Attu Tunukala/Tunaka Koora

EVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY

THEME: TELANGANA CUISINE

A bit about the group:

October took Shhh Cooking Secretly group to Telangana, where I got the opportunity to make Attu Tunukala/Tunaka Koora. This group is where members get together to cook a dish on the decided theme. We are paired up and give each other two secret ingredients to cook with. This group was started by Priya of Priya’s Versatile Recipes. Other members have to then guess the two secret ingredients till we share the recipe link. Its a fun group and along the way have made some good friends.

A bit about Telangana

Telangana is the 29th state of India, formed after separating from Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Hyderabad still remains the capital for both states. Situated on the Deccan Plateau, it borders 5 states – Chhattisgarh and Odisha in the northeast, Andhra Pradesh in the south, Karnataka in southwest and Maharashtra in the north. Its drained by two big rivers, Rivers Krishna and Godavari. An agricultural state, rice is the major and staple crop. The world famous Charminar is in this state, rather in Hyderabad.

Cuisine of Telangana

Telangana cuisine is mainly based on usage of rice, millet and jowar (sorghum). Having been under the rule of the Asaf Jahi dynasty for a long time, mainly in Hyderabad its no wonder that Telangana cuisine is also influenced by the Middle East style of cooking. Hyderabadi cuisine or Deccani cuisine is the native style of cooking by Hyderabadi Muslims.  Some famous dishes are:

• Rotis made from sorghum  (jonna rotte), pearl millet (sajje roti) or from broken rice ( sarva pindi or uppudi pindi).
• In Telangana curry is known as koora and if tamarind is used then its called pulusu. Koora and pulusu are made from a variety of vegetables, meat and lentils too.
• Sakinalu is a popular snack made from rice flour during festivals and weddings.
• Malidalu is sweet laddoos made from leftover rotis, nuts and jaggery.
• Garijalu is like karanji/googra/ where the filling is made from coconut, sugar and cardamom.
• Pachi Pulusu is like a rasam but requires very little cooking. Tamarind is soaked in water and onion, coriander are added to the extract. Only cooking is the tempering.
• Golichina Mamsam, mutton based dish in a thick gravy and enjoyed with rice, roti or dosa.
• The famous Hyderabadi Biryani, influenced but the Nizams of Hyderabad. No trip is complete to Hyderabad without sampling the wide selection of biryanis.
• Chegodilu is a famous crunchy and crispy snack made from rice flour and sesame seeds.
• Polelu, a flatbread stuffed with jaggery, chana dal and cardamom. Served usually during festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi.
• Qubani ka meetha, a sweet dish made from dried apricots.
• Rail Palaram, are rice dumplings steamed and tempering is added. Its usually served for breakfast.

South Indian Dishes

Before I started blogging my knowledge of South Indian Cuisine was limited to idli sambhar and dosa. Its after I got to know fellow bloggers that a whole new cuisine opened up for me. I love Punugulu, famous street food from Andhra Pradesh. I finally made hubby’s favorite, Mysore Saaru/Rasam. What I simply love any time as a light meal or as a snack are paniyaram and ammini kozhukkatai. Chidambaram Gosthu is simply a superbly delicious eggplant curry.

My Partner

My partner for this cuisine was Aruna who blogs at Vasusvegkitchen. I love her blog for the variety of South Indian recipes she has. I’ve bookmarked Usirikaya Pulihora and Sweet Coconut Paratha from her blog. While I gave her mace and yogurt to use in her dish, Aruna gave me Gram flour (chickpea flour, besan) and coriander powder.  I couldn’t be happier as I had Attu Tunukala or Attu Thunaka Koora bookmarked from My Spicy Kitchen for a very long time. This was the right opportunity to try out this dish. Using her ingredients Aruna prepared a delicious and aromatic Hyderabadi Veg Dum Biryani. Please check out her dish.

What is Attu Tunukala or Attu Thunaka Koora?

As I mentioned above Koora is a curry. In this case its not a wet curry but dry. Its usually served along with a pulusu or another koora. Chickpea flour is the star ingredient making it gluten free and vegan. Simple to make, I actually enjoyed the Attu Tunukala on its own. So without any delay, lets get to the recipe.  Attu is dosa, crepe or pancake, tunukala means pieces and koora is curry.

ATTU TUNUKALA/ATTU TUNAKA KOORA

Serves 2

For Attu:

½ cup besan (chickpea flour, gram flour)

½ cup water

½ tsp salt

¼ – ½ tsp chilli powder

¼ tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp cumin powder

2 tbsp oil

¼ cup + 2tbsp water

For Koora:

2 tbsp oil

½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 tsp ginger paste

1-2 green chilis, chopped

1 tsp garlic paste

1 sprig curry leaves

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp chilli powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Preparation of Attu:

1. Sieve besan, salt, coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder together in a bowl. Add  1 tbsp oil and water and make a batter that is not too thick or too thin. It should be thick enough to be able to spread it a little with a spoon.
2. Heat a frying pan or tawa over medium heat. Add a bit of the remaining oil and spread it.
3. Add the batter. With a spoon, spread it evenly. It should be at least ¼ inch thick.
4. Drizzle remaining oil around it. Cover the pan and let the Attu cook for 2-3 minutes over medium to low heat or till it becomes firm.
5. Flip it over carefully and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes till it becomes light golden in colour.
6. Let the pancake cool down completely.
7. Cut the Attu into small squares.

Preparation of Koora:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
2. Add cumin seeds.
3. When the cumin seeds begin to sizzle, add the onion.
4. Stir fry till it becomes soft.
5. Add curry leaves, green chilis, ginger and garlic paste.
6. Mix for a few seconds.
7. Add coriander, chilli, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well.
8. Add the cut pieces of Attu and mix well. The spices should cover the Attu pieces.
9. Let the Attu become a bit crisp over low heat.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve along with rice and other curries.

Tips:

• Amount of water required to make the batter will depend on the amount of water the flour absorbs. Make sure it does not become too watery.
• Cook the Attu well by covering it as raw Attu will not taste good.
• Adjust spices according to your taste.
• Add enough oil when stir frying Attu as it will not taste good with less oil.

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A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962