Mentikoora Pappu - Fenugreek Leaves in Dal - Telugu Food

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Preparations:

Take pigeon peas in a bowl and wash them. Add water to the dal and cook in a pressure cooker. When the pressure is developed in the pressure cooker low the flame and cook for 15 minutes. When the dal is done take it out of the pressure cooker. Take tamarind in a microwave safe bowl and add some water. Put this bowl of tamarind in a microwave oven and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Cool and grind the tamarind to a fine paste in a mixie. Take the fenugreek leaves and chop them. Take the chopped fenugreek leaves in a microwave safe bowl and add some water. Microwave the fenugreek leaves on high power for one minute.

Method:

Take the cooked dal and add the cooked fenugreek leaves, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Heat a pan and add oil to it. When oil is hot add fenugreek seeds followed by black gram. Fry till the seeds change color to golden brown. Then add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Fry till the seeds splutter. Then add asafoetida and mix well. Now add the cooked dal along with the spices and fenugreek leaves. Add some water to bring the dal to right consistency. Now add the salt & tamarind paste and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve hot with plain rice.

Points to Notice:

By now you might have observed that all dal preparations have almost the same ingredients. But when you taste the dals each dal has its own taste. That taste comes from the vegetable/green vegetable that we are using. Green sorrel vegetable is sour to taste whereas amaranth is bland. So we use tamarind or mango to bring the sourness while preparing dal with amaranth leaves. In some dal preparations we will not add any sour things as they taste better even if they are bland. Example BACHHALIKOORA PAPPU—it tastes better as it is—KAMMAGA UNTUNDI. So, you see, there is taste in each vegetable which nature provides us. Try making new dishes with all the vegetables available and enjoy the health benefits which we get from them.