Sambar and chutney are the most commonly used Tiffin accompaniments. But are you looking for alternatives? Then you are at the right place and here is a recipe for you with moong dal. Today I am going to share a delicious tiffin accompaniment from Andhra/Telangana, and here is how you can make it in Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Pesaru Pappu Charu
The Telugu cuisine has tons and tons of pappu/lentil based recipes and it was a daunting task to narrow down one from that humongous list. But finally, I picked two recipes one for Telangana and one for Andhra. IMO, the two dishes that I picked belong to both the states. I did not dig deep into the origin of the recipe, so I am going to state as Pesaru Pappu Charu from Telangana/Andhra. I will post the other recipe in the coming weeks. I had similar confusion for few other states as well like for Bihar and Jharkhand. :-) I had to post this way as I couldn’t find legume based recipes for states like Arunachal Pradesh. I won’t say I did a thorough research, so please folks, if you know any pulse based recipes from the states that I missed, please share it in the comments. Now coming back to the recipe, I prepared it very similar to pappu charu except instead of toor dal; I used moong dal and also included drumsticks. I was a bit confused about the spice powders employed in the recipe and I immediately checked with Valli. She shared her family version, and that’s what I tried. As you can see, I served this as a side for Venpongal and OMG; it was divine. (Even if I say so myself) I prepared this again for a potluck, and all our friends enjoyed this recipe. This is a quick recipe perfect for your tiffins, be it Pongal or upma or idli.
Without any further ado, here is the recap and the recipe.
Munakkaya Instant Pot Pesaru Pappu Charu Recipe
A delicious tiffin/rice accompaniment from Andhra/Telangana – Munakkaya Pesaru Pappu Charu prepared with moong dal and drumsticks.
Ingredients:
Moong Dal – 1 cup Tomato – 2 or 1 cup chopped Chopped Onion – 1 cup Green Chili – 1 Red Chili Powder – ½ tsp Coriander Powder – 1 tsp Tamarind Paste – 1 tsp Salt – 1.5 tsp Water – 3 cups Drumsticks – 1 or 5 to 6 pieces chopped Sugar – ½ tsp Cilantro – a handful Curry leaves – a few
For Tempering:
Oil – 2 tsps Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp Fenugreek Seeds – ½ tsp Garlic Clove – 1 Red Chili – 1
Prep – Work:
Chop the onion, tomatoes, and drumstick and set aside. Wash the moong dal and drain the water and set aside. Slit the green chili into two.
Steps:
Instant Pot Method:
Add the chopped onions, tomatoes, drumstick, moong dal, red chili powder, coriander powder, tamarind paste, salt, slit green chili and sugar directly into the instant pot. Add three cups of water and mix them well. Now set the IP in manual mode for 6 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
Carefully open the lid and mash the dal nicely. Set the IP in sauté mode and add the chopped cilantro and let it simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate tadka pan heat oil and once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, garlic, red chili and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add this tempering to the charu and mix it. Turn off the IP and set it to either warm mode or serve hot with your favorite tiffin.
Pressure Cooker Method:
Add the chopped onions, tomatoes, drumstick, moong dal, red chili powder, coriander powder, tamarind paste, salt, slit green chili and sugar directly into the pressure pan or cooker. Add three cups of water and mix them well. Let it pressure cook for up to two whistles. Then let the pressure release. Carefully open the lid and mash the dal nicely. Add the chopped cilantro and let the dal simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a separate tadka pan heat oil and once the oil is hot add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, garlic, red chili and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add this tempering to the charu and mix it. Turn the heat off and serve hot with your favorite tiffin.
Notes:
I did not add turmeric powder and also hing. But both can be included in this recipe. Sugar is optional. Please adjust the red chili powder, green chili as per your preference. You can increase the quantity of either one or both as per your taste preference. Same for salt too. I just went with one big garlic clove while tempering. You can add 5 to 6 small cloves for this measure. My drumsticks became mushy as I mashed them all together. You can skip mashing the dal with the potato masher, or you can add the drumsticks after the dal is cooked and you can simmer the dal until the drumsticks are soft and tender. In that case, add ½ more cup of water. Also, adjust the water as per your consistency preference. For upma, Pongal, dosa this measure would work. For idli and dosa, I would recommend adding more.
📖 Recipe
Enjoying Instant Instant Pot Pesaru Pappu Charu? You will love these, too:
Rajasthani Dal Dhokli in Instant Pot Dhaba Style Dal Fry in Instant Pot Red Lentils with Broccoli in Instant Pot Black Lentils Curry | Kali Dal in Instant Pot Mixed Dal Tadka with Beet Greens in Instant Pot
