I have been thinking hard on what to post for RCI- Tamil Cuisine hosted by lakshmi of VeggieCuisine. Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan came to my rescue. I bought this book a few weeks ago and haven’t ventured into the main course. I decided to give it a try and for starters tried this simple split moong beans dal.

All you require is :

A cup of moong dal picked and washed
A lemon sized tamarind ball for tamarind paste
Turmeric
Ghee, Salt to taste

For the Popu/tadka/seasoning:
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1 teaspoon Urad dal
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 dried chillies
A few curry leaves
3 slit green chillies
Asafoetida

Method:
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Boil the dal in 3 cups of water and keep aside . The author asked to boil seperately, but I boiled in the pressure cooker. Mash and keep aside. Soak the tamarind in hot water for about 15 minutes and then squeeze the liquid from the pulp and keep aside.

Do the Popu/tadka/seasoning in a heavy bottomed pan by heating ghee and adding urad dal, mustard seeds, red chillies, green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida.

Add the tamarind extract now and let it simmer until the raw smell of the tamarind is gone. Now add the boiled dal and let the flavours mix. Simmer for another 10 minutes and remove from heat. Serve with hot rice.

My first reaction after i saw Bachali aaku,purslane leaves, Mayalu Bhaji was Hurray!!!!! I got it! Also , found in Asian stores as mong toi .Its been a year since I tasted this vegetable.My aunt had this creeper in the backyard so it was a common vegetable in every one’s houshold. I remember it had small purple coloured berry size fruits that this creeper used to give and we as girls would break open that fruit and use it as a lipstick while playing. I have been thinking of contributing to the JFI – WBB Greens hosted by Indira of Mahanandi and here I go.

Ingredients :

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3 Fistfuls of Toor Dal

1 bunch of Bachali aaku

1/2 cup of diced tomatoes

1 marble sized tamarind ball

For the Popu :

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1 teaspoon urad dal

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida

3 dry red chillies

4 green chillies

5-6 curry leaves

Wash thoroughly and chop the purslane leaves. Place 3 fistfuls of dal , chopped purslane leaves, 1/2 cup tomatoes, turmeric in the pressure cooker. Also place the marble sized ball in one corner on the leaves in the cooker, else you can add the tamarind extract while doing the popu. Cook until 2-3 whistles and remove once done.

Now , for the popu, heat oil in a skillet, add urad dal,mustard seeds, dry chillies, green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida in that order. wait until the mustard seeds splutter and add the dal. Add salt and 1/2 teaspoon of re chili powder. Mix well and serve with hot rice and a dollop of ghee.

I do not know how it was invented, but this was a regular with mom and it goes well with rice. I remember eating this often, back home and I whipped it up for K one night for dinner. I never saw /heard anyone else from my extended family making it. he liked it and its a regular at our home too! Mom would call it “pappu kura” and serve it with some potato /raw banana chips /rice vadiyalu or majjiga mirapakayalu(dried green chillies in yogurt). I think the best combo was with dried chillies in yogurt.

This is all you need…

4 bunches of spring onions
1/2 cup of moong dal
1/2 cup of tomatoes
3 green chillies
Juice of half of a lemon
For the popu:
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1 teaspoon of Urad dal
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 red chili
1/4 teaspoon of asafoetida
A few curry leaves

Wash the moong dal and leave it in water for 15 min. Wash spring onions and chop the greens and bulbs too. Do not discard either of them. Meanwhile, heat a vessel with a teaspoon of oil and add the urad dal, mustard seeds, red chili, asafoetida, curry leaves, green chillies and saute for sometime. Then add the washed dal and saute for 2 minutes until the oil covers the grains. Then, add the spring onions and let cook, covered without adding any water. After keeping covered 5-10 minutes, add the tomatoes, salt and keep covered until done. the dal should remain intact and the spring onions soft. Remove from heat and add the juice of half of a lemon.Serve hot with hot rice and chips/fritters of your choice.