మామిడి వరుగుల పప్పు: Mamidi varugula pappu: Pigeon peas with dried green mango

INGREDIENTS:

1.Dried Mango Pieces................1/2 cup

2.Tuvar Dal..................................1 cup.

3.Chilly Powder............................2 t sp.

4.Turmeric.....................................1/2 t sp.

5.Salt................................................1/2 tsp.

6.Green Chilly.................................4

7.Red Chilly......................................2

8.Mustard Seeds..............................1 t sp.

9.Cumin Seeds...................................

10.Asafoetida...................................

11.Oil..................................................2 tbl sp.

12.Cilantro, curry leaves.................as needed.

METHOD:

1.To dry mango pieces, you must prepare them, when raw mangoes are available and so that you can store them. when you want to eat maamidi kaya pappu you should be able to make and eat it. to prepare these, in the mango season, take raw mango which is sour, cut in to pieces. you can store them as it is like this. but these pieces may not stay for year, fungus may form. To prepare these pieces is, add salt,turmeric to them and keep it for over night keeping covered.

next day, you can see, it oozes out some water. now squeeze out this water and dry the pieces in the sun, after 2 or 3 days drying as they will be ready to store for more than a year. with these you prepare pappu now.

2. Soak the mango pieces in water for 2 hours. they should become soft.

3. Cook Tuvar dal either in cooker or out side directly. dal should be cooked nicely,but not become paste type of cooking.

4. Now cook mango pieces in little water. put turmeric. when they are soft add it to dal.

5. Cook together some time, adding chilly powder. salt should be added as needed. because we already have salt in the dried mango pieces.

6. Cut green chilly add to dal.

7. For seasoning, heat oil in a pan put red chilly pieces, mustard, cumin seeds, and asafoetida.

when they splitter add to the dal.

8. Mix it nicely. the dried mango dal is ready to eat hot with hot rice adding ghee in it.

9. It serves 3 people.

తోటకూర పెసర పప్పు :Tota Kura pesara pappu- Amaranth greens with yellow moong

Serves: Four. Preparation time: 1 hour. 

Ingredients:
1.5 rice cooker cups Pesara pappu/ Dhuli moong/ Split yellow moong
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
1 bunch Totakura/ Cholai/ Amaranth greens
2 Tbsp Tamarind paste
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
1 sprig Cilantro

For tempering:
1 Tbsp Oil
1 Tsp Avalu
1 Tsp Jheera
4 Dry red chillies broken into pieces
1/2 Tsp Heeng
4 Curry leaves
3 Green chillies chopped
1 Medium Onion chopped fine
1/2 Garlic clove, pounded

Method:

1. Remove the leaves from the Totakura and wash in cold running water, leave to drain in a colander. The stalks can be used to make Totakura kadalu pulusu. 
2. Boil pesara pappu until it is soft and add turmeric. (You may use the directions of Mudda pappu, but keep in mind that pesara pappu is softer & takes less time, so adjust the water/timing.) Set aside. 



3. Chop the Totakura by taking a clump of leaves and cutting into them lengthwise & breadthwise so that they are fine chopped. Also chop the onion. 

4. Boil the chopped Totakura in 1" water until half done (approx. 7 minutes), add tamarind juice, salt and sugar, and boil again until fully done (approx. a further 7 minutes). 

5. Add the boiled pesara pappu into the boiled greens and thoroughly mix in.

6. Fry chopped onions & green chillies in a teaspoon of oil,  mix in the pounded garlic paste and fry until brown. Pour into the Totakura-pesara pappu.

7. Tempering:

Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add Jheera, dry red chilli pieces, Heeng and Curry leaves. 

8. Pour the tempering over the Totakura-pesara pappu. 

9. Let the tempering & fried onions rest over the pappu, mix in just before serving. You may also add some chopped Cilantro.

Serve with hot rice with a generous topping of ghee. 


