I am finally getting around to posting the recipe for pappu charu which is an Andhra dish that is a cross between rasam and sambar. Pappu means dal and charu means rasam. We had it the other night with Andhra style tindora and rice. I had decided to find a dish to go with the tindora fry (the recipe I used said it went well with dal or sambar) and this recipe for pappu charu on Tummykhush looked perfect! I modified it a little to suit our tastes. It is really garlicky and delicious!

1 cup toor dal
2 tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon rasam powder (you can find this at Indian grocery stores)
1 tablespoon tamarind
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon chana dal
1 teaspoon urad dal
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek
5 dried red chilis
Pinch hing (asafoetida)
7-8 curry leaves
5 garlic pods cut into little chunks (not too small)
1/4 cup coriander leaves

1. Add dal and water up 1/4 of the way in a pressure cooker (a friend of ours said that you don’t really need the oil if you use less water and she was right, it barely foamed at the top!). Pressure cook for about 9 minutes after the first whistle. Blend with an immersion blender.
2. Add tomatoes, turmeric, rasam powder, tamarind, sugar and salt and cook until the tomatoes are cooked down.
3. Meanwhile heat the oil in a small pan.
4. Add the chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, jeera and fenugreek and cook over medium heat until the dals get golden and the mustard seeds start to pop.
5. Add the dried red chilis, hing and curry leaves and cook for a few seconds.
6. Add the garlic and cook over medium low heat until the garlic is soft and a little brown.
7. Throw this into the dal, stir and top with coriander leaves.