Pappu Urumindi / Pappu Urubindi

I honestly wanted to stay away from 'pappu' during this Regional Specials - Andhra  week here, since it seemed so predictable. Being a true Andhrite, it was impossible to escape from this addictive and comforting dal and here I am today with a pappu post. J I can however promise you that this is not going to be one of those regular ones you find over the web. This dal falls under that category of simple, home style dishes which are not familiar to masses and gets lost over a time period / generations.
During my last India trip, one of my BILs got to see my blog for the first time and I should say that he was pretty much impressed with my work. He immediately called his wife who happens to be a very good cook, to share some of the forgotten traditional recipes with me so that I can record them. I am guessing that the recipe must have come from M's maternal grand mother or the previous generations and this is easily over than a century old recipe.This was one of those recipes that I had never heard about earlier and the recipe was called pappu urubindi. Later I noticed the recipe in M's aunt's cookbook and it was named pappu urumindi. I am giving both the names and the dish must have rayalaseema origins since my part of the family from kosta (coastal Andhra) region do not prepare it. Like the kobbari pappu and menthula pappu I posted earlier, this does not require any vegetables and this delicious, spicy dal is an apt one when you want to try something different or when you run out of vegetables.
For the uninitiated, pappu is a traditional dal unique to the Andhra region and is different from the other regional dal preparations like the sambhars / rasams. It is prepared on a regular basis in all households through out the region, using a combination of a vegetable and toor dal (pigeon peas) or moong dal.
If anyone is interested, here are my earlier 'toor dal pappu' posts.
Beerakaya, Bendakaya, Chintachiguru, Dosakaya, Gongura, Kobbari, Mamidi, Menthula Pappu, Palakoora - Mamidi, Payalaku, Payalaku - Tomato, Potlakaya, Tomato Nimmakaya, Tomato - Tomatillo, Vankaya and Zucchini.

Ingredients:
1 cup toor dal
For tadka: 2 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida and few curry leaves
To dry roast and grind:
2 tsp chana dal, 1 tsp urad dal (split blackgram), 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1 Tbsp tamarind, 3 Tbsp grated dry coconut and 6 - 7 dried red chillies

Method:
* Cook toordal adding 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker until soft. Remove and mash with the back of a ladle.
* Meanwhile, dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under 'to roast and grind', excepting tamarind and coconut. Let cool and grind all the ingredients.
* Heat oil in a kadai / pan and add the tadka ingredients. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the cooked toor dal, the ground spice powder and salt. Mix well and let it simmer for a few minutes. Turn off the stove.
* Serve with rice / rotis.

Variation:
1. Cook toor dal until about 70 to 80 % done in a thick bottomed pan. Add the ground spices to the cooking dal and cook until the toor dal turns mushy. Add salt and tadka.
2. Cook toor dal until about 70 to 80 % done. Grind the toor dal along with the roasted ingredients, tamarind and coconut. Add salt and tadka and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Check out the other marathoners participating in BM#5. 
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Aarthi, Divya, Jayashree , Kaveri, Pavani,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Gayathri, Priya Suresh,
Seven Days of Microwave Meals: Monika,
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Harini, Me , PJ and Vaishali
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Kalyani
Summer Coolers: Jayasree, Kamalika, Srivalli

Today's post is going to be a part of the event I am guest hosting this month, Cooking with Wholefoods - Toordal / Pigeon Peas, originally started by Kiran.

If you happened to or planning to post any toor dal recipes, please send them over. I would be glad to include them in my event.

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