What you need
For Urad dal balls
Uzhunnu parippu / Urad dal/Black gram/Black matpe beans: ½ cup
Black pepper: 1/8 teaspoon
Salt: ½ teaspoon
Water: 3cup+ ¼ cup
Canola oil: 4 cups (for frying)
For sauce
Onion: 1 1/3 cup (Chopped finely)
Potato: 1 ½ cup (Chopped into small cubes)
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Garlic: 3 cloves
Green chili: 1 no (I used Serrano pepper)
Coriander powder: ¼ teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Garam masala: ¾ teaspoon (recipe given below)
Chili powder: ½ teaspoon
Salt: 3/4 teaspoon (or to taste)
Coconut milk: ½ cup + 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Olive oil: 1 tablespoon (use coconut oil for authentic taste)
Water: 3 cup
For seasoning
Urad dal/ Black gram: 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds: ½ teaspoon
Red chilies: 2 no (halved into two)
Coconut oil: 1 tablespoon
For garam masala (It yields: 2 tablespoon)
Cinnamon sticks; 2no (2 inches)
Cardamom: 8 no
Cloves; 8 no
Nutmeg: 1/8th of one
Bay leaves; 1 no
Fennel seeds: 1 teaspoon
Caraway seeds: 1 teaspoon
Star anise: 1 no
Mace: 1 teaspoon
How I made
Soak urad dal/black gram in 3 cup water for 3-4 hours. After 3 hours wash and drain them using a colander and grind with whole black pepper, salt and 1/4cup water form a fine paste. Set aside.
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan when it reaches 365 F. Gradually drop a small golf sized dough into the oil. Cook them until they become light brown it takes about 6 minutes for each batch. Make sure to flip the urad dal balls frequently to prevent cracking. You will be able to cook 5 -6 balls in a batch depending upon your pan. Once they light brown remove them from oil and drain in kitchen tissue to remove excess oil. Continue the process until you finish the entire dough. Set aside.
In mean time in a sauce pot cook the potato with 2 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of oil until they become soft not mushy. It took about 20 minutes, switch off the flame and set aside.
Dry roast the ingredients for gram masala for 1 minute or until they release wonderful aroma. Once it cooled grind them into fine powder, it yield about 2 tablespoons. Set aside.
Heat oil in medium skillet or sauce pot and add onion and green chili and fry them until onion become translucent or it changes color it takes about 6 minutes. To this add ginger garlic paste and fry for another 2 minutes. Then add turmeric, coriander, chili powder, salt and garam masala powder fry for another 2 minutes. To this add cooked potato along with coconut milk water. Bring it to boil and coconut milk and rest of water to form gravy again boil the gravy for 2 minutes. To this add fried urad dal balls and let cook for another minute and add curry leaves and switch off the flame.
In a small pan heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal and halved red chilies once mustard seeds starts spluttering remove from the fire and add to cooked urad dal potato coconut milk gravy.
Enjoy with hot rice, chapathi, bread.