Kothavarangai poriyal is an accompaniment for south Indian lunch. Packed with southern flavors, it has moong dal along to make it unique.

Cluster beans is known as kothavarangai in tamil and is widely used in south Indian cooking in tamil Nadu. We make poriyal, curry, sambar, vathal, paruppu usili with kothavarangai.
This is another simple poriyal which is our family favorite. I love the poriyal amma makes though my mom in law too makes the similar way.
So what the difference in mom's poriyal? She adds moong dal while cooking cluster beans, also another special ingredient which I have mentioned in notes section, read on!
Method
- Remove the head and tail of cluster beans,wash them and chop them finely as shown in the picture.
2. Boil the cluster beans in water,along with moong dhal,turmeric,salt,sambhar/red chilli powder.
3. Cook till done,moong dal should be just done,not too soft....by that time moong dhal gets cooked,cluster beans too should have got cooked just right.
4. Drain the water and keep aside. Heat kadai and temper with the tempering items,followed by onion and fry till onion turns transparent.
5. Add the cooked cluster beans,moong dal and fry for two minutes in medium flame till moisture gets absorbed.
6. Add the grated coconut and stir well for a minute.
Transfer to the serving dish! Serve as accompaniment for rice.
Check out my cluster beans sambar recipe.
Recipe card
kothavarangai poriyal, cluster beans poriyal recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup Cluster Beans Chopped
- 2 tablespoon Moong dal Paasi paruppu
- 1 teaspoon Sambar powder
- β teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ΒΌ cup Grated coconut
- 1 Onion
- Salt
To Temper
- Β½ teaspoon Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon Oil
Instructions
- Remove the head and tail of cluster beans, wash them and chop them finely as shown in the picture.
- Boil the chopped cluster beans in water, along with moong dhal, turmeric, salt, sambar/ red chilli powder.
- Cook till done, moong dal should be just done, not too soft....by that time moong dhal gets cooked, cluster beans too should have got cooked just right.
- Drain the water and keep aside. You can also steam the cluster beans if you are worried about nutrients.
- Heat kadai and temper with the items under respective title, followed by onion and fry till onion turns transparent.
- Add the cooked cluster beans,moong dal and fry for two minutes in medium flame till moisture gets absorbed.
- Add the grated coconut and stir well for a minute.
Notes
- After final step, my mom adds 2 tablespoon sugar to the poriyal and mix with ghee+ rice. It tastes really good. You can do the same after reserving some and try this way!
Nags
i thought we only add either toor dal or urad dal in poriyal. glad to see moong dal is fine too π thats the easiest to buy in singapore.
Madhu
Nice step by step presenttaion.Like them with side of rice.
LG
The picture of poriyal with generous amount of coconut on it is my fav! Lemonade pic looks gorgeous!
sowmya
nice recipe..will try your way sometime..i usually make usali, never used onions..good one..
Priti
Looks nice...before I never used to like cluster beans but now...I love them :)....will try your method ;)...did tried the pasta?
jeyashrisuresh
never had cluster beans poriyal.my mom used to do kootu and add some jaggery to it. yours looks tempting. will buy cluster beans this weekend.
Sushma
I make a similar poriyal with cabbage. This one is new for me. Thanks for sharing.
Latha
Hi, tried this poriyal recipe. It turned out nice.
What is the special ingredient you have mentioned? There is no notes section? Or, am I missing something?
Thank you.
Raks Anand
So sorry, somehow the section got deleted by mistake! It is Sugar π We mix sugar and at the end and mix with rice and ghee. It tastes good π
indhu
this is a totally new recipe to me... looking at the picture, I thought it looked like beans paruppu usili... pleasantly surprised by the ingredients and the method π
love the step-by-step pictures
- Indhu (www.thayirsaadham.com)
Priya
My grandma's special dish is this, i love to have with hot rice..looks great Raks, i checked the slide show, now u can see the roundup..thanks for letting me know about the slide problem..
Suparna
Hi Rai,
I had learnt thoran from one of the blogger friends....am glad to learn this interesting way of making poriyal π nice methodical presentation π
The drink looks cool π
TC
Happy cook
Ilove bean poriyal like these, it was one of the dish wehad a lot in our lunch box and i still love them.
Madhumathi
The poriyal looks superb.We make the similar way at home..The pictures are fabulous..
I love the cucumber lemonade too π
Sowjanya
poriyal looks mouth watering. nice pics.
Asha
Love the Porial, I love the sweetish taste of Jawar! π
DEESHA
that looks absolutely gorgeous , I love the taste of cluster beans
EC
Its my grandpa's favourite..minus the onions..good one
Gita's Kitchen
Nice picture, I must also try your mom's method of adding this poriyal with sugar, ghee, and rice. It sounds so yummy π
Laavanya
Poriyal looks awesome Raks.. my mom always made paruppu usli with this veggie. I like adding mung dhal to poriyal too.
