I am back to my home roots with this week’s recipe. A great favorite in many a Kannadiga household, the Matwadi curry is usually made with fenugreek leaves. Yet another popular vegetable to make matwadi are cluster beans (gorikayi).
I don’t recall my mom ever making matwadi palya, but I remember relishing it at my childhood friend Sujatha’s home. While Sujatha and her 2 sisters would protest about eating their matwadi, I would happily devour the curry with great gusto and relish.
I had forgotten all about matwadi palya until my cousin Anu visited me a couple of years back from India. When the subject turned to food, she mentioned it and out came all my old memories about this delicious side dish. We love this dish and make it regularly at home. Instead of eating it with rice or roti, we prefer to eat it as a salad before our main course. It serves as a perfect salad and a delicious prelude to a meal.
Green Beans Matwadi Palya paired with Beet Root Saru (rasam), Dantina Soppu Huli (amaranth sambar) and fresh Mavinakai Uppinakayi (mango pickle)
How to Lower Your Blood Sugar Spikes
Talking of salads, I’ve been providing nutrition advice to a few clients. One of my clients has gestational diabetes and the other had a high A1C level. Did you know that research has shown that eating a salad before your main meal will low your insulin spikes by several notches? What a simple lifestyle change, to experience a significant health benefit! If you are pre-diabetic or a diabetic, or if you are pre-disposed to high sugar fluctuations, eating a salad before your main meal may provide to tons of benefits. Do your own research on “food sequencing” (i.e., eating the same foods, but in a different sequence) to see how you can benefit from it.
Green beans are a wonderfully crunchy, low-calorie food, and provide many key nutrients like vitamin C, folate and vitamin K. They are a wonderful source of fiber too. Chana dal is a perfect plant-based protein and is easily digestible. The good fats in the coconut oil and freshly grated coconut provide the necessary satiety to prevent mid-day energy crash.
Pairings with Green Beans Matwadi | Maatodi | Matvadi Palya
If you want a full-fledged meal from my home state of Karnataka, check out these delicious recipes:
- Masala Majjige | Spiced Buttermilk | Chaas
- Delicious Carrot-Cucumber Kosumbari Salad
- Zesty Carrot Garbanzo Usli
- Bisi Bele Bath
- Doddapatre Tambuli (Karpooravalli Thayir Pachadi)
- No Ferment Cabbage-Onion Dosa (Sanna Pollo)
- Spicy, Sweet, Tangy Pineapple Gojju
- Beets (Root & Greens) Palya
- Bitter Gourd (Karela) Curry / Hagalakayi Gojju (Menasakai)
- Zero-Waste Butternut Squash Sippae (Peel) Chutney
- Akki-Haalu Payasa (Rice Kheer)
- Mango Rasayana
- Gasagase Payasa (Poppy Seed Kheer)
- Sweet Pongal (Huggi)
- Hesarubele (Split Mung) Payasa – A Lip-smacking Dessert!
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Green Beans Matwadi | Maatodi | Matvadi Palya
Ingredients
Matwadi Masala
- 1 Cup Chana Dal
- 1 Tablespoon Grated Coconut
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 3 Dry Red Chili - Or to taste
- 1/4 Teaspoon Coriander Seeds
Matwadi Palya
- 1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1/4 Teaspoon Asafoetida (Hing)
- 1 Sprig Curry Leaves
- 2 Cups Green Beans
- 1/2 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt - Or to taste
Instructions
- Wash chana dal and soak it in filtered water for an hour. If you are in a hurry, 30-minute soaking in warm water should suffice. Drain the water.
- To a blender add soaked chana dal, coriander seeds, cumin (jeera seeds), dry red chili and grated coconut.
- Pulse until everything is coarsely blended. Set aside.
- Chop green beans into 1/2-inch pieces.
- In a pan, heat oil. Splutter mustard seeds. Add hing and curry leaves and stir for a few seconds.
- Add cut beans and salt and mix well. Set the lid and allow the green beans to cook on medium flame for 5 mins. Stir a couple of times to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom (you can add a few drops of water or reduce the heat if it is browning at the bottom). Don't overcook the beans.
- Add the blended chana dal masala and mix well.
- Set the lid and allow to cook for an additional 4 minutes, stirring once in a while.
- Serve at room temperature as a salad or hot as a side with rice or roti.
