Mahanandi

Living in Consciousness ~ Indi(r)a’s Food and Garden Weblog

Gongura Pappu (Gongura Dal)

Fresh Gongura
Gongura

These fresh gongura leaves came all the way from Houston, Texas. Lovingly picked and packed from their backyard garden by our dear friends. I have been longing to get such fresh gongura for a while now and I felt like my prayers were answered. Yes, I love the tangy taste of gongura that much.

The following is one of my favorite gongura preparations. Gongura, toor dal and green chilli, my mother’s recipe, pure gongura love.

Gongura Pappu
(for two or four people, for four to two meals)

Toor dal -3/4 cup
Fresh gongura leaves – about 4 cups, tightly packed
Indian variety, small green chillies – 8 to 10
Shallot or red onion – cut to big chunks, about half cup
Turmeric – ½ teaspoon

Rinse toor dal. Take them in a vessel or pressure-cooker. Add gongura, green chilli and shallot. Also turmeric and two cups of water. Close the lid. Cook the dal, until it reaches fall-apart stage. Add about half teaspoon of salt and gently mash the cooked ingredients together to smooth consistency. Now, infuse the dal with tarka or talimpu, where natural ingredients that are good for well-being are added in small quantity. Daily vitamin dose, Indian way.

1-tablespoon ghee
2 sprigs curry leaves, 2 garlic cloves, slivered,
4 dried red chilli pieces, ½ teaspoon chana dal and urad dal each
¼ teaspoon each – cumin and mustard seeds

Heat ghee in a vessel until a curry leaf tossed in it sizzles. Lower the heat to medium. Add the curry leaves, garlic, dried red chilli, chana dal and urad dal, in the order listed. Toast to pale brown. Then add the cumin and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add the gongura dal. Mix. Serve hot. Great on its own, and also with rice or roti for anytime of the day.

Gongura Pappu and Mango
Andhra Love ~ Gongura Pappu and Mango

Notes:
Gongura is available at Indian grocery shops during summer season.
This dal doesn’t need tamarind or lemon because of gongura’s potent tangy taste.
If you try this recipe, join and share your photos of gongura pappu at Mahanandi Flickr Pool.

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Amma & Authentic Andhra,Gongura(Sour Greens),Toor Dal (Monday June 23, 2008 at 6:25 pm- permalink)
Comments (39)

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39 comments for Gongura Pappu (Gongura Dal) »

  1. Love Gongura Pappu.
    I follow my MIL’s recipe which is very similar to yours, only difference is that mine is thinner.
    First pic looks very nice, Indira. Very clear and beautiful. I can even see the beautiful red stems on the leaves.

    Comment by Anjali Damerla — June 23, 2008 @ 6:44 pm

  2. Hi Indira,

    I absolutely love gongura…We are going to India next month and I hope I get to eat gongura pachadi. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    Comment by anitha — June 23, 2008 @ 6:53 pm

  3. Amazing. I did not realize people are growing Gongura here in US. I love gongura pickle and would savor this dhal preparation….

    Comment by Jennifer — June 24, 2008 @ 12:20 am

  4. During my recent trip to a Korean supermarket, I found that the pack next to the curry leaves marked ‘Sour Leaves’ was in fact Gongura (thanks to a kind Indian couple) so I have a pack now but am comtemplating between a dhal and a pachadi… This looks very tempting.

    Comment by Laavanya — June 24, 2008 @ 3:33 am

  5. Hi Indira,

    Love Gongura pappu and your nice presentation.

    What a nice coincidence, just now I made Gongura papu almost similar but I missed green chilli.
    Will give Mango along with Gongura pappu to my kids and MIL.

    Thanks,
    Latha.

    Comment by Latha — June 24, 2008 @ 6:14 am

  6. MY MY….Imagine the coincidence….I was about to suggest you to add any dish with gongura….like a tokku(pickle) or something coz i absolutely love it….but i am not sure if i get these leaves in Pune. Will look for them this weekend! any idea whats it called in marathi or hindi Indira, coz if i say gongura….vegetable vendors wouldnt know what I am talking about?

    Comment by Veda — June 24, 2008 @ 6:29 am

  7. Beautiful dal! 🙂

    Comment by Kalai — June 24, 2008 @ 6:41 am

  8. Veda,
    Ask for “Ambadi” ( Marathi)

    Actually, Ambadi leaves look a bit different from Gongura leaves but the sour taste is same as in Gongura.
    Hope this helps.

    Comment by Anjali Damerla — June 24, 2008 @ 7:33 am

  9. Indira, I have been searching for these leaves since a long time, and my tastebuds are so eager to savor them again. I hope I find them here. We usually prepare ‘Ambada ki Bhaji’ whith these leaves, a similar dish to this recipe of yous. In Urdu we call it ‘Ambada’. Its sour taste is sure very tantalizing.

    Comment by Mona — June 24, 2008 @ 8:12 am

  10. Hi Indira,

    Mouth-watering gongura pappu. My gongura plants are growing in a window box. They seem to be pretty hardy plants since they have been surviving the highs and lows of temperature here in the eastern US. I will try this dal maybe end of this week when they will be ready for plucking. Thanks.

