Mahanandi

Living in Consciousness ~ Indi(r)a’s Food and Garden Weblog

Fresh Flavors ~ Pudina Pappuchaaru


Pudina, Tomato and Shallots

N Balaji, a reader of Mahanandi, suggested this combination of ingredients when I asked for new mint recipes to try. This is a toor dal based chaaru, and mint adds a distinctive and appealing flavor, which seems to improve as it stands. Good one to have on a rainy day.

Pudina Pappuchaaru
(for two, for two meals)

Toor dal – half cup
Pudina – 5 branches, about hand-length
Shallots – 2
Tomato – 1, ripe one
Tamarind pulp and crushed jaggery – a tablespoon each
Turmeric – ¼ teaspoon
Red chilli powder and salt – ½ teaspoon each, or to taste
Tadka ingredients

Prep work:

Pressure cook toor dal in two cups of water to soft. Mash the dal to smooth. Keep it aside. While dal is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Pinch pudina leaves and tender stems. Finely chop- about half cup. Peel and thinly slice shallots lengthwise- about half cup. Cut tomato to small pieces. Soak tamarind pulp in about quarter cup of water.

Cooking time:

1. Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a chaaru paatra (saucepan). Add and toast a sprig of curry leaves, then a pinch each- cumin, mustard seeds and asafetida to fragrance.

2. Add shallots and sauté to pale red. Add tomatoes and mint leaves. Sauté for couple of minutes. Add the tamarind juice, jaggery, turmeric, chilli and salt. Also the cooked and mashed toor dal. Add about one to one and half cups of water. Mix, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer the chaaru, partially covering the pot, for about 20 minutes.

Serve warm. Good as it is and excellent when eaten with rice. To serve, place a spoonful of steamed rice in a bowl. Pour four to five ladlefuls of chaaru. Mix with a spoon or your right hand. Enjoy.

Pudina pappuchaaru
Pudina Pappuchaaru with Chitrannam ~ Meal Today

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Mint,Toor Dal (Thursday May 22, 2008 at 5:25 pm- permalink)
Comments (12)

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12 comments for Fresh Flavors ~ Pudina Pappuchaaru »

  1. I am first to comment on 2 posts in a row :))

    Hmm… I never combined Toor dal with mint. Should try this one.

    Comment by Anjali Damerla — May 22, 2008 @ 6:19 pm

  2. I have always added mint to mine. It tastes heavenly and the aroma that wafts is simply mind blowing! 🙂

    Comment by DK — May 22, 2008 @ 6:37 pm

  3. Hi Indira,
    What a nice twist in rasam. Some times I add pudina chutney to kormas little bit, tastes so different. But never tried with rasam., will surely try his version too. Thanks Balaji you are so sweet!

    cheers
    rajani

    Comment by Rajani — May 22, 2008 @ 8:07 pm

  4. Pudina rasam is quite new to me, Indira. All I make is mixed rice or chutney with mint.

    Comment by Suganya — May 22, 2008 @ 9:57 pm

  5. Wow never added mint in rasam or pappucharu.. would like to give it a try!!

    Comment by kalva — May 23, 2008 @ 4:39 am

  6. A new twist on Pappuchaaru, wonderful! I noticed your herb-blogging post kinda late but here some recipes that use a hefty serving of mint and turned out quite nice-
    Tomato-Mint Juice
    Chilled cucumber-mint soup
    Mint-rubbed roasted baby potatoes
    Ginger-mint tea (no milk added and tastes great with agave nectar)
    Good ol’ Tabouleh

    I’ll be trying out your recipe tonight!

    Comment by Pooja — May 23, 2008 @ 8:34 am

  7. Its an interesting combo indira, maybe good to drink as a soup too ! chitrannam anna maata vini enni rojulu ayyindi ???… I think it has a lovely ring !!! btw I bought a few books from veda… it was an interesting experience… yet to get them …

    Comment by Dee — May 23, 2008 @ 10:20 am

  8. Hi Indira,

    My mouth literally created drool as I was reading this recipe. It seems really nice and I will try it definitely. Thanks yet again for a wonderful recipe.

    Comment by wonderfuldestiny — May 23, 2008 @ 10:23 am

  9. Indira, I made this recipe today following your directions. It came out excellent. Even my children loved it. 🙂 Thank you for sharing.

    Happy to read that you and family liked this recipe, Ramani. Thanks for taking time to letting me know. Have a lovely weekend.
    -Indira

    Comment by Ramani — May 24, 2008 @ 11:50 am

  10. Hi indira, pudina pappuchaaru sounds tasty. I thought of adding pudina to pappuchaaru but never tried it. Since I saw your recipe, I have confidence to try. Thanks for sharing.

    Comment by Yashwini — May 27, 2008 @ 5:15 pm

  11. I tried this recipe Indira , was great!! Thanks to you and Balaji for sharing this with us !

    Comment by Dee — May 27, 2008 @ 5:36 pm

  12. Hi Indira,
    Just wanted to tell you that I made your mint papprucharu today, and it was excellent! Thank you for posting such a wonderful recipe 🙂

    Comment by Nabeela — June 3, 2008 @ 3:08 pm

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