Spinach Tomato Dal \ Paalakura Tomato Pappu \ Keerai Thakkali Paruppu

Though there are so many varieties of greens we use in our cooking, spinach is very common and widely used in our Indian Cuisine.  Spinach like any other leafy greens is loaded with Calcium, folic acid, Vitamin K and iron. Undoubtedly, its a nutritional powerhouse and its wiser to consume this spinach atleast twice a week in our regular food. I made this Spinach Dal which is called as Paalakura pappu in andhra cuisine. It goes well with white rice and a side of any spicy fry or simple odiyallu ( Vadams ). 

Ingredients

Toor Dal \ Kandhi Pappu \ Thuvaram Paruppu -  1/2  Cup

Spinach - 1 Big Bunch

Tomato - 1 Medium

Tamarind Juice Extract - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Dry Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Green chillies - 1 Medium

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Urad Dal \ Minna Pappu \ Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Channa Dal \ Senaga pappu \ Kadalai paruppu  - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Dry red chillies - 2 big

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Method

• Wash and cook the Toor dal to a fine paste and keep the mashy toor dal in a separate cup.
• Wash and cut the spinach leaves , tomato into pieces. Slit the green chilli into halves.
• On a thick bottomed vessel, add the spinach leaves, tomato pieces, 1 tsp of jeera, 1 tsp of turmeric powder, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of hing and very little water and close the lid of the vessel. Allow the contents to cook for few minutes on medium heat. No need to add more water for cooking the spinach leaves.
• After they are completely cooked, add the mashed toor dal into the vessel. Add the tamarind extract juice also into the vessel.
• Mix them well and add required amount of salt and some amount of water to make the consistency of the dal into a semi solid state.
• Allow them to cook for 4-5 minutes till everything get blended together.
• In a tadka pan, add all the ingredients as mentioned above for tempering and pour the tempered contents over the spinach dal finally.
• Switch off the heat and serve the dal with white rice and ghee.

Variations

You can add one or more sour tomato and avoid using tamarind juice extract.

You can do the tempering with half of Olive oil and half of ghee if  you are making this Dal for a festival or for functions.

You can generously add 1 tbsp of ghee on top of the spinach Dal if its made for special functions.

You can add 1 more green chilli or more dry red chilli powder to increase the spicyness of the Dal.

Tips

Avoid cooking the spinach leaves along with the toor dal in a pressure cooker. Try to cook the Dal separately and steam cook the spinach outside. In this way, you can preserve the nutrients in spinach. Also, its not a best practice to add more water while cooking the spinach leaves. Try to add very little water and mostly steam cook the spinach.

I am not a big fan of  adding all the ingredients for the pappu at one shot in pressure cooker and cook them for few whistles and adding spicy tadka at the end.