JHATPAT CHATPAT- FOR QUICK, EASY AND TASTY RECIPES

Sprouts are the most nutritious form of protein that one can eat. Sprouts usli is eaten either as a breakfast item, snack item or as a side dish in lunches/luncheons. I've chosen horse gram sprouts here as they are very tasty and healthy but you could use the same recipe for other sprouts as well, the only difference being in the cooking time of different sprouts in the pressure cooker. You need to have a mixer if you want to prepare this delicacy. The taste of this dish is similar to that of the prasadas which are served in temples.

Time for preparation: 25 minutes
Serves about 4 people.

Ingredients Used:

Sprouted horse gram 250- 300 g
2 medium sized onions
2 tablespoons of grated coconut
1/4 inch ginger
3-4 green chillies
1/2 bunch of coriander leaves
Tamarind-the size of 1/4 lemon
1/2 tsp cumin/jeera seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1  1/2 tsp jaggery powder
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves
2 red chillies
2 pinches of asafoetida
2 tsp cooking oil
1/2 a lemon

How to Prepare:
Cook sprouts in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles without adding salt-  Salt delays/hinders the cooking process. Once the cooker cools, open the lid and add required amount of salt. Keep it aside.
In the meanwhile, grind the grated coconut, green chillies, 1/2 the amount of  cumin seeds, tamarind, coriander leaves, ginger and a little bit of salt in a mixer using as little water as possible.
Chop onions into small squares. Take oil in a big pan/kadai and sputter mustard seeds in it. Add rest of the cumin to it. When it crackles, add curry leaves, red chillies, turmeric and asafoetida. To this, add the finely chopped onions. Play the ladle in the pan until the onions turn light brown. Then, pour the masala which has been ground and stir till the masala gets dehydrated. Add some more salt + 1 1/2  tsp of jaggery powder now and leave for 2 minutes. Mix the cooked sprouts after draining out the water used to cook it. Cover and cook for another five minutes or so until done. Squeeze lemon juice and mix. Your Usli is ready to eat now.

Note:The water used for cooking sprouts is equally nutritious and could be used in soups/rasams/saarus.