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thotakura pappu in a bowl
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Thotakura pappu - Amaranth dal

Pigeon peas lentils or toor dal with amaranth leaves - an Andhra style dal recipe that has iron-rich amaranth leaves and Indian spices.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked toor dal
  • 1 cup chopped amaranth leaves (tightly packed)
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup grated gooseberry or raw mango or tamarind juice
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 3 green chili
  • 1 red chili
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Pinch of hing
  • 1 sprig curry leaves

Instructions

  • 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 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!

Notes

½ cup of raw toor dal will yield 2 cups of cooked toor dal. Check my detailed post on cooking too dal for more details.