Palakura pappu recipe – an easy and delicious Andhra style palak dal curry. This recipe has lentils cooked with spinach and spices. It is a hearty and flavorful dish that can be served with chapathis or rice.
Dal is one of those comforting dishes that you can have for lunch or dinner. I love adding vegetables or greens to dals like beetroot dal.
This dal too has spinach greens added to it, which adds nutrition to the already protein-rich dal.
About This Recipe
Basically pappu refers to dal in Telugu language and palakura refers to spinach. Traditionally toor dal or kandi pappu is used to make this dal.
The recipe for this South Indian spinach pappu is very easy and uses just a few everyday ingredients. Also, only a few spices are used for tempering and not any heavy masalas which makes this a comforting meal.
As for the simple recipe, just pressure cook the dal first. Then temper the dal with spices and add the palak as well as the cooked dal and let it simmer. We also add tamarind to this dal which give it a nice unique taste.
Health Benefits
- Spinach:
- Leafy green spinach is very nutritious as it is rich in iron and calcium.
- In addition, it is also good source of vitamin A, vitamin C and folate.
- Toor dal:
- It is rich in proteins.
- Toor dal is a good source of dietary fiber.
- It is also a good source of iron.
Ingredients You Need
- Spinach: It is also called as palak. Wash the spinach thoroughly to remove any dirt and then roughly chop it for using in the recipe.
- Split pigeon peas: It is also called as toor dal or arhar dal in hindi, kandi pappu in telugu and thuvaram paruppu in tamil. Wash the toor dal 4-5 times before using in the recipe.
- Tamarind: It gives a nice tangy taste to the dal. I have used dry tamarind. You can substitute with tamarind paste.
- Onion: I used red onions. They give a slight crunch to the dish.
- Garlic: It gives a nice flavor to the dal and is healthy too.
- Chillies: Red chillies or green chillies or a mix of both can be used.
- Turmeric powder: It gives a nice color as well as flavor to the dal.
- Curry Leaves: Adds flavor to the dish but you can skip it if it is not available.
- Tempering spices: Mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds give a nice flavor to the dal.
- Oil: I used sunflower oil.
- Salt
More Andhra Recipes
A few more Andhra style recipes that you will love.
Andhra Recipes
How to make Palakura Pappu Step by Step
- Wash the toor dal 4-5 times. Take the toor dal in a pressure cooker. Add turmeric powder and asafoetida.
- Add 1 1/2 cups water. Pressure cook the dal for 4 whistles on a medium flame and then remove from heat. Once the pressure has released by itself, open the lid of the cooker.
- Lightly mash the dal with the back of a ladle.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai or pan. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds, broken dry red chillies, methi seeds.
- When cumin seeds crackle and change color slightly, add chopped onions.
- Saute till the onions turn translucent and soft. Then add the sliced garlic cloves along with curry leaves.
- Fry for a minute. Then add the chopped spinach leaves.
- Mix well and fry till the spinach leaves wilt. Now add the tamarind extract along with 3/4 cup water. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
- Then add cooked dal along with salt.
- Stir well. Let this simmer on a low flame for 6-7 minutes or till the gravy reaches desired consistency. Remove from heat.
- Easy palak pappu is ready to be served hot with rice or chapathis.
Recipe Tips
- Soak Dal: If you have enough time, you can even soak the dal for 15-20 mins in enough water. This helps the dal to cook faster.
- Cook dal: Cook the dal till it turns soft and easily gets mashed.
- Use Green Chillies: I used red chillies in the tempering. You can add slit green chillies when pressure cooking the dal to make it more spicy.
Serving Suggestions
- Add Ghee: If you are not vegan, for a richer taste or especially if your are serving for kids, add a dollop of ghee on top.
- With rice: Serve palakura pappu with hot rice.
- With flat breads: This dal tastes good with rotis / chapathis or phulkas too.
- Sides: Serve it along with papad or pickle or a simple salad.
An easy and delicious Andhra style palak dal curry. In this recipe, lentils are cooked with spinach and spices. It goes well with rice or chapathis.
Ingredients
To make Pappu
- 1 1/2 cups chopped palak ( spinach leaves )
- 1/2 cup split pigeon peas ( kandi pappu / toor dal / arhar dal )
- 1 small onion
- 1 tsp sliced garlic cloves ( vellulli / lahsun )
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder ( haldi )
- 2 tsp tamarind ( chintapandu )
- A pinch of asafoetida ( hing )
- Salt to taste
For Tempering
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds ( rai )
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds ( jeera )
- 2 dry red chillies ( broken )
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds ( methi / menthulu / vendayam )
- A few curry leaves ( karivepaku / kadi patta )
- 3 tsp oil
Instructions
- Wash the toor dal 4-5 times. Take the toor dal in a pressure cooker. Add turmeric powder and asafoetida.
- Add 1 1/2 cups water. Pressure cook the dal for 4 whistles on a medium flame and then remove from heat. Once the pressure has released by itself, open the lid of the cooker.
- Lightly mash the dal with the back of a ladle.
- Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of hot water for around 10 minutes. Then extract the tamarind juice, discarding the pulp. Meanwhile, wash the spinach leaves thoroughly. Finely chop the spinach leaves. Also, peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and slice the garlic cloves. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai or pan. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds, broken dry red chillies, methi seeds.
- When cumin seeds crackle and change color slightly, add chopped onions.
- Saute till the onions turn translucent and soft. Then add the sliced garlic cloves along with curry leaves.
- Fry for a minute. Then add the chopped spinach leaves.
- Mix well and fry till the spinach leaves wilt. Now add the tamarind extract along with 3/4 cup water. Mix well and let it come to a boil.
- Then add cooked dal along with salt.
- Stir well. Let this simmer on a low flame for 6-7 minutes or till the gravy reaches desired consistency. Remove from heat.
- Palak pappu is ready to be served hot with rice or chapathis.
Notes
- The measurement cup I used is 1 cup = 250 ml.
- If you have enough time, you can even soak the dal for 15-20 mins in enough water. This helps the dal to cook faster.
- You can add slit green chillies when pressure cooking the dal to make it more spicy.
Nutrition Information
Serving size:1 serving Calories:167 calories Fat:5.2 g Saturated fat:0.7 g Unsaturated fat:0 g Trans fat:0 g Carbohydrates:23.6 g Sugar:1.2 g Sodium:20 mg Fiber:5.9 g Protein:7.8 g Cholesterol:0 mg
More Dal Recipes
A few more dal recipes that you can try
- Snake Gourd Dal – quick dal using snake gourd
- Green Moong Dal – whole mung bean curry
- Lasooni Dal Tadka – garlic-flavored dal
- Chana Dal Curry – easy bengal gram dal
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