Chukkakura Pappu

I don't know how many of you know about this wonderful leavy vegetable but people hailing from andhra would definitely identify it as chukkaaku. I am not sure what is it called in english for that matter in any other language. It is kind of sour in taste something close to sorrel leaves(gongura). A dal made out of this is awesome and you would definitely want to try it once. This is one leavy vegetable that I missed during my stay in US. I could never find this may be because this do not stay for too long. It is such a sensitive leavy vegetable that gets spoiled pretty quickly. I made dal with this leaves and here I am presenting it for all you guys:

3 small bunches of chukka kura
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
few curry leaves

Pressure cook these in just enough water for upto 3 to 4 whistles.

Salt as per taste
1 tsp kura karam or red chilli powder

After the cooker cools off add the above ingredients to the cooked dal and keep it back on stove and cook for few more minutes. Turn off stove.

Tempering:

1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 red chilli cut into two
a dash of hing

Heat oil in a pan and add the tempering ingredients and when the mustard seeds splutter add this to the cooked dal. Thats it, how simple is that. You can have this with hot steamed rice or with hot soft chapathis.

There are many Dals from Andhra that are presented in this blog under Sunday meals section.

Linking this to CMT - Daal/Kadhi/Sambar/Rasam event being hosted by Priya Srinivasan of Enveetu Kitchen originally started by Jagruthi of Joy of Cooking.