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!