Coriander Leaves Side Dish With Chickpea Flour (Kothmir chi Peeth Perun Bhaaji)

Recently a bargain buy of Coriander leaves compelled me to try the recipe of Kothmirichi Peeth Perun Bhaaji. Peeth Perun is a Marathi style of cooking vegetables thereby coating them with a nice spicy coating of flour and spice powders. Mom apart from her busy schedule took time for various social welfare and development projects, one of it being - participating & hosting volunteer lunches and dinners. Once Mom cooked some yummy dishes for a crowd of 100 for a charity banquet! Mom's friend who was part of this project group got this dish for her weekend Lunchbox. We loved the taste & Mom quickly got the recipe from her friend and frequently has been making this for all of us. Mom added her own twist of a snow white garnish of grated Coconut which aids as a good accent for the dish. The good thing about this recipe is it makes use of Coriander leaves and stems as well. A good way to reduce & reuse kitchen waste and maximize resources.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

Coriander leaves and stems (finely chopped) - 3 cups

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Chickpea Flour - 3 tablespoon

Grated coconut (fresh or frozen) - 2 tablespoon

Oil/Ghee

Salt

Method:

Wash the Coriander leaves and stems thoroughly. Chop them finely and keep aside. In a deep sauce pan, heat few spoons of oil, temper with Cumin seeds. Once they begin to pop and crackle, add Chickpea flour spoon by spoon and saute. The flour will now mesh with oil to form tiny globules. Add rest of the spice powders. Toggle between low to medium flame. The Chickpea flour should be properly sauteed and should not be raw. This process takes around 5-8 minutes. Once completely done, add chopped leaves and stir well. Adjust salt and spice levels. Cover with a lid and steam cook for 5-8 minutes. Once done, turn off flame and garnish with coconut powder or fresh grated coconut. Serve hot with Chapathi or Phulkas.

Note - Its very important that Coriander leaves are dry before use. Wash them and pat dry to remove any moisture and then use for the dish. Else, the entire dish will turn lumpy and soggy.