Peanut sundal is one of the sundal varieties made during the 9 days of the Navaratri festival in South India. This also happens to be Hubby’s favorite. Peanuts are one of the staple crops grown in H’s home town. So they are available all around the year in every household. Apart from this sundal, they make several recipes using verkadalai in their day to day cooking. Whenever my In-laws or anyone from the hometown visits us, we always get a big supply of groundnuts that lasts us for several months only to be replenished during the next visit. We all love munching on these chaat during the Sunday evenings and eating masala peanuts while watching movies happens to be our favorite pass time.
This sundal is quick to prepare and peanuts are rich in protein as well. So I try to include a lot of it in my kids diet and pack these for their snack boxes to eat during their break time. Roasted salted peanuts will not work for this recipe. But you do get unshelled raw peanuts in all the super markets which I use for making Peanut Butter whenever I run out of stock.
Peanut (Verkadalai) Sundal Recipe
Prep time: 5 mins | Soak time: 30 mins | Cook time: 15 mins | Serves: 2
Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Snacks
Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Snacks
Ingredients:
- Raw Peanuts (Verkadalai) – 1 cup
- Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
- Asafetida – 2 pinch
- Whole dry red chilies – 3
- Fresh grated coconut – 5 tbsp
- Curry leaf – 1 sprig
- Salt – to taste
- Oil – 2 tsp
Instructions:
- Heat 1-1/2 to 2 cups of water in a bowl to lukewarm temperature and add peanuts to it. Close with a lid and let it soak for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, transfer the peanuts along with the water to a pressure cooker and further water till the peanuts are completely covered. Add salt, mix well and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. After the pressure is released, drain the water completely and keep aside.
- Heat a pan with oil. Add mustard seeds and when they pop, add urad dal and roast till it becomes golden brown, add broken whole red chilies, asafetida, curry leaf, boiled peanuts and toss well.
- Check for salt at this stage and adjust accordingly. Take the pan off fire and add grated coconut. Toss well so that it gets mixed well with the peanuts.
- Serve hot or warm.
Notes:
- Using coconut oil will add more flavor.
- When using shelled peanuts, there is no need to soak them. Pressure cook directly after removing the peanuts from the shells in enough water.
- Freshly grated coconut works best for this recipe.
- You can also boil the peanuts in microwave and avoid the soaking time of 30 minutes if you are in a hurry.
