Broken Lentil dal translates to Nucchina Unde in Kannada. This is easy to make, nutritious and needs no oil. Good as a breakfast/snack or side dish.

Category: South Indian Dish

INGREDIENTS

Pigeon pea (Toor dal) : 1 cup

Chick pea (Chana dal) : 1 cup

Rice : 1 fistful

Green chillies : 4-5, to taste

Ginger : 1 inch piece

Coconut : grated, 1 cup

Dil leaves : 1 cup final chopped (optional)

Coriander leaves : Finley chopped, as needed

Baking powder : 1/2 teaspoon

Salt

METHOD

Soak both dals and rice together 3-4 hrs or overnight. Drain water. Blend coarsely with chillies and ginger. To this batter add greens, coconut, salt, baking powder and mix well. Make them in to oblong or spherical shape and steam for 10 min (in ldli stand or any other vessel). Let the dough be moist, as dal and rice will absorb water while cooking. Relish hot Nuchhina unde with just ghee or tomato sauce or with any chutney

Preparation Time : ~20min (apart from soaking time)

VARIATIONS

This can be made with different dal combo in different proportions. You could use only chana dal, add green gram dal, or add little bit of urad dal as well. Also you could add garlic or hing or jeera, depending on your preference.

INFORMATION

Vegan - YES
Gluten Free - YES
Keto Friendly -

CALORIES

Low calorie, protein rich dish with no added fat. 3 medium size pieces would be approx 190 calories

NUTRITIVE VALUE

Chickpea (chana) and toor dal have high seed-protein content (nearly 20 %) and hence has potential as a valuable meat substitute. Also ginger, and greens have medicinal values

Origin

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum), also called garbanzo bean in the Americas, hamaz in Arabic countries, nohud or lablabi in Turkey, shimbra in Ethiopia, originated in southwest Asia and is one of the widely grown pulses.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Legumes (dals) are rich in protein and hence help build immunity and health. They are rich in B-group vitamins, iron, calcium, phosphorous, zinc and magnesium. Good sources of folate, which is essential for women of child-bearing age. Good source of antioxidants and low in saturated fat.

However, legumes are rich in oligosaccharides and hence cause bloating and gas in some people. Ginger and herbs help in enhancing digestion and in reducing this effect.

ORIGIN

Pigeon pea originated in India and later spread to Africa.

Originally found in the Mediterranean and Middle East, chickpeas are popular across the world.

WATER FOOTPRINT (is litres of water needed to produce the food)

Lentils : ~ 6000 L/kg

UPCYCLE

If dough is left over, soak some rice and green gram dal overnight, add few chillies, salt, grind all of them together and make dal dosas.

GENERAL TIPS

You could refrigerate the lentil mix and steam when needed.

DID YOU KNOW

Chickpeas are one of the earliest cultivated legumes, dating back to roughly 7,500 years old; even before pottery was invented.

India is the major producer of chickpea accounting for ~64% of chickpea production as of 2016-17.

REFERENCES

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2324

https://daa.asn.au/smart-eating-for-you/smart-eating-fast-facts/food-and-food-products/legumes

https://toriavey.com/the-history-science-and-uses-of-chickpeas/

https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf

Lentil Dumpling (Nuchhina Unde)