Paruppu Kuzhambu

Paruppu Kuzhambu is a south Indian style dal made with toor dal. Toor dal is pressure cooked with coconut, shallots paste and then tempered with shallots, garlic , cumin and red chillies. Best served with a generous drizzle of ghee with hot steamed rice or with roti. South Indians serve this no veggies dal as a side dish with pongal , Idly or Dosa. Kids friendly dal and packed with protein.

 

Ingredients

• 1/3 Cup Toor Dal
• 1/4 Cup Fresh grated coconut
• 6 shallots
• 2 Green chillies
• 1/2 Tomato chopped finely
• 2 Tablespoon Tamarind extract
• 1/4 Teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 and 1/2 cups of water to cook dal
• 1 Teaspoon vegetable oil
• Salt to taste

For the tempering

• 1 Tablespoon sesame seed oil / vegetable oil
• 1 Teaspoon ghee / clarified butter
• 1/2 Teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 Teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 Sprig of curry leaf
• 1 Dry red chilli
• a generous pinch of hing / asafoetida
• 3 Garlic cloves sliced thinly
• 4 Shallots chopped finely

Directions

1. Wash toor dal several times and soak it for 15 minutes in plenty of tap water
2. Drain water completely. Add toor dal to the pressure cooker
3. In a food processor / mixie grind shallots, fresh coconut and green chillies into fine paste with 2 tablespoons of water. make sure the paste is smooth and there are no chunks of coconut
4. Add this coconut shallots paste to the toor dal
5. Add tomatoes, tamarind extract, turmeric powder to the dal and give it a stir
6. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil to the dal
7. Pressure cook the dal on high for 1 whistle and then reduce the flame to lowest heat setting and pressure cook for 10 minutes and switch off the flame
8. Once the pressure drops, open the pressure cooker and with a back of the spoon/ laddle gently mash the dal
9. In a pan, heat sesame oil and ghee for tempering
10. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add curry leaf and broken dry red chilli
11. Finally add hing / asafoetida to the hot oil. Then add garlic and shallots and fry until they onions are crispy and golden. switch off the flame
12. Add this tempering to the pressure cooked dal. Add salt to taste and bring the dal to gently boil
13. Switch off the flame and serve dal with steamed rice or roti or idly / dosa as a side