Name: palakura pappu
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 bunch Indian spinach ((palakura or palak)); ½ cup dal or pappu ((any lentils) (kandhi pappu or pesarapappu)); 1¼ cup water ((¾ cup for dry version)); 1 to 2 green chili (slit); 1/3 teaspoon Salt (adjust to taste); 1 tsp tamarind (or lemon juice); 1 sprig curry leaves; 1½ tablespoon oil (or ghee); 1 pinch mustard seeds; 1 pinch cumin seeds; 1/8 teaspoon turmeric (or haldi); 1 Pinch hing (or asafoetida (optional)); 1 clove garlic (crushed); 6 curd chilies (optional)

Palakura pappu recipe – Learn to make healthy spinach and dal curry.
While using any leafy green like palakura, menthi kura, gongura, I don’t prefer pressure cooking them since they get overcooked & most of the flavor is lost.

When it comes to making a pappu for meal, I always prefer to make a smooth and creamy dal like sorakaya pappu, mamidikaya pappu or tomato pappu, where all the ingredients can be dumped to cook in the pressure cooker and later tempered.

While making spinach or any leafy greens with dal like gongura pappu, I don’t prefer to overcook them which often happens by pressure cooking. So I just add them to the cooked dal to retain the nutrients and taste.

In Telugu palakura is the name for spinach or palak and pappu is dal. This Andhra style dal can be prepared in many ways. I am sharing 2 methods in this post.

The first method yields a soupy dal. The second method yields a semi dry pappu and just takes 20 mins. This spinach dal can be refrigerated for later use too and stays good for 2 days. It is usually served with rice and pickle. It can be relished with chapathi and a bowl of vegetable salad too.

I have not used onions and tomatoes in the recipe. You can use them if you like. I have included the steps in the instructions.

The chilies that you see in the last picture below are the curd chilies (majjiga mirapakayalu) which are often used in South India along with papadams. I fry them along with the tadka and add to the dal and use some for garnishing.

More Palak recipes
Spinach curry
palak rice
spinach omelette
palak pakoda

How to make palakura pappu

1. Soak tamarind in little hot water. Set aside. Wash and cook 3/4 cup pappu/ dal with 2 cups water in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. If cooking in a pot cook till soft. Mash the dal to smooth, if you like. You can cook tomatoes, onions, chilies along with the dal if using or can be added at the next step.

2. While the dal cooks, pluck spinach leaves with out stems. Wash them in lot of water several times. Drain them. Chop and add them to the dal along with little more water. If you like to add tomato, chili and onion add it now if you have not added in step 1. Cook on a medium flame.

3. When the spinach is cooked completely, it looks wilted and blends well with dal. Add salt and turmeric. Stir and mix well.

Tempering

4. Heat ghee or oil in a pan. Add mustard and cumin. When they splutter, add curry leaves, chili and garlic. You can add chili now, if you have not added at step 2. Add hing. Pour the tamarind juice to the pan. Switch off the stove.