Iguru ~ Goru Chikkudukaya Iguru ~ Cluster Beans Fry

‘I’ was another difficult letter. I could not think of any dish or vegetable starting with ‘I’, that fits my theme in this A-Z Challenge,Journey Through the Telangana Cuisine, except inguva (hing~asafoetida). And I could not think or find any recipe where inguva is the main ingredient. All I could think of is ‘I’ for inguru and I was unsure if the word iguru is a common usage in Telangana to refer to kooralu or dry curries. I do remember hearing this word when growing up but could not remember who used it. I checked with my mom and cousins and all of them said we call dry curries koora and not iguru.

When chatting with one of my friends, I had brought this up and she said none of her family uses it except her mom and her maternal family who hail from Khammam. That was good enough for me to do ‘I’ for iguru as Khammam is in Telangana. The best part of all is, I didn’t even have to cook as I found today’s recipe in my drafts, which I prepared back in October hoping to participate in November’s BM. I had a rough draft of the recipe, pictures clicked and edited, and all I had to do was an intro! Well, I take that back, I had to re-edit the pictures and resize them but that wasn't a big hassle as the pictures were already sorted. 🙂 I was still happy and to be honest, I did not want to do ‘I’ for ivy gourd as I had already used English names for both ‘F’ and ‘H’, and have few more down the lane.

I could have done 'I' for idly but idly and also fermented dosa were not a common food in Telangana households until 25 - 30 years ago. In fact, I do not remember idly and dosa ever been prepared at my maternal grandmother's place. It was a different story at my paternal grandmother's place. Though my paternal grandparents are from Telangana, couple of my dad's sisters are married into Andhra families and couple of his sisters-in-law are from Andhra. So, idly dosa were often prepared at home. However, in last few decades these have become part of everyday breakfast menu even in Telangana households.

Coming to Iguru, it is a curry which is cooked until all the liquids are evaporated. It is dry curry and can be prepared with any vegetable or meats, as long as it is cooked until dry.

Ingredients:

500 grams Goruchikkudu Kaya ~ Cluster Beans ~ Gawar
2 tbsp. Oil
2 - 3 Curry Leaves
½ small Onion, chopped
3 small Green Chilies, chopped (adjust to heat tolerance level)
1 tsp. Garlic Paste (I used garlic crushed with some cumin seeds)
¾ - 1 tsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
¾ - 1 tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
¼ tsp. Turmeric Powder
Fresh Kotmir or Cilantro to garnish

Preparation:

Wash cluster beans, trim the edges and cut into ½ - ¾” pieces or to desired size.
Heat oil in a pan, add curry leaves, onions and saute until onions are translucent.
Add green chilies and saute until chilies begin to change color.
Add garlic paste and saute for few seconds.
Add chili powder, salt, turmeric and give it a good stir.
Add cluster beans and stir well. Stir fry for couple of minutes until spices coat the beans and beans are lightly roasted in the spices.
Add some water, about ¼ - ½ cup, give a good stir.
Reduce the flame to medium - medium low, cover and cook until the beans is tender. Keep stirring every few minutes for even cooking of beans. This will take about 10 - 15 minutes or even longer depending on the size and tenderness of beans.
Remove the cover and stir fry for few minutes until all the water evaporated and the iguru is dry.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or roti. I prefer this iguru with rice.

Note:

I cooked the beans in a frying pan. It can also be cooked in a pressure cooker. Follow the steps as mentioned but cook in a pressure cooker for 1 -2 whistles. I always cook in a pan. An other method is to first cook chopped cluster beans in a pressure cooker, then do the tempering and stir fry the beans.
Sometimes I add roasted sesame seeds powder few minutes before turning off the flame.

This day in 2014: Kashmiri Rogan Josh
This day in 2015: Ham Cheese Mini Corn Muffins
Events: This post also goes to A-Z Challenge for day 9, letter 'I'.