Peanut sundal recipe, Verkadalai sundal

Updated on August 27, 2026 by Raks Anand 33 Comments

Peanut sundal, verkadalai sundal is a simple and healthy south Indian dish with boiled peanuts, spices and coconut. We make this protein rich sundal for Navaratri festival as well as other days for snack.

Prepare it as prasadam for deities (offerings) as well as for protein fix snack.

Check out my pasi paruppu sundal and chana dal sundal in this website.

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Inspiration
Ingredients
Stepwise photos
Substitutions & Variations
Top tips
My notes
Recipe card

Inspiration

This peanut sundal is one I loved when Janani gave when I went to her kolu. It was tasting simply superb. Usually I add grated coconut. But I felt like she had ground the coconut which made it look good.So I tried that way, she had ground the coconut fine, though I ground very coarsely. Still loved it!

My mom always makes the sundal moist. Not very dry. I too prefer that way. Sundals are simple to make, but a healthy snack. So even if you don't keep Golu, do make sundal and eat .This year, since my paati passed away, we are not celebrating any festivals and sadly no Golu as well.

Ingredients

Here are the simple ingredients for making peanut sundal.

Raw peanuts: These form the base of the dish, offering a rich source of protein and fiber. I used dried peanuts here, you can also make with fresh ones.
Grated coconut: Adds flavour and texture to the dish, balancing the spices.
Green chilies: Provides spice and flavor; you can adjust the number of chilies based on your spice level.
Mustard seeds: Black mustard seeds for south Indian tempering.
Urad dal: Gives a crunchy texture.
Curry leaves: A staple in South Indian cooking, it imparts a unique aroma and flavor to the dish.
Asafoetida: A generous pinch of this gives a lot of flavor.
Salt
Oil

Please check my recipe card below for quantities.

Stepwise photos

Soak the peanuts for 3 hours. Drain and pressure cook for 5 whistles with ¾ cup water, salt.

2. Drain and keep aside. Heat a pan with oil and temper with the items given under 'To temper' table. Add the drained peanuts and give a stir for a minute.

3. Add the coconut (I ground coarsely) and mix well for a minute.

Transfer peanut sundal to the serving bowl. It is simple with least ingredients, yet flavorful and juicy sundal!

Substitutions & Variations

Instead of fresh coconut, add a tablespoons of dessicated coconut.
You can also skip coconut and make with coconut oil and finish with grated carrot for a change.
Use fresh peanuts instead of dried peanut.
Instead of adding grated coconut and temper with dry red chillies, grind coconut and green chillies and add to sundal.

Top tips

Make sure to cook the peanuts well and soft. Soak overnight for best results.

Leave the cooked sundal stay in the cooked water until you make sundal. This ensures moist and not dry result and salt gets absorbed better.

My notes

My mom leaves the sundal stay moist by leaving some water intact. This may affect shelf life but great if you want moist sundal and eat within 2-3 hours.

You can add finely chopped coriander leaves or sundal podi for a twist.

If you wonder if you can prepare sundal with roasted peanuts, sorry you can't 🙂

Recipe card

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5 from 7 votes