Suggestions/Variations:
1. Pesara pappu is an easy-to-cook pappu which softens rapidly. Hence, if you want to preserve the texture of the grains without letting them get mashed, you may avoid pressure cooking, boil it in a pot of water. 
2. The onions & green chillies may be boiled along with the totakura without frying separately if you want to cut down on oil or cook quickly. 
3. Some people prefer to add some chopped tomatoes as souring agent along with tamarind. Or, slices of tomatoes can be arranged for garnishing. 
4. Traditional brahmans do not consume garlic/onions, they are optional ingredients. 

Culture & Health:
Totakura belongs to the Amaranth family, a species of hardy plants which grow rapidly. The plant is highly tolerant to weather conditions and can grow even in arid soil. A single flower head can contain upto half a million tiny beady seeds that are rich in protein and amino acids. Native south American tribes used to consume the flour from the seeds of this plant, so do some African peoples. In India, it is usually consumed as greens. The Amaranth is thought to be the crop of the future, the boon for poor countries since it can be quickly cheaply cultivated with its tremendous health benefits.
The greens are a rich source of vitamins and minerals. However, Amaranth is similar to spinach in that it has high oxalic acid content, and not advisable for those who suffer from gout/kidney disorders.
It is also not advisable to reheat amaranth greens since the chemicals in it undergo undesirable changes when reheated.
Totakura comes in two varieties: one with red stalks/leaves, one with creamy green stalks. The red variety that I used is more delicious & better for health than the green one.

Trivia:
This is my mother's recipe, those are her hands chopping the greens, I was the honest photographer harassing her to pose properly!
Totakura has fond childhood memories for me, Tittu brought back seeds from her village fields, and we planted them in our backyard kitchen garden. I watched the flower beds every single day, watering them with care, waiting eagerly for the first shoots to sprout.. Then when the amaranth grew, we used to pluck the leaves fresh and make kura/pappu, I used to be so proud, that a vegetable I grew was feeding my family!! :-D I could say totakura was my pet plant!!

గొంగౌర కంది పప్పు: Gongoura Kandi pappu- Kenaf greens with pigeon peas

Serves: Four. Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
1.5 rice cooker cups- Kandi pappu/ Pigeon peas
1 large onion
1 bunch Gongoura /Kenaf greens
1 tsp or to taste Salt
1 tsp or to taste Sugar
4 Green chillies chopped

For Tempering:
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp Asafoetida
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
4 Dry red chillies broken into pieces
1/2 tsp Fenugreek powder
4 Curry leaves chopped

Method:
1. Pluck leaves from the Gongoura and discard the stalks. Wash Gongoura leaves in cold running water and place in a colander to drain away excess water. 
2. Boil the pigeon peas into pappu and set aside. Follow the directions in Mudda pappu recipe but it can be a little runny with more water.
3. Meanwhile, fine chop the Gongoura leaves and set aside. Also chop the onion into small pieces. 



4. Boil the chopped Gongoura leaves and onions immersed in 1" water until they are tender, around 10 minutes, covered with a lid.




5. Mix in the salt, sugar and boiled kandi pappu into the cooked leaves-onions. 

6. Tempering:
Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add dry red chillies, jheera, turmeric, asafoetida, green chillies, curry leaves. Switch off the heat and add methi powder. Pour this tempering into the gongoura pappu.
Serve with hot rice with a generous topping of ghee.


Suggestions/Variations:
1. Instead of boiling the onions with the gongoura greens, fry them with green chillies and add into the gongoura pappu. Or add the onions into the tempering and fry together.
2. Gongoura leaf is sour so the the pappu doesn't need any additional souring agent. Add some tamarind juice if you feel the need (believe me you won't need it!). 

Culture & Health:
What comes to my mind when I think of Gongoura, are the lines from the Telugu movie Mayabazaar, which refer to it as Shakambari devi vara prasadamu, a gift from the goddess of vegetables! :-) I am sure most of us must have watched that movie, it is my most watched Telugu movie.
Gongura is very dear to Telugus, we make a pacchadi too with its leaves. It is related to the Hibiscus, Mandara puvvu, which is also very important in our culture. Plants of this family have a slimy/soapy feel in their crushed leaves, so women wash their hair with hibiscus leaf paste.
Gongoura is also called Kenaf, its scientific name is Hibiscus cannabinus, it is related to the Roselle. There are two varieties of gongoura in Andhra, one has creamy green stalks, one has red stalks. I used the red variety, it is even more sour than the green one.
Gongoura greens are very good for health, but some people are allergic to them.

