A side dish made of potato and raw pigeon peas garnished with spiced up grated coconut. A good side dish for rice or roti. Raw pigeon peas are available in the market during winter. This is nothing but toor/Arhal dal at its raw stage. It is a good source of protein for vegetarians.

Ingredients:
Potato – 150 gm
Raw pigeon peas – 1 cup
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cooking oil – 1-1/2 tbsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Water as needed
Salt as needed

For Grinding:
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Dry red chilies – 3
Shallots – 2
Garlic – 1-2
Asafetida – a pinch
Grated coconut – 1/4 cup

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Makes – 2 cups

Method:
Peel the pigeon peas. Add water just enough to barely cover the pigeon peas. Add turmeric powder. Close with a lid and cook, checking and stirring occasionally. Cook until pigeon peas are tender but firm. Add salt and mix well.
Meanwhile, wash, peel, and dice the potatoes into cubes.
In a pan, add a teaspoon oil, add the diced potatoes, cover and cook. Stir occasionally. Add salt. You can cook both the potatoes and the pigeon peas in parallel. Cook until potatoes are tender and edges are roasted. Add salt and mix well. Remove the potatoes from the pan.
Add half a teaspoon oil to the pan. Add urad dal and dry red chilies. Roast until urad dal turns red. Remove from the pan.
In a mixer jar, dry grind the roasted urad dal and dry red chilies first. When this is coarsely powdered, add grated coconut, peeled garlic and shallots. Grind coarsely. This mixture has a wonderful aroma of roasted urad dal, chilies, shallots, and garlic. Keep aside.
In the pan add half a teaspoon oil and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add asafetida powder and curry leaves. Add cooked pigeon peas, cooked potato cubes, and the coarsely grounded masala. Mix well. Taste and adjust salt. Let this cook in low fire for at least 5 mins.
Serve hot along with rice or roti.