Recipe: Cadla Bele, Cozu, & Tengina Cai Palia (Yellow Lentil, Cabbage, & Coconut Cooked Salad)

Intro:

Palia is as regular as the sun. No, it is more regular than the sun. This is true now more than ever before, because finally the monsoon season has begun. After a painfully slow start, the rains are upon us, and a few days have passed without the slightest glimpse of sun. (Food producers, food consumers, electricity users, and well just about everybody is relieved by this drip-dropping turn of events.) Palia, on the other hand, appears on our plates two times daily without fail. The first palia is for lunch, and the second is for dinner.

Palia is one of my favorite parts of every day’s menu, because it’s always changing. The chunkiness and serving size is constant, but the main vegetable can be anything from beets to okra. This one is a pretty mild version. I’ll try to capture the recipes for some more colorful and/or spicier palias soon!

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 cup dry lentils

1 whole cabbage

5 red onions

Loose handful dried chillies (approx. 10)

1 cup oil

1 coconut

Salt

Mystery seeds (not mustard, but they look like it) called “sas-vey”

Directions:

Boil water and lentils until lentils are slightly softened, but still firm, about 10 minutes

Add one whole cabbage, chopped, and boil for 30-45 minutes, then drain

Heat the oil, add the seeds (should make a popping sound), then add onions and chillies to fry

Mix in cabbage and lentil mixture, grated coconut, and salt to taste

Serve:

Palia is served with chappati (round flat wheat bread), upina cai (pickled young mango), and sometimes a happala (crunchy round thing, like pappadam). Sometimes a hard-boiled egg is included…and then the neat arrangement really reminds me of a seder plate! When the palia plate is finished, rice is heaped on and served with sambar (vegetable stew). Logically both lunch and dinner are called “utta”, because they are composed of exactly the same parts.