Tuesday 20 April 2010

Paalakura pappu/spinach dhal/paalakeerai paruppu

In my home my mom makes just plain paruppu and rasam. I never knew that we can make so many different varietes of pappu until I started having andhraite friends. Yesterday when I made this dhal we just loved it. I just made a small change to the actual recipe and that made a lot of difference.  I bought a bunch of spinach form local farmer's market. They were very fresh and beautiful,  I  just can't resist picking them up. The recipe is very simple, flavourful and full of goodnes. I am planning to include lots of spinach dhal throughout the spring season and become strong like popoye :). I forgot to mention one more thing 'I HATE FROZEN SPINACH'. Might be the nutrition is preserved in frozen spinach but not its wonderful flavour. 

Ingredients :

Toor dhal (split pigeon pea)- 1 cup
Spinach- a big bunch (fresh ones please !!!)
Onions-1 
Garlic- 5 pods (make thin slices)
Green chilli- 3 nos
Dried red chili- 4 nos
Red chilli powder- 1 1/2 tspn (adjust according to your taste)
Turmeric- a pinch
Asafoetida- a pinch
Mustard, jeera seeds, urid dhal- 1tspn (for tempering)
Oil- 4 tbspns
Salt to taste

Method :

Wash and chop spinach leaves. Cut onions, green chillies and slice garlic into thin pieces. Cook toor dhal with a pinch of turmeric, asafoetida and few drops of oil in a pressure cooker. Take care not to overcook the dhal. It should be cooked but should retain its shape. Now heat oil in a pan. When the oil gets heated add the mustard and jeera seeds. When they splutter add the garlic slices and dried red chillies. Saute until the garlic slices acquire a golden brwon colour. After that add  onions, green chillies and enough salt. Saute until the onions turn translucent. Now add the chilli powder and saute for a few seconds. Add the cooked dhal ato the pan and add enough water. The dhal should not be watery or too thick. Allow the mixture to boil. and then switch off the stove. Now to the piping hot dhal add the chopped spinach leaves and mix well. The heat of the dhal is enough to melt the spinach. Adding spinach at the end really makes a lot of difference. It helps in retaining the real flavours of spincah and seals in the nutrients. 

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Add spinach to the dhal only after you have removed it from fire. This really helps to seal the flavour and the nutrients present in spinach. Use only fresh spinach  leaves and not the frozen ones. This is a very tasty and healthy dish. Hope you will enjoy it too. Happy cooking !!!

11 comments:

  1. This is my most fav daal curry :-)The classic combo of paruppu and paalak

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  2. yummy yummy manju gonna try it tomorrow

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  3. yes I agree with Gulmohor and that also is my favourite. love this daal and you have made it perfect. lovely space you have created.

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  4. Manuju,

    Nice and healthy dal curry. Paalak and parippu makes wonderful taste.

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  5. You are right. We andhraites make many varieties of pappu and this one is one of our favorite ones. We would add tamarind, though.
    The pappu looks delicious.

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  6. Such a healthy pappu, looks awesome...

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  7. Lovely healthy dish.Looks deliciois.

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  8. Healthy and a nice one with rice

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  9. Thank you friends :)

    Jutson give me a feedback and Suma I somehow do not like the sour taste with spinach so didn't add tamarind :)

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  10. This is one o fmy fave daal curry too....simply yum isnt it....even at my mom my mom prepares only plain daal and how much i used to hate daal at home at times....love this...

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  11. My family's favorite dish. This one goes well with rice and any pickle by side. I too add tamarind. But I add leaves to the dal while pressure cooking. This time I'll add at the end.

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