Valor, methi (fenugreek) and aubergines with muthias (dumplings) curry

Every family has some favourite dishes they make regularly with some variations. Valor, methi and aubergine curry is one dish I make at least once a month but with variation of vegetables depending on what is available seasonally.

Valor beans (Dolichos Lablab or Hyacinth bean) have a slightly bitterish taste so they are usually cooked with another vegetable like potatoes, peas or even aubergines. They are also used in a traditional dish called Undhiyu, a Gujarati dish. Recipe for Undhiyu here.

How do you prepare valor for cooking?

Preparing valor is a bit similar to shelling peas. You pop open the valor pod and use the kidney shaped seeds as well as the outer green shell. The bean is stringy so you need to cut the stork and pull the stringy part down the bean as shown below. Y ou then just use your hands to split the bean in two and then cut the bean into small manageable pieces.

What is Fenugreek?

Fenugreek is a herb and it’s seeds are often used by mums as home remedies. The fenugreek seeds are ground and added to special sweets made for nursing mums as its helps with breast milk production. New mums are also fed this curry with extra fresh fenugreek as it’s got lots of herbal goodness. They are also added to oil during the tempering of curries. More information about the goodness of fenugreek is here.

What sort of fenugreek should I use?

In this curry, I have used the fresh green fenugreek but you can also use frozen fenugreek for this recipe. When using fresh fenugreek, use all the leaves and part of the fresh stems too as they are full of flavour and goodness. If you have not used fresh fenugreek then watch this video to see how to prepare it ready to wash and use.

Ingredients:

2 cups of valor( Dolichos Lablab or Hyacinth bean) prepared into small pieces. See here how to prepare valor.
1 medium sized aubergine cut into cubes.
half a cup of fresh chopped methi (fenugreek)
10 muthias (muthiya) (you can use more if you like) Recipe for muthias is here
one cup of passata ( you can use canned tomatoes if you wish)
3-4 cloves garlic which should be really crushed finely
2 tbls cooking oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste
chilly powder to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbls lemon juice (optional)

Method:

1. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and add the mustard seeds to the hot oil and cover until the popping stops. Lower the heat and add the aubergines, valor and methi. Now stir well and add the garlic, salt, chilly powder and turmeric powder.

2. Now add half a cup of water, stir and allow the vegetables to cook at a medium heat.

3. Once the valor has softened, add the muthias (muthiyas) to the curry and allow it to cook for five minutes. If the curry looks dry, add half a cup of water to allow the muthias to soften and absorb any moisture in the curry.

4. Add the passata or tomatoes and lemon and allow the curry to cook for 2-3 minutes or until it gets to the consistency you like.

5. Serve this curry with rice or khichedi and any of the Indian breads such as chappatis or porathas.

You may wish to try the following recipes from my blog:

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