Rice Gruel with Red Gram and Green (UnRipe) Banana

This post is a throwback to our simple meal, with which we ended 2015.

Rice gruel, or kanji is a favorite for most people. It is best enjoyed  with just pickle, moru, pappad, and some red/green gram.

This recipe uses red gram, paired with some UN-ripe green bananas.

Rice Gruel/Kanji Ingredients:
Serves: 4

Rice – 2 cups
Water – 8 cups

Prepare rice as usual. Do not drain the water from it. Ready. 🙂

Red gram with Green unripe banana –  Ingredients:
Serves: 4

Green Unripe Banana – 2
Red gram – 1 cup
Oil – 2 tbsp
Shallots – 4-5
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – a handful
Green chilli – 2 (finely chopped)
Garlic – 1 whole (crushed)
Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
Cumin powder – 1 pinch
Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
Salt – according to taste
 

Step 1: Soak the red-gram over-night.

Step 2: Chop/Peel/’Shave’ off the banana skin leaving most of the fibrous portion  on the banana.  Finely chop into cubes. Soak in water and wash before use.

Step 3: In a pressure cooker, to 1 cup red gram, add the chopped banana, about 3-4 cups water, and cook for about 3 whistles. Turn off the flame.

Step 4: Add the coconut, turmeric, cumin, and garlic into the pressure cooker, so that it gives a steamed effect to the coconut. Add salt according to taste.

Step 5: Tempering: Heat some oil. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add in curry leaves, green chillies and shallots and saute until the onions turn translucent. Add this to the pressure cooked red-gram-banana mixture.

Enjoy your kanji with this simple red-gram preparation, some pickle, moru and pappad. 🙂