Quick Green Split Moong Dal with Pressure Cooker - Paasi Paruppu

Cooking dal/lentils or making paruppu is perhaps easiest business of all and you would think a recipe is not warranted. The reality is making dal in a pressure cooker and still maintaining taste and flavor is something that has to be done right. Not exactly rocket science but worthy of a blog post :)

While making paasi paruppu or moong dal on a stove top and even better in a clay pot might be the best of them all you can achieve close to perfection even with a pressure cooker. The secret is the combination of spices which make it take taste just like mom or grand mom made it.

I realize I hardly talk about stuff these day. It is not because I do not have stuff to talk about. It is just that I don't have time to put them in writing. Soon ...

I don't like the texture of cooked yellow moong when made into dal/paruppu anymore. I'd rather use the one with the skin on. The split green moong tastes a lot better. While I use yellow moong for making a quick sambhar for idli and idli podi/paruppu podi
I prefer using the split green moong for making paruppu.

Roast the split moong for about 5-6 minutes till it starts to change color a bit. In a pressure cooker take the moong dal, cut onion, garlic, green chilies, cumin and pepper powder,turmeric powder, salt without enough water.
Pressure cook the dal for 3 whistles, let cool, open and mash it with the wooden masher or the back of a ladle.
Prepare the seasonings and pour over the dal.

While this quick dal tastes best with some rice and ghee (skip for vegan), it can be perfect as a side for rotis or chapatis.

Paasi Paruppu - Quick Green Split Moong Dal
Preparation Time:10 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cup of split green moong (requires 2 cups of water for a fairly thick cooked dal)
2. 4-5 slit green chilies
3. 1/4 cup of roughly chopped onions
4. 3 garlic cloves cut
5. 1 tsp of grated ginger (optional)
6. 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp pepper corn roughly pounded
7. 1 tsp turmeric code
8. salt to taste
9. few sprigs of coriander leaves, with stem or stems removed chopped
10. 1 tsp ghee or oil for vegan
11. seasonings: cumin seeds and mustard seeds

Method

1. Dry roast the split green moong for about 5-6 minutes till it starts to change color.
2. In a pressure cooker, add the roasted moong, water, cut onions, chilies, garlic, cumin and pepper powder, ginger if using, turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp of salt.
3. Pressure cook for 3 whistles and let cool, open the cooker and mash it using a wooden masher or back of a ladle.
4. In a small sauce pan or seasoning pan, add ghee or oil, add the cumin seeds, followed by the mustard seeds. Let it pop. Add the chopped coriander leaves and let it wilt.
5. Pour the seasonings over the cooked and mashed dal.

Serve with rice and for best taste with some ghee drizzled on top.

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