Sprouted Horse Gram Curry

"Horse Gram".
The name itself reminds one of Horse Power! Horse Gram used to be fed mostly to horses and cattle in the early times. It is popularly used as a bean, sprouted or whole, in curries, soup, upkari, idlis, dosas, chutneys, and happalams in South India. I remember the days when a bullock cart owner used to give heaps of Horse Gram for cooking, mother used to cook and extract the soup from it for our consumption and return the cooked seeds to be fed to the bullocks.

The nutritional property of Horse Gram mainly focuses on the high Iron content within. Thus it fortifies the blood and boosts energy level within the consumer. However, modern day youth and kids especially hate this for the insipid taste of the beans, giving reasons that it is fit for cattle! 

How do you convince them that this is a very healthy legume?
You need not!

You just sprout the seeds and make a delicious curry that will convince all! This is a unique dish that I saw on a TV show some months ago, which can best be consumed with rice, rotis, pooris, idlis and dosas. We GSBs make a variety of curries with Horse Gram but garlic is mostly the key ingredient in seasoning those curries but this one has no added garlic in it. You can add or avoid onion as well, not because onion is expensive now a days, but some may avoid it for religious purposes, especially Jains from North India. Any which way you choose to make this dish, it is so delicious, that you'll eat few more rotis or chapathis than usual!

You can also substitute Horse Gram with any other available sprouted bean and make this curry.

Ingredients:
Horse Gram - 1 and 1/2 cup sprouted
Potato peeled and cut into small cubes - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 1/2 cup chopped
Green Chillies - 3 slit lengthwise, or according to taste
Fennel Seeds - 1/2 Tsp
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cashew Nuts - 4(Or roasted gram Daal 2 Tsp)
Bay Leaf - 1
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 Tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 Tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1 Tsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup(Optional)
Coriander leaves - A handful chopped

Method:
Grind grated coconut and cashew nuts to a fine paste and keep aside.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Fry bay leaf and fennel seeds until they splutter.
Add optional chopped onion, green chillies and chopped tomatoes and fry well.
Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and mix well.
Now add the sprouted Horse Gram and potato, just sufficient water(A cup or little more), salt to taste, cover and simmer.
When the raw smell disappears and the sprouts are tender, add the ground paste.
Allow the gravy to thicken.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice, rotis, naan, pooris, idlis or dosas.