1 (29 to go) - Bengal Gram with Coconut

Most of the times I don't know the original name of the dish that I am making, primarily because most of the times I am probably not making an original dish. So, I will try to stick to a generic name for the dish. This is one is Black Gram with shredded coconut. Soak around 150 gms of bengal grams overnight and pressure cook them. Soak 2 pods of tamarind beans in hot water for 20 mins. Then mash the beans to get the pulp out. Keep aside. In a pestle and mortar grind 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1.5 tsp coriander seeds, 1 inch long cinnamon, 5 cardamoms, 5 cloves, 1 inch long ginger and 2 green chillies. In a pan heat 2 tbsp oil and put 1 dry red chilli and a tsp of mustard seeds. Let it sputter. The add the ground spices and roast till you get a nice aroma. Then add the tamarind pulp and let the mixture reduce. Add 50 gms of shredded coconuts to the pan and cook till the mixture dries. Then add the boiled bengal grams and cook. Serve with roti.

Folly - As is with all experiments, they never turn out their best the first time. Therefore, folly. I was using actual tamarind beans from Fiesta Mart rather than using tamarind paste. The real thing is way too sour compared to the paste. Just use one bean.