Trivia:
This pappu prepared by mommy dearest, I photographed and documented the process. The lovely tulips you see in the photo- mommy papa brought them from Amsterdam for their Alludu's birthday, and mom insisted that I photograph her gongoura pappu against the backdrop of the flowers! :-D

దోసకాయ పప్పు: Dosakaaya Pappu- Pigeon peas with Yellow Cucumber

Ingredients
(Serves 2)

1 medium size yellow Cucumber/ dosakaya
2 green chillys/pachimirapakayalu
1 cup toordal/kandhipappu
few leaves of cilanthro
salt to taste
1/2 tsp chilly powder/karam (as you desire)
Thiragamaatha/Seasoning/Thadka
2 tsp oil
1/4 tsp avalu/mustard seeds
1 tbsp minapappu/uraddal
1/4tsp jeera/jeelakarra
pinch of heeng

Preparation

Pressure cook toordal for 3 whistles
Wash and peel yellow cucumber. Cut into half and remove seeds.
Taste the pieces.(some times it tastes bitter, donot use if it is bitter)
Cut into pieces as shown.
Cut chilys length wise make two halves.
Take a bowl put all the pieces, chilly slices and add 1/2 cup water cook until soft.
If you want it more sour add 1/2 Marble size tamarind puree.
Add salt , chilly powder and cooked dal.

Heat oil in a pan and add seasoning.
Add this seasoning to the cooked dal and garnish with cilanthro.


This pappu goes with rice and dal.

తోట కూర కంది పప్పు- Tota kura kandi pappu- Amaranth greens with split pigeon peas

Preparation time : ౩౦ mins
(Serves 2)



Ingredients
1 bunch of fresh thota kura
1 cup toor dal(kandi pappu)
1 medium sized onion(vullipaaya)
2-3 green chillies
1 big marble sized tamarind(chintapandu)
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste

Popu/Seasoning/thiragamaatha/tadka :

1 tsp of oil
mustard seeds (aavalu)
cumin seeds (jeela karra))
urad dal (minapappu)
Few curry leaves (karivepaaku)
Pinch of hing powder (inguva)

Method

1 Wash and chop the leaves.
2 Cut the chillies, onions in lengthwise.
3 Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook toor dal, leaves,onions and chillies till whistles.
4 After the valve pressure is released add salt,tamarind paste and cook for 2-3 mins.

Popu: Heat oil in a pan, add the remaining popu or tadka ingredients. Saute till the seeds start crackling.
Add popu to the cooked dal, stir well and cover. Tastes great with rice and chapati.


Variations : We can also add tomatoes to this preparation. If you like it little spicy then add red chilly powder as per your taste.

టమాట పప్పు: Tamata Pappu- Pigeon peas with tomato

Preparation time : 30 min
Serves : 2





Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
2-3 medium sized tomatoes cut to chunks
2 tbsp tamarind pulp (soak marble sized tamarind in hot/warm water & then extract the pulp)
1 green chilli cut lengthwise
3-4 curry leaves
salt
2 tsps red chilli powder (adjust accordingly)


For Popu / talimpu / tadka:

1/2 tbsp oil
hing / inguva
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp″ jeera
1 tbsp urad & chana dal
1/4 tsp″ turmeric

Method

Wash dal, add 2 cups of water, tomato chunks, a pinch of hing, green chilly and a drop of oil. Pressure cook till dal is cooked.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, jeera and dals.
Once they crackle, add a pinch of hing, curry leaves and turmeric.
Now add the cooked tomatoes (top layer of the cooked dal) to the popu/tadka and fry for a min.
Add the tamarind pulp and 2-3 tbsps of water.
Add red chilli powder, salt and let it cook for around 5 mins on medium flame till the oil separates.
Check the taste and adjust salt if needed.
Now add the cooked dal and mix well.
Switch off the flame. Serve hot with plain rice, ghee and pickle/papad.