The picture of the drink looks so pretty.
Vandana Rajesh
Sugar and moong dal are a new addition for me in poriyal. It looks delicious. Great with rice and rasam.
Ashwini
Love Poriyal..Looks so yumm..Lovely photo..
Rajitha
with sugar..mmm...maybe i will take some poriyal out on the side and try it...i know my cousin would love it..he loves every thing sweet...
Cham
I make with toor dhal exactly the same way. The drink looks cool!
Akal's Saappadu
lovely click, absolutely appetizing, even for a total carnivore like me π will try it soon and keep you posted π
raaji
I was not much into this when i was in India....But now I miss this....On my trip to India I was ordering my mom to cook all the veggies I havnt tasted here.....This is almost the same way my mom makes
Pooja
Thanks for visiting my blog..Poriyal is looking delicious..We dont get fresh ones...will try when i have them..
AnuSriram
Looks delicious! My mom makes a similar curry with cluster beans...
Varsha Vipins
Looks superb Raks..!!..thorans are my fav..with lotsa coconut n tempering..thats just perfect with rice..looks yum..n the drink too.looks gorgeous..:)
Superchef
i just got some cluster beans from the indian store this weekend and was planning to make the same. Love this!
Vibaas
raji, my mom adds moong daal too. i am okay with cluster beans, not a fan, but your poriyal looks very yummy and tempting. love the last pic of the lemonade! Very cool! π
Sujatha
my husband's favorite vegetable! and a nice comfort food.. I make this pretty pretty much in a similar way.. love your step-by-step photos.. π
Valarmathi
My husband's favorite one. I always put this in sambhar only. Thanks for the recipe. I am going to try this sure.
sriharivatsan
Awesome pic..Looks yummy..Cluster beans is my favo one...
vidhas
Raji, Awesome clicks as usual. we also add moongdhall, but i pmicrowave that. I have never added onions, surely will try next time. We also make parruppu usili with this.
Daily Meals
Porial looks yummy...Like the cucumber lemonade...
TBC
I rarely buy cluster beans coz I find it a little bitter for my taste. The poriyal looks fantastic, R. Your pics are beautiful! π
Adlak's tiny world
nice step by stp photos... lovely raji. i never tried this.looks yum
ARUNA
Nice presentations............the final product looks gorgeous!!
bigfish_chin
special... special...
Ramya Bala
mm..poriyal cooking way diferent a irukae ;)..beautifully explained :)super raji...
aquadaze
love the poriyal made this way! looks yum
Kitchen Flavours
Wow this is new version of using cluster beans. Looks yum. Will try this soon. Cucumber lemonade looks yum.
Vicky Xavier.
Nice poriyal recipe. Eager to taste it. Nice pics.
MR
I have a bag of frozen cluster beans
sitting idle will put it to good use
good recipe thanks
camelia
Hello,
We bumped into your blog and we really liked it - great recipes YUM!!! YUM!!!.
We would like to add it to the Petitchef.com.
We would be delighted if you could add your blog to Petitchef so that our users can, as us,
enjoy your recipes.
Petitchef is a french based Cooking recipes Portal. Several hundred Blogs are already members
and benefit from their exposure on Petitchef.com.
To add your site to the Petitchef family you can use http://en.petitchef.com/?obj=front&action=site_ajout_form or just go to Petitchef.com and click on "Add your site"
Best regards,
Vincent
petitchef.com
K's Kitchen
Hi last week I made this poriyal for first time and it was delicious with rice. The same day again I made this poriyal for night(for chapathi) on my Husbands demand he liked it very much.
When I cooked cluster beans it took loooooong tome to cook I was wondering whats with this kothavarangai but your note in kothavarangai sambar helped to know that theres nothing wrong and it will take long time to cook. one doubt can we keep kothavarangai in cooker so that it cooks fast.Thanks a lot once again.
Raks anand
Yes you can, for an whistle π
Unknown
I made kothavarangai for the first time today following your recipe and it is delicious.. I seem to be going back and forth to the kitchen for a bite of it..
Achraj Singh
OMG! SO SO SO SO GOOD!!!! Your recipes are my fail safe.... my husband is from chennai and your recipes never fail to get his approval (and mine!!)...
Dhivya
Tried this poriyal today and it turned out great π Thank you..
Raks Anand
Thanks a lot π
Padma
Tried this recipe and it was very good. My family enjoyed it.
Raks Anand
Thanks a lot for your feedback π