Green beans paruppu usili is a no onion, no garlic South Indian side dish with lentils and green beans. It is protein rich, vegan, gluten free dry sabzi that pairs well with rice and roti.
In India, lentils and pulses are the main source of protein for many non meat eaters. Hence lentils are cooked in many ways and lentils with vegetables is one of them. Most common way is dal with vegetables or a dry vegetable dal curry.
Few such recipes are zucchini dal, menthi aaku pesara pappu koora (methi dal sabzi) and fenugreek spinach dal.
Post is modified in May 2025 with a recipe card and user friendly information.
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About the recipe
Paruppu usili is a common side dish in Tamil Brahmin households. In Tamil, dal is paruppu and in Malayalam it is parippu. Usili means crumbles. To prepare paruppu usili, soaked lentils are ground to a paste, steamed and then crumbled to small pieces..
Common vegetables cooked with usili are green beans and cluster beans. This recipe is adapted from Rajani's green beans paruppu usili recipe. I tweaked it a bit to suite my palate.
Ingredients
Usili - For usili, use toor dal and Chana dal. Quantity and proportions of dals used vary from household to household. We prefer moderate amounts of dal.
Vegetable - Green beans or cluster beans is usually cooked with usili. We prefer green beans.
Seasoning - dry red chilies are the main source of heat in usili.
Tempering - oil, mustard seeds and asafetida.
Instructions
Step 1 - Paruppu Usili (steamed dal crumble) - Wash and soak chana dal & toor dal for 1-2 hours and if time permits, preferably 3 hours. Then grind the dal along with red chilies, salt and hing.
Step 2 - Steam ground paste in a steamer plate for about 10 minutes or until the dal is cooked. Once the steamed dal cools down, crumble it using a clean hand or pulse it in a food processor.
Step 3 - Cooking Beans - Take chopped beans, salt and turmeric in a pot with about ½ cup of water, cook until beans are tender and most of the water evaporates. You can also steam beans in a steamer basket.
Step 4 - Beans Paruppu Usili - Take oil in a pan, when hot, add mustard seeds and let it crackle. Add crumbled dal and saute for a few minutes until crumbled dal changes color.
Step 5 - Add beans and saute for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add some chili powder if usili is not spicy enough to your taste.
Step 6 - Saute for few more minutes and turn off the flame. Serve with rice. I paired it with some rasam.
Serving & Storage
Serve green beans usili with rice and some rasam. Serve it with tamata chaaru, rasam, miryala chaaru or even pachi pulusu. You can store leftovers in an airtight container in a refrigerator for 2-3 days. Reheat in the microwave before serving.
Tips & Suggestions
- Use very little water or no water when grinding soaked lentils.
- Keep the crumble coarse. In the photos, dal crumble is fine. this is also fine but coarse crumble tastes better when chewing beans usili.
- When grinding lentils, you can add a few curry leaves for a different flavor.
Related Recipes
Cooking vegetables with lentils or a variation of lentils is very common in Indian cuisine and around the world. If you like this combination, you might like zucchini dal, fenugreek spinach dal and bell pepper gram flour curry.
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📖 Recipe
Green beans Usili
Equipment
- 1 Steamer to cook lentils
- 1 Saucepan to cook beans
- 1 Frying Pan
- 1 Food processor or a mixie
- 1 Cutting board & a knife
Ingredients
Paruppu Usili
- 2 ½ tablespoon Toor Dal approximately ⅙ cup
- 2 ½ tablespoon Chana Dal approximately ⅙: cup
- 4 Dry Red Chilies adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon Hing ~ Asafetida
Vegetable
- 340 grams Green Beans
- ½ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
- Pinch of Turmeric
Beans Paruppu Usili
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin
- Paruppu Usili
- Green Beans or Cluster Beans
- ¾ teaspoon Chili Powder adjust to taste and this is my addition
Instructions
Paruppu Usili
- Wash and soak chana dal & toor dal for 1-2 hours or 3 hours, if time permits.2 ½ tablespoon Toor Dal, 2 ½ tablespoon Chana Dal
- Grind the dal with red chilies, salt and hing. I used very little water but it can be ground even without water. If one wishes, they can add a few curry leaves as well.4 Dry Red Chilies, ½ teaspoon Salt, ⅛ teaspoon Hing ~ Asafetida
- Transfer ground dal to a steamer and steam.
- Bring about 1 cup of water to a boil in a saucepan to steam the ground lentils paste. Steam ground dal for 10 minutes or until the paste forms a thick lump/cake and the dal is cooked. Turn off the heat and let cool.
- Once the steamed lentils cool down, crumble it using a clean hand or pulse it in a food processor. I used my hands. If using a food processor or a mixie, do not over process or grind the dal. It could become a paste, which we do not want.
Cooking Beans
- Take chopped beans, salt and turmeric in a pot with about ½ cup of water, cook until beans are tender and most of the water evaporates. This takes about 10 minutes. Alternative is to steam beans in a steamer basket.340 grams Green Beans, ½ teaspoon Salt, Pinch of Turmeric
Green Beans Usili
- Take oil in a pan, when hot, add mustard seeds and let it crackle.2 tablespoon Oil, ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- Add crumbled dal and saute for a few minutes until crumbled dal changes color.
- Add beans and saute for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add about ¾ teaspoon of chili powder or as needed.¾ teaspoon Chili Powder
- Once the vegetable and dal crumble are mixed and lightly sauteed, turn off the heat. Serve with rice. I paired it with some rasam.
Notes
- Dals - I used ⅙ cup each of toor and chana dal but can use up to ¼ cup of each dal.
- Steaming - recipe calls for using a streaming g plate to steam ground lentils. An alternative utensil is an idli steamer. Another option is pressure cooking for 3-4 whistles and then pulse in a food processor.
- Cooking Beans - recipe calls for cooking beans and dal separately. However, you can pressure cook both these in a pressure cooker using pot in pot method.
- Instant Usili - I saw a Facebook post for instant usili preparation. According to that post, dry roast lentils, grind with dry chilies to coarse powder, add little water and salt to the powder, and microwave the mixture for a few minutes. Instant usili is ready and this eliminates soaking the dal step. This sounds like a great shortcut but I have not tried it yet.
- Nutrition - Information below is approximate.
Nutrition
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Mireille Roc (@ChefMireille) says
what a colorful green bean dish looks so inviting
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Love using green beans to make paruppu usili!
Vaishali Sabnani says
Ah we love these beans..they taste so good, my son 's favorite.
Pavani says
This is one of my favorite ways of cooking green beans. Love this protein rich curry.
Smruti | Herbivore Cucina says
Perfect dish using green beans. I love the way you cut them so evenly!
Srivalli says
I love beans paruppu usli..and your bowl is literally calling me!..
Priya Suresh says
I will go crazy if i saw paruppu usilis as am an ardent fan of paruppu usili, give me that bowl, would love finish with some rice.
Rajani says
Thanks for trying this out Usha. You are now motivating me to make it for tomorrow 's lunch. I try the pressure cooker method also now, which is easier if you cook it along with rice. And as for additions like onion and garlic or even chili powder, most of our cooking are customized to suit our taste buds. These changes are minor, but essential to the individual preparing the meal. So go for it!