Note: Dry roast dal if you like to, before you pressure cook. Mudda pappu being the very essential, tomato pappu is the next essential pappu in our kitchen. I remember we used to have it atleast 3 times a week in our childhood but never bored of it.

We can also add tomato chunks directly to the tadka (without cooking with dal), but I love this taste. Adjust water accordingly to get the desired gravy consistency.

The Very Essential: ముద్దా పప్పు- Mudda Pappu

Serves: Two. Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup split pigeon peas (Tuvar daal, Kandi pappu)
2 cups water
1 pinch turmeric
Salt to taste

Method:

1. On low heat, roast the pigeon peas (you can dry roast them or use 1/4 tsp of oil) for five minutes, or until they turn golden brown in colour and give off an aroma. (Roasting prevents frothing during pressure cooking.)

Let them cool.

2. Place the cooled peas in a pressure cooker and add the water, cook for three to four whistles. If you dry roasted the peas, you may consider adding a drop of oil into the pressure cooker. If you roasted them earlier with oil, that is sufficient.
3. Open the pressure cooker when its safety valve drops down. Add the turmeric and salt, mix well.

Serve hot with rice & ghee.

Variation:
I noticed that cooking time reduces a lot if I soak the peas before pressure cooking them, sometimes they cook with just one whistle.
Also, if you have unroasted pigeon peas, you could boil them for a while (5 minutes for the quantity mentioned) in the water so the froth comes up and dies down. Then cover with the lid/whistle & pressure cook.

Culture & Health:
Mudda pappu is a huge part of Andhra cuisine, its importance cannot be stressed enough! As the name suggests, the most vital point in preparing this dish is its consistency, it should be just like a "Mudda" (lump, morsel).
Not only is it eaten as it is with rice, but is also an important base ingredient for several other dishes such as pappu charu, sambar, vegetable/greens pappu, etc. It is also an excellent accompaniment paired with menti pulusu, ullipai pacchi pulusu, rasam, avakaya, pacchadis, etc. It is essential to master this preparation before a chef can progress any further in Andhra cuisine.
It is an integral part of Telugu brahmana bhojanam, as it is an excellent source of protein in a vegetarian diet. Combined with some rice and vegetable, it makes for a complete balanced diet.
It is a part of all festivals, served first during all celebrations, prepared on all religious occasions, you won't find a banana plantain leaf without Mudda pappu on it. Mudda pappu is the ABCD, the 1234, the very lifeblood of Andhra gastronomy!

Trivia:
This recipe courtesy Kameshwari & Ramya, who advised me on  the roasting & water measure respectively. This is my first perfect Mudda pappu thanks to them!

మెంతి ఆకు కంది పప్పు: Menthi aaku kandi pappu- Fenugreek greens with pigeon peas

Preparation time: 15 to 20 minutes
(Serves three)

Ingredients:

One bunch of fresh fenugreek(Menthi Kura) - washed and leaves plucked
1 cups of Toor dal(Kandi pappu)
1 tomato
2 green chillies -halved
Small lemon sized tamarind
1/4 tsp of turmeric
Salt to taste

Popu/Seasoning/thiragamaatha/tadka :

1 tsp of oil , mustard seeds, cumin and urad dal
Few curry leaves
Pinch of hing powder

Preparation:
Cook dal: In a pressure cooker, take toor dal, fenugreek leaves, tomato, green chillies, and turmeric -one and half cups of water and pressure cook them till 3 whistles. When the valve pressure is all released, remove the lid, add tamarind, half teaspoon of salt and cook for 2 more minutes.

Popu: In a laddle heat one teaspoon of oil, add the remaining popu or tadka ingredients. Saute till the seeds start crackling,.

Add popu to the cooked dal, stir well and cover. Tastes great with rice and chapati.