Kongunadu Kollu Paruppu Recipe 

Kollu paruppu also known as kollu masiyal or horse gram curry is a popular kongunadu recipe made with horse gram, pearl onion, garlic, tomatoes and whole spices. This is a traditional kongu special recipe that is made the authentic way. Learn how to make kollu paruppu with step by step pictures and video.

Kollu paruppu 

Kollu or horse gram is not a new ingredient for me. Because Aachi and Amma used to make kollu thogayal, kollu podi or urundai kuzhambu using horse gram. We use to consume it at least once or twice a month. 

Jump to:

• What is Horse Gram?
• Watch Kollu Paruppu Video 
• About Kollu Paruppu 
• Kollu paruppu Ingredients 
• Traditional stone grinder 
• How to mash kollu paruppu
• How to Make Kollu Paruppu (Stepwise Pictures)
• Expert Tips
• 📖 Recipe Card

This is the first time I am making kollu paruppu, so I followed my Aachis technique for making payaru masiyal. I used her traditional stone grinder to make broken kollu or horse gram so it cooks faster. The masiyal turned out so flavourful and I enjoyed it with hot rice drizzled with sesame oil. 

What is Horse Gram?

Horse gram, also known as horse gram, kulthi bean, gahat, hurali, kanam or Madras gram is a legume that is more popular in Southern Asia. It has a unique taste and texture and widely used legume in many cuisines. It is commonly grown for horse feed, hence the name “horse gram”. 

The legume is considered to remove excess fat content in body and tighten the muscle. Hence it is popularly known as weight loss grain and used extensively in cooking. You can use this to make kollu rasam, kollu sundaland dosa. We use it to make kollu chutney and my aachi’s kollu urundai kuzhambu.

`கொழுத்தவனுக்கு கொள்ளு; இளைத்தவனுக்கு எள்ளு' is a popular proverb among Tamil people. It is said that horse gram is good for fat loss while sesame seed is great for weight gain. Horse grams has tons of health benefits in them so it is getting more popular in the modern days. You can even see horse gram extract or tea in the market. But my kollu soup is very effective.

There are two variety of kollu available in the market. You can use black or brown horse gram. Both of these taste the same except the look.

Watch Kollu Paruppu Video 

About Kollu Paruppu 

Kollu paruppu is a popular Kongu special recipe made with horse gram. The dish is also considered very healthy for kids and adults since it is rich in calcium and other nutrients. Horse gram doesn’t have much flavour on its own, so it roasted to provide a nutty flavour to the dish. 

Traditionally Kollu paruppu is made by cooking roasted horse gram with whole spices, tomato and garlic in a pressure cooker until cooked. The cooked horse gram is transferred into earthen ware pot or kal chatty and mashed together with a wooden ladle (Matthu) until mushy. 

Horse gram takes so long to cook. Even after pressure cooking for 30 to 40 minutes it stays whole. So I follow a technique which my Aachi use to cook green gram. I roast horse gram till golden

brown and add them to the traditional stone grinder called as “thiruvai”. It splits the grain in half which makes the cooking process easier and provides a creamy texture to kollu paruppu without grinding in a blender. 

I have written about the authentic stone grinder that I use for making split horse gram. In this blog post, I have written about the authentic method of making kollu paruppu and an alternate method with step by step pictures. When you cook kollu and left with too much liquid, you can strain that and make kollu rasam.

Kollu paruppu Ingredients 

Horse gram / Kollu - There are two variety of kollu available in the market. You can use black or brown horse gram. Both of these taste the same. Make sure you dry roast the kollu till golden brown and aromatic which is important in making this dish. 

Dry red chillies - I add broken dry red chillies in the oil which provides a smoky flavour. 

Tomatoes - I add tomatoes when cooking horse gram, it adds a delicious taste. 

Pearl onion & Garlic - use lots of garlic for flavour and taste. If you don't have pearl onion, you can use onion.

Whole spices - black pepper, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and asafoetida is added for flavour and taste. 

Oil or ghee - you can make this using oil or ghee which ever you prefer. If you choose to use oil, try and use Indian sesame oil also known as gingelly oil. 

Traditional stone grinder 

Horse gram takes so long to cook. Even after pressure cooking for 30 to 40 minutes it stays whole. So I follow a technique which my Aachi use to cook green gram. I used my Aachi’s stone grinder which is nearly 100 years old which she proudly say that she bought it for 1 inr many years back. 

I roast horse gram till golden brown and add them to the traditional stone grinder called as “thiruvai”. It is also known as chakki stone grinder or grinding stone. It splits the grain in half which makes the cooking process easier and provides a creamy texture to kollu paruppu without grinding in a blender.  Kollu splits in half when using the stone grinder. 

Split horse gram took only 5 to 6 whistle to  cook and the texture turned so soft and creamy.

How to mash kollu paruppu

Using stone grinder - if you make kollu paruppu using split horse gram. It takes just few whistle in pressure cooker and the end product doesn’t need much mashing at all. 

Blender - if your kollu paruppu is not cooking as per your liking, you can add it to a blender and pulse few times to get proper texture. 

Potato Masher or wooden masher - it is best to transfer cooked horse gram to an earthenware pot and mash to get proper texture.  you can use potato masher or matthu.

How to cook Kollu paruppu If you don’t have a stone grinder

• Dry roast horse gram in a pan. Soak them in water for 10 hours or overnight. 
• Add to pressure cooker along with all
• Ingredients given and cook got 8 to 10 whistle until cooked. 
• Strain the water to make soup or rasam. You can use cooked horse gram, to make masiyal. 

How to Make Kollu Paruppu (Stepwise Pictures)

Roasting Horse Gram

1)Take horse gram in a dry kadai. Roast for few minutes till the colour darkens and flavour gets nutty. 

2)Remove the roasted horse gram in a plate and allow it to cool completely.

Splitting Horse Gram in Traditional Stone Grinder

3)Now take this in a stone grinder and split it in half. If you don’t have a stone grinder, you can cook it whole or pulse in a blender once till it is crushed lightly. 

4)This stone grinder is turned to split the horse gram.

5)This is the texture you are looking for.

6)Set this aside.

Pressure Cooking Horse gram

7)Take washed horse gram in a pressure cooker.

8)Pour water into the cooker. Add tomatoes, garlic, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies.

9)Cover and pressure cook for 6 whistle. Let the pressure release by itself and set aside. If you are using whole horse gram then check notes for cooking time. 

10)Now the horse gram is cooked to the right consistency.

Tempering Spices

11) Now in an earthenware pot, heat oil, add garlic, dry red chillies, curry leaves.

12)Add in asafoetida.

13)Add in chopped pearl onions or shallots.

14)Saute for 2 minutes till onions gets translucent.

Mashing Kollu Paruppu

15)Now add in the cooked horse gram and season with salt.

16)Now use a potato masher and mash the horse gram inc the pot. The mixture will get mushy. 

17)Thats it kollu paruppu is ready. Serve hot with rice drizzled with ghee or oil. 

Expert Tips

• If you are using whole horse gram, add it to pressure cooker and cook for 8 to 10 whistle. You can remove the extra water for making rasam and use the cooked horse gram to make this masiyal. 
• If you don’t have shallots you can use chopped onions. 
• Dry roast horse gram for nutty flavour and aroma. 
• Add green chillies if you like kollu masiyal spicy. 
• Don’t grind kollu paruppu in blender else it will get paste like. 

More Horse Gram Recipes

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If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.

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