Tomato Pappu

My hubby hails from Andhra Pradesh. Tomato pappu (which means dal in telugu) was something that i took instant liking to. Here's the simple recipe for a tasty dish...

Toor dal - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 3 (big size)
Turmeric - a pinch
Tamarind - lemon sized
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

For seasoning:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds, Udid (Black gram) dal, Chana (Bengal gram) dal - each 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Red chilli - 1

Wash and soak the dal in about 3 cups of water. Cut the tomatoes into medium sized pieces and add it to the soaked dal. Add a pinch of turmeric. Pressure cook the above (3 to 4 whistles).

Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup water and remove pulp.

Once the dal-tomato mixture is cooked, add tamarind pulp, chilli powder, salt (to taste) and cook in the stove for around 5 to 7 minutes.

For seasoning, heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the dals, red chilli and curry leaves. Season the dal and garnish with coriander leaves.

This tastes best with hot steamed white rice and a dollop of ghee.