Uppu Paruppu - Simple Seasoned Dal

When I started writing this blog, it was more as a hobby and also this distant thought that it would one day help the kids to cook foods from their childhood. Little did I realize that the faraway thought will become a reality this quickly. It makes me want to cry but also proud of her attempting to cook instead of taking the easy way out and eating junk food and of the site being useful that way.

Cut the onions , green chilies and coriander leaves. Heat the pan, add oil and saute the onions, chiles and coriander leaves.
Add the cooked dal and salt, turn off the heat and the dal is ready.

This recipe that is something that any Indian food lover should have up their sleeve. Very simple and cooked in no time it provides the confidence to move on to other complicated recipes. While a pressure cooker is a god send for this recipe, not having a pressure cooker should not be a detriment. The recipe can be made with any of the Indian lentils/dal like toor dal (pigeon peas), masoor (mysore paruppu) or moong (paasi paruppu). Refer here for a primer on dal.

Without further talk here is the recipe,

Uppu Paruppu - Simple Seasoned Dal
Preparation Time:10 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 cup of toor dal, masoor dal or moong dal
2. 2 tbsp of finely chopped onions (optional, if not on hand leave it out)
3. 2 green chilies chopped or 1 tsp pepper powder or 1 tsp red chili powder or 1 tsp sambhar powder
4. 2 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves (optional, if not on hand leave it out)
5. seasonings: cumin seeds, curry leaves and mustard seeds
6. 1 tsp oil (or ghee)
7. 2 tsp of turmeric powder
8. salt to taste

Method

1. Cook the dal with enough water, (usually in the ratio 1 cup of dal to 1.5 cups of water) with a few drops of oil and turmeric powder (see note:). If using pressure cooker cook for 2 whistles.
2. Once the dal is cooked, in a sauce pan or wide mouthed pan or kadai, add the oil or ghee and when hot add the cumin seeds, followed by the mustard seeds and when it pops add the curry leaves.
3. Add the onions and green chilies and saute till the onions turn translucent.
4. Lower the heat and add in the turmeric powder and spice powders if using instead of the green chilies, saute for 30 seconds. Add the coriander leaves and mix.
5. Mash the dal with the back of a laddle and pour it into the saute pa n and if required add a 1/2 cup of water along with salt. Let it come to a boil and immediately turn off the heat.
6. Note: The turmeric powder can be added while cooking the dal but if using pressure cooker if extra water was added it will spray so to avoid turmeric splattered all over leave it out now and add while sauteing.
7. If onions or green chilies are not used just add the spice powders and turmeric powder to the oil directly.
8. While I use a different pan to season the dal, you can transfer the cooked dal from the pressure cooker to another container, wash and use the pressure cooker for the seasoning part as well but no need to put the weight on again.
While tastes best with rice can be a side dish for roti or chapathi.