Spinach Tomato Dal \ Paalakura Tomato Pappu \ Keerai Thakkali Paruppu

Though there are so many varieties of greens we use in our cooking, spinach is very common and widely used in our Indian Cuisine.  Spinach like any other leafy greens is loaded with Calcium, folic acid, Vitamin K and iron. Undoubtedly, its a nutritional powerhouse and its wiser to consume this spinach atleast twice a week in our regular food. I made this Spinach Dal which is called as Paalakura pappu in andhra cuisine. It goes well with white rice and a side of any spicy fry or simple odiyallu ( Vadams ). 

Ingredients

Toor Dal \ Kandhi Pappu \ Thuvaram Paruppu -  1/2  Cup

Spinach - 1 Big Bunch

Tomato - 1 Medium

Tamarind Juice Extract - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Dry Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Green chillies - 1 Medium

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Urad Dal \ Minna Pappu \ Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Channa Dal \ Senaga pappu \ Kadalai paruppu  - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Dry red chillies - 2 big

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Method

• Wash and cook the Toor dal to a fine paste and keep the mashy toor dal in a separate cup.
• Wash and cut the spinach leaves , tomato into pieces. Slit the green chilli into halves.
• On a thick bottomed vessel, add the spinach leaves, tomato pieces, 1 tsp of jeera, 1 tsp of turmeric powder, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of hing and very little water and close the lid of the vessel. Allow the contents to cook for few minutes on medium heat. No need to add more water for cooking the spinach leaves.
• After they are completely cooked, add the mashed toor dal into the vessel. Add the tamarind extract juice also into the vessel.
• Mix them well and add required amount of salt and some amount of water to make the consistency of the dal into a semi solid state.
• Allow them to cook for 4-5 minutes till everything get blended together.
• In a tadka pan, add all the ingredients as mentioned above for tempering and pour the tempered contents over the spinach dal finally.
• Switch off the heat and serve the dal with white rice and ghee.

Variations

You can add one or more sour tomato and avoid using tamarind juice extract.

You can do the tempering with half of Olive oil and half of ghee if  you are making this Dal for a festival or for functions.

You can generously add 1 tbsp of ghee on top of the spinach Dal if its made for special functions.

You can add 1 more green chilli or more dry red chilli powder to increase the spicyness of the Dal.

Tips

Avoid cooking the spinach leaves along with the toor dal in a pressure cooker. Try to cook the Dal separately and steam cook the spinach outside. In this way, you can preserve the nutrients in spinach. Also, its not a best practice to add more water while cooking the spinach leaves. Try to add very little water and mostly steam cook the spinach.

I am not a big fan of  adding all the ingredients for the pappu at one shot in pressure cooker and cook them for few whistles and adding spicy tadka at the end.

Peerkangai Milagu Kootu / Beerakaya Kootu / Ridge Gourd in pepper coconut gravy

Peerkangai / Beerakaya / Ridge Gourd is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, high in dietary fibre, vitamin C and other elements in it. The nutritional value of this Ridge Gourd highly helps in maintaining optimum health and weight loss. Both the skin and the flesh inside the vegetable are used in making different dishes. Ridge Gourd can be made as a Dal, Curry or Poriyal , kootu, thogayal, etc., I wanted to make the Kootu variety with black pepper coconut gravy as I hear lots of cough and cold at home.

Ingredients

Fresh Ridge Gourd - 2 Medium Ones

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 1/2 Cup

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem ( if you have )

For Grinding

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1/2 Cup

Black Pepper - 2 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Method

• Peel the skin of the Ridge Gourd and cut the flesh of the Ridge Gourd into small squares.
• Cook half a cup of Moong Dal in a pressure cooker.
• In a thick bottomed vessel, add the Ridge Gourd pieces first. To that, add 1 tsp of turmeric powder, Hing and a pinch of sugar and very little water and allow the vegetable to get steamed and cooked inside.
• Meantime, grind the ingredients in a mixer grinder with little water and keep the creamy black pepper coconut paste ready.
• Open the lid of the vessel and check whether the vegetable is completely cooked. If its done, add the cooked Moong Dal to the vegetable. Also, add the grounded paste and required amount of salt to the vessel.
• Mix everything together and close the lid of the vessel for the Kootu to get cooked and the gravy to get settled with the vegetable.
• When the rawness of the pepper coconut paste goes off, switch off the heat.
• On a tempering pan, add Olive oil first. When it gets heated, add Mustard seeds, jeera, urad dal, curry leaves in order. When it sputters, then pour them over the Kootu and mix well.
• Now the Spicy Peerakangai Milagu Kootu is ready to be eaten with white rice, Rasam Rice or any other rice you like. It can also be eaten with a Roti or chappathi and it tastes very good too...

Variations

You can add more Black Pepper if you want to add more spicyness to the Kootu.

You can substitute Moong Dal with other dals like Toor Dal or Masoor dal in this Kootu.

Tips

Don't add more water while cooking the Ridge Gourd as the vegetable itself oozes out water while cooking.

Try to use fresh coconut in the grinding mixture as it tastes much better than the dry coconut flakes or powder.