Dosakaya Pappu

Dosakaya is one of my favorite vegetable, let it be dosakaya pappu or dosakaya pachadi, I just have a great inclination towards this. Dosakaya pappu alone when eaten with hot rice and a little ghee is sufficient enough for a meal and doesn't require any other side dishes. As a child, I always start my lunch or dinner with curd rice and mix the curry or dals along with it. Only until recently I realized that its a wrong way of eating and making it a point to have curd rice in the end. Ok, I have borrowed this recipe from my mom, and simply go crazy when thinking of dosakaya pappu! lets see how to make it.....

Ingredients:

1 medium sized Dosakaya
1 cup Toor dal (kandi pappu)
1 large onion
1 large tomato
3-4 green chillies (2-3, if long)
Tamarind paste (optional)
1 garlic clove
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
11/2 tsp oil
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt (accordingly)

Seasoning:

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp channa dal
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
curry leaves

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, add about 1 cup toor dal, 2-21/2 cups of water, long cut pieces of Dosakaya, 1/4 finely chopped onions, 1 large finely chopped tomato, 2-3 chopped green chillies, 1 chopped garlic clove, turmeric powder and a drop of oil and pressure cook it till 2-3 whistles.

2.Meanwhile, take a pan, add about 11/2 tsp oil, and add all the seasoning ingredients. Add the remaining finely chopped onions, green chillies, ginger garlic paste. Fry it well till the raw smell of the ginger garlic paste disappears.

3.If you want to add the tamarind paste, you could add it now. For extracting the tamarind juice, in a microwave safe bowl, take some tamarind and add water to it and microwave it for about 45sec -1 min. Remove it and squeeze to get the juice from it. This is optional, you could avoid this step if you don't want to add tamarind.

4.Now, add the dal to the Pan and mix everything and add salt according to the taste. Lastly, add about a tsp of ghee to make it yummy and enjoy it with hot rice, trust me, its really awesome!

Make sure the dosakaya piece are long, because when cooked in a pressure cooker for about 2-3 whistles there are chances that the dosakaya pieces get mashed and become a paste, so cut them thick and long.