Andhra Style Palak Pappu
Andhra style Palak Pappu or Palakura Pappu is a native dish from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh in India, made using Toor dal, spinach, tempered with onions and garlic. This dal is a flavour bomb and characterized by its spicy, tangy and pungent flavours. It is a signature dish served in all Andhra style banana-leaf meals.
Dal holds a special place in Indian vegetarian cuisine, and relished in different forms in different parts of the country. India is perhaps the only country that uses a wide range of dal or pulses for cooking, with Toor dal being a favourite for many. This spinach dal is quite different than the Dal Palak made in North India, especially due to the unique use of ingredients like tamarind for the tanginess, onions and garlic for the pungency and green and red chillies for the spice which is characteristic of Andhra cuisine.
Although Palakura pappu is a pretty staple dish in Andhra households, but it gained it’s immense popularity from Andhra style restaurants in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu that serve this as part of the banana-leaf meals. The restaurants like Nagarjuna, Nandhana Palace in Bengaluru are especially famous for this thick and flavourful dal. I absolutely gorge on this dal whenever I visit Nagarjuna, and tastes divine when paired with spicy Dondakaya or Ivy gourd stir fry, and Beerakaya Pachadi (Ridge gourd chutney). This dish is a spice lovers dream, and would definitely make you shed some sweat from your forehead 🙂
Andhra food generally has two dominant flavours – spice/ heat and sour/tangy and this palakura pappu is no different. Tamarind is used liberally for sourness, and in this recipe there is a combination of tomatoes and tamarind which gives a lip-smacking tanginess. A combination of Red and Green chillies helps pack a punch of heat in this dish. Do not get intimidated with the amount of chillies that go in Andhra dishes! Once you get used to this spice level, you never look back!
What gives this dal a unique taste and flavour is also the liberal use of onions and garlic. It is not just plain use of onion and garlic, but the technique in way it is cooked which adds to the depth of taste. Onions and garlic are not just used while cooking the dal, but followed by tempering the same ingredients again. Here is the most important tip to make this dal super delicious – add a final tadka of garlic roasted in ghee along with red chillies which are just a step away from burning! Trust me this pungency elevates the dish to a different level!
If you cannot tolerate heat, you may tone down the number of chillies in this recipe. I have made use of Kashmiri red chilli powder for some extra spice and colour. You can use the regular red chilli powder as well.
Although this recipe makes use of Palak or spinach, but you can make delicious versions of this dal by simply replacing palak with methi or fenugreek leaves, gongura leaves etc. Since gongura leaves are already sour, so you may skip tamarind and tomatoes for gongura pappu.
This dal is best enjoyed with piping hot rice, topped with dollops of ghee. Accompaniments like Pappu Podi or Gunpowder, any crispy stir fry veggie like Ivy gourd, fried Papad makes this a complete delicious meal. You can also have this dal with roti.
Andhra Style Palak Pappu
Ingredients
- ½ cup Toor Dal
- 300 grams Spinach or Palak roughly 1 large bunch
- 2 large Onions
- 1 large Tomato
- 6-7 cloves Garlic
- 3 large Green Chillies
- 5-6 Dry Red Chillies
- Tamarind gooseberry sized, soaked in water
- ½ tsp Asafoetida
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 3 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 2 tsp Dhaniya Powder
- 2-3 tbsp Groundnut Oil
- 2 tbsp Ghee
- 2 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 2 tsp Urad Dal
- 2 tsp Jeera
- ½ tsp Fenugreek or Methi Seeds
- 2 sprigs Curry Leaves
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, add half cup washed toor dal, 1 roughly chopped onion, 1 roughly chopped tomato, 3 large green chillies and 3 cloves of garlic, 0.5 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1.5 cups of Water
- Pressure cook the dal for 6 to 7 whistles
- Once the pressure is released, using a wooden masher, mash the dal thoroughly. Keep the dal aside.
- Heat a kadai, add groundnut oil, and for first tempering add mustard seeds, urad dal, jeera and fenugreek seeds and fry till golden brown.
- Next add asafoetida, 3 red chillies broken in half, 2 sprigs curry leaves, and 1 large onion roughly chopped. Sauté until the onions turn pink.
- Next add 300 grams chopped palak or spinach. Saute and cook till spinach shrinks in volume
- Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and dhaniya powder and cook for couple of minutes
- Extract pulp from tamarind soaked in water. Add the pulp to spinach and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until raw smell of tamarind is gone
- Add the cooked and mashed dal. Add salt to taste and add some water as required.
- Bring to boil.
- For the final tadka, in a separate pan, heat 2 tablespoons ghee. Add 3 to 4 roughly crushed garlic. Fry till golden brown, and then add 2 red chillies broken in half. Fry till chilli changes colour.
- Add this tadka to dal. Mix well. Serve hot with rice.
Video
Notes
- Be generous with garlic and chillies in this recipe
- Addition of Methi seeds in the tempering adds a nice aroma and taste to dal.
- Cooking palak separately and not including in the pressure cooker, helps retain its colour and nutrition
- You can also make Methi Pappu by replacing palak with methi. It tastes equally delicious.
- Do not skip the final tadka of garlic and red chillies in Ghee. The golden fried garlic and red chillies add a distinct flavour and taste to this dal.
- This dal is usually served slightly thick.
