There's a reason Andhraite recipes keep going viral on our feeds every fortnight. The cuisine's tangy and mouth-watering twists on Indian palette staples is some simple culinary magic that absolutely every household kitchen must acquaint itself with. Starting with the basics, you won't be making your toor dal any other way once you try this super simple Palak Pappu recipe, very similar to the one being served up by the iconic Nagarjuna restaurant!
Palak Pappu
Ingredients: Toor dal - 1 to 1.5 cups, water 2 to 3 cups, turmeric powder - a pinch, salt to taste, ghee - 1tbsp, cumin seeds - 1tsp, mustard seeds - 1/2tsp, curry leaves - 6 to 7, green chillies - 2, dried red chillies - 2, roughly chopped medium onions - 2, roughly chopped small tomatoes - 3, turmeric powder - a pinch, salt to taste, red chilli powder - 1tsp, finely chopped spinach - 100gms, imli water - 1 cup
Method: First things first, soak a lemon-sized tamarind in hot water for about 20 minutes — this will give you your imli water. Now wash your toor dal and soak for at least 30 minutes and upto 2 hours. Pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste for 2 to 4 whistles. In case you soak your dal only for 30 minutes, boiling it through may take up to 5 whistles. Now as the dal pressure cooks, add ghee to a pan followed by the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, roughly chopped green chillies and dried red chillies. Once the spices start crackling, add in the roughly chopped onions and tomatoes. Once the onions start going transparent and the tomatoes begin softening, add in the red chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste. This will fast track the cooking process. Give it a good mix then add in the spinach. Once the spinach cooks through and shrinks in volume, add in the toor dal and imli water. Mix this well so as to make sure all the liquids have mingled and let this cook for 10 to 15 more minutes. While roti and parathas are all well and good, there is absolutely nothing in this world like tangy hot ladles of Palak Pappu on steaming hot rice with a dash of ghee. Podi powder on the side with some fried poppadums for that added crunch will take you to flavour heaven.
{{/usCountry}}Method: First things first, soak a lemon-sized tamarind in hot water for about 20 minutes — this will give you your imli water. Now wash your toor dal and soak for at least 30 minutes and upto 2 hours. Pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste for 2 to 4 whistles. In case you soak your dal only for 30 minutes, boiling it through may take up to 5 whistles. Now as the dal pressure cooks, add ghee to a pan followed by the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, roughly chopped green chillies and dried red chillies. Once the spices start crackling, add in the roughly chopped onions and tomatoes. Once the onions start going transparent and the tomatoes begin softening, add in the red chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste. This will fast track the cooking process. Give it a good mix then add in the spinach. Once the spinach cooks through and shrinks in volume, add in the toor dal and imli water. Mix this well so as to make sure all the liquids have mingled and let this cook for 10 to 15 more minutes. While roti and parathas are all well and good, there is absolutely nothing in this world like tangy hot ladles of Palak Pappu on steaming hot rice with a dash of ghee. Podi powder on the side with some fried poppadums for that added crunch will take you to flavour heaven.
{{/usCountry}}(recipe from Mahima Dhoot)
Will you be trying this very wholesome Andhraite update to your regular dal chawal?