Black Eyed Beans Vada

I don't know about you, but for me, deciding on what to cook is a nightmare!

My bookmark folder has grown so big that it needs another bookmark folder to sort it out. It's growing like Hanumanthana baala... it's becoming so taxing just going over the list. 

Whenever I find anything interesting I bookmark and then basically forget about it. Not only that, I also buy cook books whenever I come across anything interesting. Between these two humongous lists, I often get lost and sometimes get a head ache looking for something interesting to cook. Oh, the tragedy! 

When I saw this vada on my friend’s FB page, my memory was refreshed about this recipe that I had bookmarked long time ago. And so it got bumped up to the top on my todo list. So the next time when I got an opportunity to make an appetizer for a potluck, instead of going over and over again on my lengthy list, I instantly decided on this ..

This vada is very much similar to Ambode(masala vada), except that, instead of using chana dal, it uses black eyed beans. Black eyed beans gives this a slightly soft texture compared to chana dal.

Do try!

Dal Bukhara - Urad dal curry

Coming from South India, I'm alien to black urad dal... we hardly use any black urad dal in our regular cooking... the few places that we use them(that too de-skinned urad dal), is in making tadka, then the regular idli, dosa and stuff. 

In fact, I was really surprised when I first found out about its usage in curries!! I would've never guessed in a million years that out of all the dals, urad dal is the one used in my favorite dal makhni!! This after devouring dal makhni every time I went to North Indian restaurants back in India... such was my dispassion towards cooking :) *Sigh* how I've changed!!

The taste of black urad dal is such that, if you don’t get the masala right, then the taste of the urad dal becomes very overpowering. This is one of the few recipes of black urad dal that I’ve tried and liked.. the curry comes out very creamy despite the lack of any added cream.

Do try!