Cabbage Pesarapappu Pappu Koora
Summer has already started in India and temperatures are hitting triple digits in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. You get to make lots of pickles and papad’s around this time and you also get to enjoy all those juicy mangoes, melons and all other seasonal fruits. When you go to farmers market ( AKA Raitu Baazar) early in the morning , you get really good farm fresh veggies right from the fields. But the variety is limited during summer. Besides root vegetables, cabbage, tindora, eggplant and few varieties of gourds and leafy vegetables are available all year around.
Pulses/Lentils are the best alternative. They are consumed to a great extent in summer. Lentils and veggies combination are very popular in southern part of India. Different varieties include pappu, pulusu, pachadi, podi and pappu korra. Often lentils are mixed with cabbage, tindora, beans, cluster beans and leafy vegetables. Its been more than 2 week, my fridge is almost empty with left with small piece of cabbage , cauliflower and some carrots. I need something for dinner and also for next day’s lunch, I couldn’t think of anything other this dish, fried some perugu merapakaya’s( got from India) and served pickle, rasam and yogurt.
Ingredients:
2 cups/ One cabbage 1 medium
1/2 cup Pesara pappu or Mung dal
For Popu/Seasoning
1-2 tsp cooking oil (veg/peanut)
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 Whole red chilli (broken into pieces)
Pinch of hing
Few curry leaves
Salt to taste
Heat oil in a small pan add urad dal and red chilli, add cumin seeds once the dal starts turning in brown. Allow the cumin seeds to crackle. Add hing curry leaves , remove from heat and keep aside.
Procedure:-
Soak pesarappu for 15-20 mins. Chop, clean and rinse cabbage , keep aside. In a deep heavy bottom saucepan rinse soaked dal and add to the sauce pan with 1/4th-1/2 cup water and chopped cabbage, cover the lid , close the steam vent and turn on the stove to medium low, keep stirring occasionally, do not over mix. This will make the dal to break it will turn into pappu instead of dry pappu koora. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until cabbage and dal are cooked, sprinkle some water if the dal is sticking to the bottom of the pan. I like my cabbage little crunchy, I turn off the heat little early. Now add the salt and stir in the fried seasoning. Mix gently until everything is incorporated.
At my place pappu koora is usually served with pulusu(stew), avakaya/pachadi (pickle) and vadiyalu (papadams) along with yogurt.
Notes and tips:
Cabbage contatins natural juices adding salt at starting will not only delay the dal from cooking also is it will the cabbage mushy and will start smelling. You can pressure cook dal and cabbage separately for 1-2 whistles. I prefer doing it on stove top for dry version.
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