Palakura Dosakaya Pappu/Spinach Yellow Cucumber Dal

Palakura dosakaya pappu

Palakura dosakaya Pappu is very tasty and highly nutritious  recipe especially when bored and tired of making  regular dal recipes. This recipe is prepared with good amount of  toor dal, with a combination of palakura(spinach leaves) n dosakaya (yellow cucumber). To enhance the taste and flavour I have added 4 tbsp of moong dal(yellow lentils) and 1 tbsp of chana dal (Bengal gram lentil). The addition of chana dal imparts nice aroma, texture and crunchiness to the dish. Here I present palakura dosakaya Pappu tempered with garlic along with regular tempering ingredients(mustard seeds n cumin seeds) and can be served as an accompaniment to hot steamed Rice or Roti. NjoY Cooking, Serving n Savoring!

Ingredients:

Dosakaya (Yellow cucumber): 1 no. Small

Palakura(Spinach leaves): 2 big bunches

Toor dal: 1 1/2 cup

Moong dal: 4 tbsp

Chana dal: 1 tbsp

Turmeric: A pinch

Salt: As required(Appx 1 tbsp)

Water: 4 cups(Approximately)

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Green chillies: 2 nos.

Red chilli: 1 no.

Tempering:

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Garlic flakes: 5/6 nos.

Oil: 1 tbsp.

Red chilli: 1 no.(Optional).

Method of preparation:

1. Take 1 1/2 cups of toor dal, 4tbsp of moong dal and 1 tbsp of chana dal into a small pressure cooker(of 3l capacity).

2.  Dry roast them on low flame till nice aroma comes.

3. Rinse thoroughly the dals under running water and add 4 cups of water. Keep it aside.

4. Now clean and rinse the spinach leaves and chop them finely. Add finely chopped leaves to the dal and keep the cooker on stove top. Keep the stove on low to medium flame. A green chillies an a re chilli too.

5. Meanwhile chop the yellow cucumber into big chunks and add to the dal mixture.

6. Add a pinch of turmeric.

7. Keep the lid of the pressure cooker and then weight.

8. Cook the dal, spinach leaves and yellow cucumber on low to medium flame for 2/3 whistles.
9. Switch off the stove and allow the pressure to settle down.

10. Meanwhile soak lemon sized tamarind in water.

11. Open the lid of the pressure cooker and mix thoroughly with spatula.

12. Check the consistency of the dal, if required add little water to it.

13. Add required amount of salt and tamarind extract to the dal.Bring it to boil.

14. Heat a small kadai add 1 tbsp of oil, add tsp of mustard seeds. When it splutters add cumin, broken red chilli , garlic flakes and a pinch of Asafoetida.

15. Switch off the kadai and pour the tempering onto the dal.

16. Mix well and add 1 tsp of red chilli powder to the dal. Continue boiling the dal for 2 more minutes.

17. Transfer the dal into a serving bowl.Now the palakura dosakaya pappu is ready and can be served with hot steamed rice and a drizzle of melted ghee.