HOME        |        ABOUT        |        COPYRIGHT        |        CONTACT        |         RECIPE INDEX        |         INDIAN THAALIS        |         MILLET RECIPES        |        EVENTS' ROUNDUP        

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Authentic Andhra Meals ~~ Gongura Pappu



No dish can get more 'quintessential and authentic Andhra' than a gongura preparation. The gongura greens are cherished in Andhra cuisine more than any of its counterparts and is used to prepare delectable pappu, pachadi and other dishes.
There are two varieties of gongura leaves available - the one with the red colored stalks (Erra gongura - the red one) and the other with the regular greenish colored stalk (Tella gongura - the white colored one). They impart their characteristic sourness to a dish  and so one need to be careful about adding any other sour agents  to gongura preparations.
Today's recipe is gongura pappu, the 'ultimate' dal preparation from Andhra.

Required ingredients:
1 cup toordal
Chopped gongura leaves -3 cups, firmly packed
One onion, finely chopped (optional)
4 medium sized chilies, sliced lengthwise (I used Serrano peppers)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt as needed (about 2&1/2 tsp)
Thick tamarind juice - 3 Tbsp (optional.) **
Chili powder - 1 tsp
For tadka/popu: 1 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds & a few pinches of asafoetida, few curry leaves
**Depending upon the sourness of gongura, tamarind can either be used or omitted. The gongura leaves I got were not that sour and I had to use about 3 Tbsp of the tamarind juice.
*For tamarind juice, soak about a lemon sized tamarind in water or nuke it in a microwave (of course, with half a cup of water added) for about a couple of minutes. Squeeze the tamarind using your fingers or passing through a sieve. Discard the seeds and fibre. Use the thick puree extracted as required and save the rest for later use.
If using the ready-made tamarind paste, the quantity mentioned above varies.


Photobucket 
Gongura pappu in the traditional pappu ginne (container used to cook the dal)

Cooking:
Wash the toordal and throw away the cloudy water. Cook toordal along with gongura, onion, chilies and turmeric powder adding about 2 cups water in a pressure cooker.
When the valve pressure is gone, remove the cooked dal. Add salt and chili powder. Stir the contents with a ladle and check the sourness. Add tamarind juice only if required. Stir well once more and turn on the heat. Let it simmer for about five minutes for all the flavors to mingle.
Do the tadka/seasoning in a small sauté pan. Heat oil and add the tadka ingredients. When the mustard seeds start popping and the cumin turns brownish, turn off the heat. Add the tadka to the dal and mix well.
Serve hot with rice and a spoon of ghee for a delicious Andhra style meal.


This one goes to my 'Delicious Dals from India'.

     
Post a comment         

24 comments:

Finla said...

I love this dal curry in India i hogg them :-) it is a real shame we don't get these leaves here.

Unknown said...

Wow, it has been ages since I had this as we don't get gongura here. I simply love gongura pappu, you have reminded me of such beautiful memories :)

PranisKitchen said...

wow what a delicious one. i do the same with spinach..will try this gongura once i find it here..good one.we love the pickle

Suji said...

Wow..Suma looks yummy..We love gongura leaves very much..This looks absolutely delish!!!

Love
Kairali sisters

Life is beautiful !!! said...

I got used to Gongura only after my marriage. I am crazy about it now and I could understand how much you ppl would like it. I loved the pappu ginne and your preparation too :)

Nithu Bala said...

Delicious gongura curry...my grandma used to make chutney like pickle...this is very delicious pappu curry..thanks for sharing..

Deepthi Shankar said...

All andhrites rave about gongura pappu .. looks nice

Simplyfood said...

Dhla looks wonderful but never cooked with gonguru leaves before.

Unknown said...

yummmyy gongur pappu super Suma looks so so tempting ahh gongura pappu with hot seamed rice and little ghee with vadiyalu oohh heaven for me very inviting pic. too

Suman said...

WOW...such a healthy and delcious looking dal...yummy!

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

i do the same with palak and dill or fenugreek...wil look for these leaves here...thanks for sharing....lovely dal with millet roti..yum

Kiran said...

Suma,Gongura pappu chala bagundi.
Coincidence emitante nenu ninna Gongura pulusu chesanu and planning to post it soon.

Shabitha Karthikeyan said...

Lovely Dal..I'm not sure whether we get it here..lemme check out this week...

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a beautiful and delicious dal, we dont get this fresh gongura, truly inviting..

notyet100 said...

looks delicious

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow,delicious. its so hard to find these greens here, miss it.

Unknown said...

I have tasted this once at a friends' palce and loved it a lot. Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe, Suma. I will definitely try it it the next time I find gongura leaves here. Great clicks!

Nitha said...

The curry looks yummy.. My hubby loves the gongura pickle.. Have never got a chance to try this out in any other dishes.

Chitra said...

I came from tirupathi this evening..had pappu in hotels..was tasting gr8..have bookmarked thsi..will try and let u know :)thnx

AJ said...

Lovely recipe!! This dal look delicious.

Uma said...

mmm. Gongura pappu. It's been a while I tasted it. looks tempting :)

Kiran said...

Dear Suma,
I tried your recipe for gongura pappu and posted it under tried and tasted in my blog.It tasted very delicious,thank you for sharing it with us.

Anonymous said...

Thankѕ for finally writing about > "Authentic Andhra Meals ~~ Gongura Pappu" < Loved it!

My page; Payday Loans
Also see my site :: Payday Loans Online

Anonymous said...

Excellent. Thanks for share.
www.unnatisilks.com