North Karnataka style Hesaru Kaalu Palya | Green Gram Curry

Hesaru Kaalu Palya is a simple and delicious sabji or curry that can be served along with rotis or chapatis. This North Karnataka style Hesaru kaalu palya can be kept dry or as a gravy. Mung bean being protein-rich, this hesaru kaalu palya is one of the perfect dishes to add more protein to your vegetarian diets.
North Karnataka food is one of my favourites. I love jolada rotti (jowar roti) with ennegai and this hesaru kaalu palya. With some onions to munch on, it tastes super delicious. Nevertheless, chapatis or phulkas also go great with this. After having searched for a lot of recipes, I finally got the perfect one from a fellow Instagrammer, dharwadgirlcooks, who is from North Karnataka. So, this is an authentic and perfect recipe to make the typical north Karnataka style hesaru kaalu palya. I’m sure you will be equally glad to have found this recipe, that you might want to cook this often.
I think the heart of this recipe is onions. They give such a lovely taste to this curry even though there are not much of spices used in this. So, please do not skip adding onions. Feel free to add more than mentioned, if you like to. Some people also include garlic in the tempering (grated/chopped / paste), but that is optional. You can add if you wish to. Also, the tomatoes are enough to give the required amount of tang. I would suggest you not to add lemon juice, as I think the taste changes quite a bit because of that.
You don’t really need too many spices to prepare this curry. A simple tadka with mustard, cumin, turmeric powder, hing, green chillies and just a little bit of red chilly powder is all the spice or masala for this. So, it is perfect for kids or elders who do not prefer too much masala in their food. This can also be served with plain cooked rice or even curd rice. The quantity mentioned will be good enough for 4 to 5 servings, so I love keeping the leftovers and using it along with curd rice. I find most curries to taste much better the next day!
I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed preparing it and writing it down for you all. I would love to hear your feedback on this. When you try it, kindly post your valuable comments below or share it with me personally on Instagram / Facebook, or post it with due courtesy. You may also pin it on Pinterest.
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Let us get started with the recipe, shall we?
** Standard Measurement: 1 cup= 250mL
North Karnataka style Hesaru Kaalu Palya | Green Gram Curry
Ingredients
- 1 cup green gram / mung bean
- 2 to 3 teaspoons cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 0.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 0.5 teaspoon turmeric powder
- a pinch of asafoetida
- 4 to 5 nos. green chillies - , more or less as per taste
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 3 nos. onions - , finely chopped
- 3 nos. tomatoes - , finely chopped
- 1.5 teaspoons red chilly powder - , more or less as per taste
- salt - as per taste
- 3 to 4 sprigs fresh coriander leaves - , finely chopped
Instructions
- Soak green gram in 2 cups hot water for 1 hour. Then, drain away the water and pressure cook with 1.5 cups of fresh water upto 2 to 3 whistles.
- Take a pan or kadai, heat it and add oil. Once oil is heated up, add mustard seeds. Let them splutter. Add cumin seeds and let them turn brown. Next add turmeric powder, asafoetida, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute for a few minutes.
- Next, add the chopped onions and saute until they turn light brown. Now, add chopped tomatoes and saute until they turn soft but not mushy. You can add some salt at this point so as to speeden up the cooking process.
- Once onions and tomatoes are cooked well, add red chilly powder and cooked green gram. Mix everything well. Add more salt if required. Leave it dry or add some water and simmer for about 5 minutes in low-medium heat. If you find it to be thick add some more water and simmer until desired consistency .
- Finally, turn off the heat and add chopped coriander. Serve with chapati or jowar roti.
Notes
- Hesaru Kaalu Palya can be served dry or as a curry. It is your choice. We prefer it as a curry and hence I have added water to get the desired consistency.
- As it cools, the consistency of the curry gets thicker. So, if you are serving after some time, you might want to add more water and re-heat or make it slightly watery initially.
- The quantity of green chillies and red chilly powder can be altered as per taste.
- You can also add fresh grated garlic or garlic paste in the tempering.
- Typically, this is served with jowar roti. You can serve with any flatbread of your choice.
- I have missed adding curry leaves, if you notice in the video, as I couldn't find them for quite a few weeks here. But do not miss adding them. You can also use dry curry leaves if you don't find fresh ones.
Nice recipe with moong beans.. tempting bowl full of nutrition.
Thank you:)
I like this recipe with mung beans. We make a similar one in Maharashtra without the onions. I will try out your recipe soon.
That’s great, hope you’ll like this version too!
we too cook green moong dal but with ginger-garlic and onion… I love this version too…
Oh yes we cook many version of moong curry!! Dal with split moong bean in many ways and whole green gram curry in many ways.
Hesaru kaalu palya is one of the most preferred side dish with jolada rotti at my home. You have so well explained with video. I like the way you have highlighted the simple tips which we often tend to ignore like how onions are very important in this particular simple dish.
Thank you very much for noticing the tips and the steps in detail. Makes the effort all worth it 🙂
This curry is my all time favourite, just a bowl of rice or some rotis is enough for me to enjoy this nutritious curry
Mung bean sabzi is full of nutrients. My kids love this curry with any sukki sabzi.
We make it with lots of garlic. Loved you style too.
This is one of our favourites…Very healthy and delicious…Pairs well with roti and rice…Lovely share!!
Green Moong curry is most favourite in my family. Though most of the time we make without Onion. My hubby loves this curry with onion and garlic. So healthy and easy to make . Love the way you have explained the every bit.
Thank you, glad to know.
Love this moong curry, so hearty and delicious! fabulous pics 🙂
Green moong dal is regular at my place. A convenient and filling dish. Loved it😊
This is one comfort food that we all love. Just today morning I soaked moong to make it for the evening. Lovely share.
Green gram dal curry looks so delicious and healthy. I usually prepare salad or pesarattu. Next time will prepare this curry.
In every region in India have their own method how they cook moong, I like almost all. North Karnataka style sounds so delicious too, well-explained post.
Love the curry. I use this lentil very often. One of my favorite lentils, this will be delicious when we paired up with steamed rice.
This is tasty and I do make it often. Your kaalu palya looks perfectly made.