes best served with tandalachi bhakri (rice roti) … tastes equally good with bajra bhakri/ jowar bhakri/ chapati/ roti/ or Amchi Mumbaikars favorite pav (bread) too … try it, its awesome; hot and spicy curries always beats the blues away especially during monsoon … Yummilicious …

** It’s not often that I prepare these dishes, however there was a time when I prepared them frequently, 15 yrs back to be precise. Younger days are always passed of smoothly with plenty of delicious food, friends and travels, but as one ages we need to focus on healthy dishes or rather should I say, we tend to go back to roots and want to relish those dishes that we grew up savoring, I guess it’s the genes that turn topsy turvy.

** Well, browsing through my handwritten old dairies there are plenty of recipes that bounce out yelling out to be prepared again and this one surely stood out prominently, that’s it, rest is history, its before you. I must mention here that this recipe is prepared with minimum spices and ingredients and differs in each home as per the region. I myself have around 2-3 recipes with minute changes, which I will soon share.

** This is a spicy curry that can be prepared with any pulses on individual preference and you can adjust spice level if desired. Tastes best served with any bhakri/ roti of your choice. I served it with rice bhakri/ tandalachi bhakri as it is easier to prepare than jowar or bajra bhakri which I still need a little bit of practice on. Try it, its awesome, hot and spicy curries always beats the blues away especially during monsoon.

** Here is my recipe for “Turichya Ghugrya (Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori Curry)” … my style, tastes best served with tandalachi bhakri ….

** Ingredients :

Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori/ whole Tur (Toor) : 1 cup

Shengdanyachi Koot/ Roasted Ground Nut Powder/ Bajjile Nerkadle Pitti : 2-3 tblsp (method mentioned below)

Roasted Kopra/ Khobre/ Dried Coconut or Desiccated Coconut : 1-2 tblsp grated

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder or any other : 3-4 tblsp

Tomato : 1

Garlic/ Losun/ Lehsun : 5-6 skinned

Cumin Seeds/ Jeera : 2 tsp

Coriander Leaves/ Kothambari Pallo/ Dhania : handful finely chopped

Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste

Oil/ Tel/ Tela : 3-4 tblsp

** Pick, wash and soak Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori in plenty of water overnight or for minimum 8-10 hours. Drain, rinse well under running water and add into a pressure cooker pan with enough water say about 1-2 inches above the level of tori/ tur and cook on medium heat to one whistle. Now lower the heat to minimum and let continue cooking for 5-7 minutes, then once again raise the heat and cook tor 1 whistle.

** Remove and let keep it aside to cool down and the pressure to settle on its own. Open the lid and check if cooked soft, it should crush when you press a single tori between fingers, if not once again on medium heat pressure cook it to few more whistles or until done. I did not need to cook it again at all and it was perfectly done.

** About cooking Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori : Soaking overnight/ 8-10 hours is a must process to be followed for easy cooking of pulses. Do not cut down on soaking period and then add cooking soda unnecessarily as it is not good for health. I hardly use it unless it is must for some dishes which too I prepare on rare basis, off course I leave to your individual decision. Again, I was surprised when I read in Blogs at the amount of cooking time the Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori took not to mention addition of cooking soda added by some. I buy some pulses like kaali tori, tingalavro, white tori, kulith to name a few from Mangalore Stores who I believe purchase it from South Kanara and I have never had such issues. They all cook perfectly well and I always soak them.

** For this recipe groundnut/ peanut is used. Here ground nuts are roasted, skinned and then ground to fine powder which is referred to as “Shengdanyachi Koot”. In Maharashtrian homes they often use this for masala/ addition to curries, hence it is prepared and stored ready to be used just like kopra ie dried coconut which is also grated, roasted and stored as these are the basic ingredients for masala curries.

** To be Ground : Add Shengdanyachi Koot/ roasted ground nut powder, roasted grated kopra, tomato cut to pieces and kashmiri mirchi powder in a mixer grinder and grind to a fine paste adding little bit of water. Lastly add a handful of cooked pigeon peas and grind all together to a smooth paste. Remove and keep it aside ready.

** Note : Addition of cooked peas is optional and you may skip it if desired. However, I learnt this from a Maharashtrian friend of mine who does so for all such gravies to bring in thickness to the curry and I follow the same.

** Either hand pound garlic to a fine paste in pestle or use mixer grinder, whichever method you use prepare a paste of skinned garlic and keep it ready.

** Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot lower the heat to minimum, add jeera, fry for few seconds and then add in the garlic paste. Fry for few minutes until its rawness goes and it turns slightly brown in color. Now off the gas and then add a tsp of kashmiri red chilly powder and let the color spread for 2-3 seconds.

** Immediately add cooked pigeon peas along with all the water it is cooked in and cook on medium heat until bubbles appear on the surface. Lower the heat and add ground masala, salt to taste and mix well. Add more water, say about 2-3 cups to bring to a thinner/ patal consistency and once again bring all together to a boil.

** Note : This is thinner textured curry similar to patal bhaji or slightly thicker than saar consistency, so be careful and add water adequately.

** Continue to boil the curry on medium to low heat stirring well in between for a good 10-15 minutes as this helps the few simple ingredients added to blend well with the curry, leaving out its own fragrance and thicken as well. When thoroughly cooked and done add handful of finely chopped coriander leaves, remove from heat, cover and keep it aside allowing it to rest for an hour or so before serving.

** “Turichya Ghugrya (Whole Black Pigeon Pea/ Kaali Tori Curry)” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served steaming hot with either tandalachi bhakri (rice flour chapati/ roti) or jowarichi bhakri/ bajrichi bhakri. You can also serve it with normal roti/ chapati or parathas if desired too and I must mention it tastes equally good served with bombay pav. In my home we love Pav and always prefer it with spicy dishes so, I served it with tandalachi bhaki (rice flour chapati/ roti) along with pav and cucumber raita for lunch and it was fantastic combo. You must give this dish a try if you love spicy dishes.