    Comment by Sapna — June 24, 2008 @ 8:29 am

  11. Indira, I make it exactly the same way , except if its erra gongura add some onions and some more garlic cloves. My mouth is watering now 🙂

    Comment by Dee — June 24, 2008 @ 8:31 am

  12. The best dal dish is Gongura pappu. Its my mom’s favorite dish :). We even had days when the menu consisted of Gongura in everything.

    Comment by Balu — June 24, 2008 @ 9:13 am

  13. Hi!! I live in AUstin TX, and would love to learn how to grow Gongura!! Please tell me more. Thanks for this recipe. –Deepa

    Comment by Deepa — June 24, 2008 @ 9:20 am

  14. Wow.. Yes indeed Andhra Meal… I used to have Thella Gongura in my backyard.. Hmm not anymore.. I miss gongura again!!!

    Comment by Kalva — June 24, 2008 @ 11:33 am

  15. Hi Indira,
    Call it coincidence, I just made Gongura pappu on Sunday after a very long drive, and God it tasted like heaven! The recipe was a little diferent though because dear hubby likes tanginess to the extreme. So I added 1 tomato, a little tamarind, along with lots of green chillies. YOu know what I saved some Gonura leaves for myself, so this time I will do it your way. I am pretty sure I am gonna love it. you just make cooking all the more fun with your gorgeous pictures. Thanks to you!

    Comment by Sunitha — June 24, 2008 @ 4:59 pm

  16. Thank u Anjali….

    Comment by Veda — June 24, 2008 @ 7:27 pm

  17. Hi Indira,

    I love your well designed site with mouth watering recipes and pictures and also follow your recipes. The gongura pappu what you have posted reminds me of my mom. She cooks the same way the only difference is she does not use chana dal and urad dal for talimpu.I will try ur way of talimpu this time. I did pick up gongura from apna bazar in bellevue on thursday 🙂
    thank you for sharing recipes 🙂

    Comment by shalini — June 24, 2008 @ 8:32 pm

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    Comment by Cheryl — June 24, 2008 @ 9:15 pm

  19. Hi Indra,

    I am an avid follower of ur blog..Eversince u changed the whole background to white, it is hard to find the links etc on the sides..when are u planning to change the color next ?

    BTW..its a gr8 collection that u have here..

    Comment by Anusha — June 25, 2008 @ 8:49 am

  20. Thank you all for sharing your experiences of gongura (ambadi). Your notes have that same nostalgic taste of gongura. Yum! 🙂

    Hi Deepa: They are easy to grow, but seeds are difficult to obtain here, I think you have to get them from India.

    Comment by Indira — June 25, 2008 @ 5:28 pm

  21. 🙂 You eat mangoes as a sidedish to meals? me tooooo! Love them. Love gongura too.

    Oops, After seeing those lush gongura leaves, I’m craving for some really sour pulichakeerai (gongura) kulambu now. you know, the kind which you put over hot rice with a dollop of ghee or sesame oil? Mmmmmmmmm!

    Comment by Kay — June 27, 2008 @ 7:47 am

  22. I have never tasted gongura pappu. I have only tasted the pickle. Love the pickle. SO this should definitely be yummy. wanna taste it!!

    Comment by Nithu — June 30, 2008 @ 2:43 pm

  23. wow indira, this is a classic andhra dish.gongura leaves and dosakaya(small yellow variety) are the ones that i missed eating growing up in maharashtra. these dishes we would love eating when we came to andhra.keep it up!!

    Comment by srividya — July 1, 2008 @ 9:06 am

  24. Hai Indira, i’m Punitha. New for this site. I enjoyed your gongura pappu recipe with my family. I want to recive your latest issues. Please send me to my mail address. i don’t know the way to subscribe. Thank you.

    Comment by R.Punitha — July 3, 2008 @ 10:50 pm

  25. Hai Indira,

    I tried this yummy gongura but added garlic and onion. Mouthwatering taste.

    I am a regular visitor of your site.

    Comment by Priya Ramji — July 16, 2008 @ 12:33 am

  26. Hi Indira, I love gongura and its wonderful aroma. I like your gongura pappu will try it and post it in my blog. thanks for the recipe. BTW have added u in my blogroll

    Comment by vidhya Iyer — August 9, 2008 @ 1:15 am

  27. Hi Indira,
    Where can we purchase Gongura leaves in US?

    Comment by Manjusha — April 8, 2009 @ 4:39 pm

  28. Hey Indira, Stumbled upon your blog searching for recipe for Mirch Ka Salan – yummy! I was checking out other recipes and saw this post. Amma crushes raw cummin seeds and garlic to a paste and places that ball in the middle of the leaves before closing the lid on the pressure cooker – adds a very distinct taste! Just thought I’d share.

    Comment by Sreedevi — July 24, 2010 @ 8:03 pm

  29. i like it. very nice. thanks for sharing.

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