Usually most homes make pappu charu with toor dal or kandi pappu. However I use a combination of toor dal and moong dal (pesar pappu) to get a thicker texture. During summers my mom always would make pappu charu with moong dal as it is cooling to the body & helps to balance the body temperature. At home I make regularly some kind of soupy dish for dinner like sambar, pulusu or rasam. This pappu charu is something I resort to when I run out of veggies or have no time to make sambar powder. The basic version of pappu charu is made just with onions and tomatoes. However we also make this with lots of veggies some times. Bhindi, small onions & drumsticks go very well in this. Serve this hot with some plain rice, ghee & papads or with veggie stir fry. I usually make a vepudu to go with the meal. Here are some you may want to try – bendakaya vepudu, andhra style raw banana fry, Dondakaya vepudu & beerakaya fry.
How to make pappu charu
- Wash and cook 1/2 cup dal with 1 1/4 cup water till soft in a pressure cooker. Mash the dal and set aside. Soak tamarind in 1 cup water. squeeze it and set aside.
- Pour ghee or oil to a hot pot. When the ghee turns hot add cumin, mustard and methi. When they begin to splutter add red chili, curry leaves, garlic and hing.
- When the curry leaves turn crisp, add onions and fry for about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add chopped tomatoes, green chilies, turmeric and salt. Fry till the tomatoes turn mushy.
- Add red chili powder and fry for a minute till the raw smell goes off.
- Filter the tamarind water and add one more cup of water.
- When the water comes to a boil, Add mashed smooth dal. I prefer to pass it through a seive to get nice smooth pappu charu. You can skip this if your dal is smooth. Stir well. Check salt, sour and chili. Adjust what ever you like.
- When the pappu charu comes to a boil, switch off the stove. Add coriander leaves with stalks. keep it covered. Serve pappu charu with rice or idli. Related traditional andhra recipes,andhra sambardrumstick sambartomato rasam