Thotakura pappu - Amaranth dal

Thotakura pappu - Pigeon peas lentils with amaranth leaves - an Andhra style dal recipe that has iron and calcium-rich amaranth leaves and Indian spices.

Amaranth leaves are grown all year and are a rich source of calcium and iron. These leaves give an earthy flavor to dal.

This thotakura pappu goes very well with hot rice and a dollop of ghee. You can also have this along with chapati for lunch or dinner.

In this recipe, I have cooked dal first and then made tempering with amaranth leaves to make amaranth dal.

If you want to make this recipe in large quantities, especially for large people or parties, check my spinach dal recipe.

In that spinach dal recipe, I showed you how to make dal for a gathering. Just replace spinach leaves with amaranth leaves in that recipe to make amaranth dal.

Let's begin making amaranth dal

• Cook the toor dal and keep it aside. Check my detailed post on how to cook toor dal using instant pot or pressure cooker. 
• While the dal is cooking, wash and drain amaranth leaves (Thotakura). Chop them roughly and keep them aside. 

• Heat a pan or kadai and add oil once it is hot.

• Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and hing to the hot oil. Make sure to be a little away as seeds will splutter.

• Now add roughly pounded garlic, curry leaves, red and green chili to the pan.

• Once these are lightly browned, after a minute or so, add grated gooseberry( amla or usirikaya) to the pan. If you are using raw mango, add it in this step instead of amla.

• Mix it well and add chopped amaranth leaves now.

• Let the amaranth leaves cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

• To these wilted leaves, add cooked and mashed dal.

• Now add coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt.

• Mix it well and let the dal cook for 5 minutes on medium flame.

• Switch off the flame and dish out the dal.
• Amaranth leaves dal or Thotakura pappu is ready to serve!

Recipe notes and variations

• Instead of gooseberry or amla, you can use raw mango or raw mango powder or tamarind paste, or even lemon juice to make this thotakura pappu.
• As amaranth leaves are a little bland, adding a sour agent makes the dal tasty.
• You can skip the garlic and use grated ginger to make this recipe. You can even skip ginger as well.
• To make this amaranth leaves lentils, you can either use green amaranth leaves or red amaranth leaves.
• I usually use tender amaranth stems also to make this dal. Avoid adding fibrous stems.

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Thotakura pappu recipe

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