Tomato papu

1.)tomato - 4(cut into pieces.)

2.)onion - 1 small chopped(not very finely)

3.)toor dal - 1 and 1/2 cups

4.)green chillies - 5 to 6

5.)curry leave - 6-7

6.)mustard seeds - 2 tsps

7.)cumin seeds - 1 tsp

8.)astefodia - pinch

9.)sambar powder - 1 tsp

10.)turmeric - 1/2 tsp

11.)ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

12.)coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Wash the toor dal well and soak it in water for about 15 mins to half an hour.Take oil in a pressure cooker.When it is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,when they start spluttering add onions curry leaves and green chillies. Saute till the onions get transparent. Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor goes away. then add astefodia and stir for a min. Then add the tomato and saute for 2 to 3 mins. Now add the toor dal and stir for 2 to 3 mins and add approximately4 to 5 cups of water. Ans pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.

After4-5 whistles, turn off the stove and let it rest till the steam is completely gone. (Test for this is, try to lift the weight of the pressure cooker.If no steam comes out,or, u do not get a whoosh sound, the steam is gone.Otherwise let it stand for some more time.)

Once the steam is gone completely, open the lid and mash the dal into a semi-smooth paste.Add salt and sambar powder and stir well. If the dal is too thick(dal is generally thick so do not add too much of water), add a little water and let it boil for 15-20mins. Finally take oil in another pan add 2 tsps of oil.When the oil is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dried red chilli. When mustard seeds start spluttering, pour this over the dal and mix.Garnish with coriander leaves. This goes well with white rice.

Note:
Add water to toor dal in 1:2 proportion(for 1 cup toor dal, add 2 cups water). Here we add a little more, because of the tomato that we added. Anything sour makes the dal take longer time to cook.As a rule of thumb, add water until the ingredients and completely immersed. This rule works pretty well most of the time :).

Palakura/Palak/Spinach papu/dal

Ingredients:

1.)Palak - 250gm

2.)onion - 1 small chopped(not very finely)

3.)toor dal - 1 and 1/2 cups

4.)green chillies - 5 to 6

5.)curry leave - 6-7

6.)mustard seeds - 2 tsps

7.)cumin seeds - 1 tsp

8.)astefodia - pinch

9.)sambar powder - 1 tsp

10.)turmeric - 1/2 tsp

11.)ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Procedure:

Wash the toor dal well and soak it in water for about 15 mins to half an hour.Take oil in a pressure cooker.When it is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,when they start spluttering add onions curry leaves and green chillies. Saute till the onions get transparent. Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor goes away. then add astefodia and stir for a min. Then add the spinach and saute for 2 to 3 mins. Now add the toor dal and stir for 2 to 3 mins and add approximately4 to 5 cups of water. Ans pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.

After4-5 whistles, turn off the stove and let it rest till the steam is completely gone. (Test for this is, try to lift the weight of the pressure cooker.If no steam comes out,or, u do not get a whoosh sound, the steam is gone.Otherwise let it stand for some more time.)

Once the steam is gone completely, open the lid and mash the dal into a semi-smooth paste.Add salt and sambar powder and stir well. If the dal is too thick(dal is generally thick so do not add too much of water), add a little water and let it boil for 15-20mins. Finally take oil in another pan add 2 tsps of oil.When th oil is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dried red chilli. When mustard seeds start spluttering, pour this over the spinach dal and mix.Spinach dal is ready to be served. This goes well with white rice.

Note:
Add water to toor dal in 1:2 proportion(for 1 cup toor dal, add 2 cups water). Here we add a little more, because of the spinach that we added. The extra water is for the spinach to cook. As a rule of thumb, add water until the ingredients and completely immersed. This rule works pretty well most of the time :).

Kheera/Cucumber sambar

Sambar is one of 'THE' most important dish on south India. Me being from Hyderabad, i do not remember one day at home , that there was no sambar. Today i will be sharing Cucumber sambar recipe.It can be done in two ways. Procedure 1 is an easy and quick recipe, and procedure 2 is a more authentic one. Procedure 2 takes more time to prepare that procedure 1. But in the end, both the tastes are quite comparable.


