Nuchinunde: A Shravan-Friendly Recipe from Karnataka
Nuchinunde is a specialty from the southern state of Karnataka, and plays an important role in both everyday cooking as well as celebratory feasts.
Seasonal and fresh produce, authentic ingredients and traditional cooking methods have seen a renewed interest in the last several years, as more and more people strive to consume nutrient-rich foods and lead healthy life styles.
One traditional recipe that checks all these boxes — wholesome, nutritious, and wonderfully delicious, is nuchinunde. Native to Karnataka, its name is derived from the words ‘nucchu’ which means broken grains or dal, and ‘unde’ meaning balls or dumplings. Nuchinunde makes for a substantial meal, and is generally served for breakfast, and sometimes as an evening snack.
It is a recipe that is popular in the Bangalore-Mysore region of Karnataka, prepared through the year, but with a special role during festivity and celebration. During Nagarapanchami, a Hindu festival during which snakes are worshipped, in the month of Shravan (which falls in July/Aug), only steamed foods are prepared, Nuchinunde is a highlight of the festive menu.
In areas in and around Mysore, nuchinunde is prepared for Ganesh Chaturthi as well. And during traditional Kannadiga wedding celebrations, it is prepared the day before the wedding and immersed in sambhar, which is typically prepared without any other vegetables. The dumplings soak in the savoury-tangy flavours of sambar, creating a unique dish called sandige huli. No celebration of Devarasamaradhane, a ritual blessing of the gods and ancestors invoked the day before a traditional Kannada wedding, is complete without sandige huli.
With pantry ingredients that are available in most Indian store cupboards, Nuchinunde is easy to prepare, makes for a quick and healthy snack, given its wholesome ingredients. It is best eaten piping hot and with ghee, or a side of green coconut chutney or a flaming hot tomato chutney.
Recipe: Karnataka’s Nuchinunde
Ingredients
1 ½ cup channa dal
½ cup toor dal
¾ cup freshly grated coconut
1 cup chopped methi leaves
2-3 green chillies (or as per your taste)
1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
Method
Wash the lentils and soak in water for about 5-6 hours.
Drain the water and transfer the lentils to a mixer along with the grated fresh coconut, green chillies and asafoetida to a coarse mixture. Do not add too much water.
Add chopped methi and salt to the mixture.
Grease idli plates with oil or ghee
Take a handful of the ground mixture, shape into oval dumplings and place them in the idli stand.
Steam for about 25-30 minutes over medium flame.
Serve hot with ghee.
Notes and variations
You can alter the proportion of lentils to half channa dal and half toor dal. Alternatively, you can make it with only channa dal also.
You can substitute the methi leaves with 1 cup dill leaves OR half cup chopped coriander coupled with half cup chopped mint leaves too.
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