Val gravy(Avrekalu ambat)

avrekalu ambat.jpg
My day to day cooking is usually very simple, but I love to cook with lots of spices once in a while. This was one such dish with loads of spices. I serve this with flavored rice. Give it a try if you are a val/avrekalu fan.

PS: I think the peeled val tastes a lot different than the one with skin. I did not peel these. Will have to try that next time.

Ingredients:
1 cup dried avrekalu/val(soaked overnight)
Oil
Salt
A pinch turmeric
1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1/4 tea spn tamarind extract
1/2 cup onion

Spice paste:
3 cloves
1″ cinnamon
1 tea spn chopped ginger
1 tea spn chopped garlic
1 tea spn coriander seeds
3 red chillies
1 tea spn cumin seeds
1 tea spn poppy seeds
1 tea spn sesame seeds
1/2 tea spn shah jeera
1 tbl spn chopped coriander leaves

Method:
Cook avrekalu with turmeric and keep aside.
Heat oil and add all the spices (under spice paste) except coriander leaves. Add 1/4 cup onion and fry till they turn brownish. Grind with coriander leaves. Grind 1/2 cup cooked avrekalu, tamarind with the spice paste.
Heat a little oil and fry remaining onion. Add the paste along with remaining avrekalu and salt.
Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves. Pour the seasoning over gravy.
Serve hot with rice or chapathis.

Serves : 2-3
Preparation time : 30mins

29 thoughts on “Val gravy(Avrekalu ambat)”

  1. wat is shah jeera.is it normal jeera

    Shilpa: It is a black colored spice which looks like jeera but black in color. Has a very different aroma/taste than jeera

  2. I am definitely a val fan so I am bookmarking this. I always sprout the val and it is quite time-consuming then to peel them before cooking, so I am intrigued by this recipe where they are simply soaked and used without peeling.

    Shilpa: Nupur, to tell the truth, when I tried these for the first time, I did not know that they are peeled and then used. Now I am used to the un-peeled version(and I am lazy :D).

  3. I always avoid val because of the peeling time involved with the sprouts. Did not think of trying it with just soaking. My hubby loves vaal, so will definitely try this

  4. Shilpa,
    What is averukelu?

    Shilpa: It is a kind of beans, very popular in Bangalore (and also in Gujrat). Not sure if it has any other names.

  5. hi
    I am from mumbai and am CKP by caste. WE enjoy eating vaal. The curry we make is called as vaalache birde. and is actually made of peeled vaal. The other vaal recipes i know are banana flower bhaaji with vaal, “ghevda” bhaaji with vaal and vaalache sukhe birde. Peeling vaal is lot easier if you re-soak the vaal in warm water for 30 min after sprouting. I actually plan on making vaalache birde on thursday and will defi post my recipe on my blog.
    http://theresaduckieinmykitchen.blogspot.com/

  6. I love ur recipes and will surely try this one. Usually u have coconut ur recipes, but this one surprisingly does not.
    Thanks Shilpa.

  7. Shilpa, You make my mouth water with this recipe. I love val in any form. BUt Hyderabad is deprived of both fresh and dried val. Pl suggest if i can make the same with any other dried pulse. Also, can we make this with fresh val? But tell me why is the color of the rice in this picture appear yellowish? Any special rice?

    Shilpa: I think you can use other pulses too – like dried peas. Yes, you can make it with fresh val. Please click on the flavored rice recipe link that I have mentioned in the post. The rice has onion, spaces, turmeric, basmati rice etc.

  8. Though a Maharashtrian, I have lived in Gujarat for a long time, so have had both versions of Vaal. I love the recipe you posted… very similar to what my mom makes, she also adds coconut and uses peeled vaals which are readily available… at least in Gujarat in the sabzi market. No need to soak, sprout, peel.. all work is already done for you. Out here, we need to do all the work :). Gujarati’s make vaal with eggplant (ringan vaal nu shak) and its excellent. I am looking for that vaal recipe with eggplant, does anyone have it?

  9. Hi Shilpa,

    I tried your recipe today & we absolutely loved it! I used Red Chick Peas as I did not have ‘Val’ in my pantry & it tasted great. I shall try it with ‘Val’ next time. Thanks so much!

    Cheers,
    Lajja

  10. Hi Shilpa,

    I really love Avarekai recipe and was delighted to find such an easy recipe. I bought a bag of val from Indian stores this time, but only after looking at your recipe I found out that it is avarekai.

    Thanks for the recipe, but i must have gone wrong somewhere the curry turned out to be bitter. 🙁 Please let me know what kind of Val did you use for this recipe.

    Revathi

    1. Avrekai has some tinge of bitterness to it, so if you are not used to it, you may find it unpleasant. It took a while for me to get used to the taste. You could soak the avrekalu and then peel them before using in gravy to get rid of bitterness.

  11. I made this recipe yesterday. Very tasty. Its similar to a mangalorean egg curry my mom used to make when I was a kid. 🙂 I made this with unpeeled val and the slight bitterness adds a twist to it. Fantastic!

  12. I am ckp and know the correct receipe of valcahe birde. The above receipe is not original receipe of ckp valache birde.. without peeling the wal does not give the actual taste, so better to peel the wal. What I used to eat from my chilhood is the original valache birde which my mom and grand mom makes.
    The above receipe is nothing, when i remember my moms receipe and taste of valache birde.
    sorry to say this shilpa but i dont like your receipe.. as I am ckp I cant accept such wrong receipes.

    1. This is NOT the recipe for valache birde. You can make other dishes with Val, Valache Birde is not the ONLY recipe made with this!!

    1. Addition of Suran cubes is an added delight. Tiphal should not be ground but just added whole to the gravy.

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