Ingredients:
1.)Toor dal - 1 cup
2.)dried red chillies - 3
3.)cucumber - 1(skin peeled and chopped into large pieces)
4.)onion - 1 small(cut length wise)
5.)tomato - 2
6.)mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7.)cumin seeds - 1tsp
8.)ginger garlic paste - 1tsp
9.)sambar powder - 1 tsp
10.)astefodia - pinch
11.)turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
12.)oil - 1tsp
13.)coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
14.)curry leaves - 5
15.)salt

Procedure1:
Follow the same procedure as mango dal, instead of mango, add tomato and cucumber and saute.Follow the other steps exactly similar(please omit adding the sugar part, if following the mango dal recipe).

Procedure2:
Wash toor dal well and let it pressure cook with 2 cups of water and turmeric powder for 3-4 whistles. Once the dal is cooked mash the dal into a paste. Take oil in a pan, add a little mustard seeds,dried red chillies and cumin seeds. When it starts spluttering add onion and saute till it gets transparent. Then add ginger garlic paste and saute till raw flavor is gone.Now add salt and tomatoes and fry for 2 mins. Then add the cucumber pieces and mix well and cook with the lid closed till the cucumber pieces are cooked well. Once the cucumber is cooked well add to this mixture the already cooked and mashed dal. Mix well and add water till it gets thin(not very thick not very thin). At this point add sambar powder and mix well. Add salt according to taste and let it boil for 15 to 20 mins. Boil till the raw flavor of dal is gone and all the flavours blend well and turn off the stove.Take oil in a pan, add a little mustard seeds,cumin seeds,curry leaves and dried red chillies, once they start spluttering and this to the sambar and garnish with coriander leaves.
Sambar goes well with rice.

Note:
Add water to toor dal in 1:2 proportion(for 1 cup toor dal, add 2 cups water).

Mango papu/dal

Raw mango dal is one of the authentic andhra recipes. It tastes really good with white rice and mango pickle. today i will be sharing the quick and simple, yet with the very same taste of the authentic mango dal done in an elaborate way.

Ingredients:

1.)Raw mango - 1(cut into an inch pieces.Do not throw the seed, leave it with some pulp)

2.)onion - 1 small chopped(not very finely)

3.)toor dal - 1 and 1/2 cups

4.)green chillies - 5 to 6(depending on how sour the mango is)

5.)curry leave - 6-7

6.)mustard seeds - 2 tsps

7.)cumin seeds - 1 tsp

8.)astefodia - pinch

9.)sambar powder - 1 tsp

10.)turmeric - 1/2 tsp

11.)ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

12.)coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

13.)sugar-pinch

Procedure:

Wash the toor dal well and soak it in water for about 15 mins to half an hour.Take oil in a pressure cooker.When it is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,when they start spluttering add onions curry leaves and green chillies. Saute till the onions get transparent. Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor goes away. then add astefodia and stir for a min. Then add the mango pieces and saute for 2 to 3 mins. Now add the toor dal and stir for 2 to 3 mins and add approximately4 to 5 cups of water. Ans pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.

After4-5 whistles, turn off the stove and let it rest till the steam is completely gone. (Test for this is, try to lift the weight of the pressure cooker.If no steam comes out,or, u do not get a whoosh sound, the steam is gone.Otherwise let it stand for some more time.)

Once the steam is gone completely, open the lid and mash the dal into a semi-smooth paste.Add salt,sugar and sambar powder and stir well. If the dal is too thick(dal is generally thick so do not add too much of water), add a little water and let it boil for 15-20mins. Garnish with coriander leaves. This goes well with white rice, ghee and a side of mango pickle. uuummmmm.....yummyyyyyyyy..!!!!

Note:
Add water to toor dal in 1:2 proportion(for 1 cup toor dal, add 2 cups water). Here we add a little more, because of the mango that we added. The extra water is for the mango to cook. As a rule of thumb, add water until the ingredients and completely immersed. This rule works pretty well most of the time :).