Capsicum Usili
6
South Indian Meals
Sides
Usili is a simple mix of veggies and ground dal - it is made with beans/capsicum/broad beans etc. Served hot and best paired with mor kuzhambu.

Ingredients
Capsicum - 4 to 5 - finely chopped
Toor Dal - ⅓ cup
Channa Dal - ½ cup
Red Chillies - 10
Asafoetida
Curry leaves
Oil - Ground nut / peanut oil
Directions
- Wash and chop capsicum into small pieces. Saute and keep aside . do not over cook.
Presoak toor dal, channa dal, red chillies for an hour or so. ( i do 1:1). Grind coarsely along with red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida. Do not add too much water. But don’t make it too dry either.
Transfer ground mixture to idli moulds. Steam for 10 minutes. Cool and crumble fine. Heat kadai, temper with oil , mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves. Add crumbled dal. Saute. Add salt. Add sauteed capsicum . Mix well and cook for few more minutes until combined.
You can use beans, clster beans, cabbage etc. also to make usili. You can also make usili with a mix of finely chopped cabbage, carrots, beans mixture.