గుమ్మడికాయ వడియాలు తోటకూర: Gummadikaaya Vadiyalu Totakura: Ash gourd fritters with Amaranth greens

Serves: 2 people. Preparation time: Soaking- 3 hours, cooking- 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bunch Amaranth greens (Cholai/Totakura)
1 medium Onion chopped
1 Tsp Mustard seeds (Rai/Avalu)
1 Tsp oil

For Vadiyalu:
1/2 rice cooker cup split black gram (Urad/Minappappu)
Ash gourd (Boodida gummadikaya)
Dry red chilli flakes (or chopped green chilli) to taste
1 tsp Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
2 pinches Asafoetida

A Cauldron of oil for deep frying

Method:
1. Wash minappappu, cover with 1" water & soak for 3 hours. Drain away excess water and grind into a coarse/grainy tight paste/dough (Do not grind it too smooth, the vadiyalu soak up lot of oil during deep frying if made with fine ground dough.).
2. Cut the Ash gourd into smaller manageable chunks, carve out the white fleshy part of the vegetable and discard the tough peel. Chop the white flesh into small (1/2") pieces. Set aside.
3. Add asafoetida, Cumin, chillies and salt to the Minappappu dough and mix in thoroughly.

4. Place the cauldron of oil on heat for deep frying.

Arrange a single layer of few Ash gourd pieces over your fingers (as shown in the photo), scoop up some Minappappu dough onto the Ash gourd pieces (again as shown in photo). Minappappu dough is a very sticky substance, so the ash gourd pieces stick together easily without breaking apart. Drop the dollop into the oil. Repeat until the surface of the oil is full of floating frying dollops. Fry them until they turn golden brown, stir them to evenly brown all sides. Remove onto a plate lined with blotting paper and set aside.

5. Remove leaves from Amaranth greens, discard the stems (You could use them to make Totakura Kadala pulusu). Wash the leaves in cold running water, drain in a colander. Take a bunch of leaves, chop them lengthwise & breadthwise so that they are fine chopped.
6. Heat 1 Tsp oil in a pan. When it is hot, add Mustard seeds. When they splutter, add chopped onion. When it  browns, add chopped Amaranth greens & salt. Cover & cook until they are soft, around 7 minutes for the small quantity mentioned above. You may add a tablespoon of water if needed.
7. Mix in the Vadiyalu into the cooked greens, cover and cook for 2 minutes.

Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Variations:
You can alter the tempering as per your wish, like adding turmeric, more green chillies, include tamarind paste.

Culture & Health:
This dish is traditionally made with real 'vadiyalu'. The dollops of ash gourd-minappappu paste are dried in bright sunlight for two days and stored. These dried 'vadiyalu' are then fried and added to the Totakura.
Whereas, the vadiyalu described in this recipe are actually just a kind of vada/garey, a fried dollop of fresh dough, an instant/quick way of making vadiyalu.
This preparation is very good for health, the goodness of minappappu protein, green leafy vegetable (Amaranth) and Ash gourd, which is believed to be a very sacred vegetable full of positive energy according to Ayurveda/Yoga/Hinduism.

Trivia:

My sister taught me this recipe!

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!!

తోటకూర కాడల పులుసు: Totakura Kadala Pulusu- Amaranth Stalk soup

 Serves: Four. Preparation time: 30 minutes 


Ingredients:

1 bunch Totakura/ Cholai/ Amaranth greens
1 Tsp or to taste, Salt
1 Tsp or to taste, Sugar
1 Tbsp Tamarind paste
2 Tsp Putnala pappu podi (Roasted chickpea powder)
Green chillies to taste
1 sprig Cilantro

Tempering:
1 Tbsp Oil
1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds
2 Tsp Coriander powder
1 Tsp Fenugreek powder
2 Tsp Red Chilli powder
1/2 Tsp Asafoetida
4 Curry leaves

Method:
1. Remove leaves from the Totakura stalks, they can be used to make Totakura pappu. Wash the stalks thoroughly in cold running water and pat dry. Discard any mature fibrous stalks, use tender juicy stalks. Chop stalks into 1" pieces. 

2. Boil stalks immersed in 1" water until they soften, they will be half done in around 7 minutes, cover the boiling pot with a lid.
3. Stir in the salt, sugar and tamarind juice. Boil until the stalks are fully cooked and tamarind juice cooks too, around 5 more minutes of covered cooking.

4. In a bowl, make a runny sauce from the putnala pappu podi by adding 2 Tbsp of cold water, making sure to break up any lumps.

5. Pour the chickpea powder sauce into the Kadalu pulusu while stirring gradually. Let it boil for a minute so the chickpea sauce mixes into the soup, it doesn't need cooking time since it is prepared from roasted powder. 
6. Switch off the heat and add the green chillies and curry leaves. Cover and set aside. 
7. Tempering:
Heat the oil and add the Mustard seeds. When they splutter, add Cumin seeds, coriander powder, red chilli powder and asafoetida. Switch off the heat and add the fenugreek powder. Pour this tempering into the pulusu.
8. Garnish the pulusu with fine chopped cilantro.

Variations:
Instead of putnala pappu podi, you may add a mixture of 1 tsp Rice flour mixed into 2 tsp Besan (Chickpea flour) dissolved in 3 Tbsp water. However, the pulusu should be boiled for 5 minutes after adding besan/rice flour since they are raw & take time to cook. Alternatively, the besan/rice flour can be roasted along with the tempering as described in Bendakaya pulusu. 


Culture & Health:
Telugu cuisine is full of a variety of pulusus which are delicious accompaniments with rice, upma, mudda pappu, kandi pacchadi, etc.
I found this a very clever way of utilizing every part of the Totakura, including the stalks! The stalks are a rich source of fibre, and very yummy too. This pulusu is a medley of flavours: salt, sour, sweet, spicy, totally mouth watering.

Trivia:
This is my mother's recipe. I clicked photographs of all her cooking while she was here, and you will soon notice that she made some interesting pulusus! Mommy is fond of tamarind/chilli based dishes, so pulusu is of top priority on her menu ;-) Those are her hands you see cooking in the pics :-)

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.