The kitchen has always been the cornerstone for my household and my family. My mom installed ceiling fans in our Texan kitchen because it’s where everyone congregated, and we used to drag in plug in fans from every room to cool it down… always warm from the stove and oven being on and probably too many bodies in one room. When I moved to Virginia, my first purchase was barstools so I could immediately start hosting my friends. The kitchen is where I start my day and where I end it.
I grew up in a family of great cooks hailing from a region of southeast India (Andhra) and speaking Telugu. My mom is one of the best cooks among them; she can cook any vegetable at least three different ways, and there’s a solid chance she was growing that vegetable in our backyard. We rarely had an empty fridge; there were always leftover curries, rice, and homemade yogurt.
Because she always had food for me, and it would always be the best, I never cooked the Telugu dishes I grew up eating. Even when I moved to college, I was never more than 2 hours away from my mom and her heartwarming meals. It wasn’t until I moved 1,200 miles from my home in Texas to Roanoke, Virginia, that I started to make my own versions of the Telugu food I grew up with.
One of the first “recipes” my mom shared — and by “recipe” I mean ingredients with no known measurements — was “pappu,” or what you might see in a restaurant labeled “dal.” A lentil-based stew flavored with onion, chili peppers, and a spice mix called a tadka or tempering, pappu is easy to make and begging to be modified. It’s a versatile dish that I hope will also become a staple in your home.
— Recipe by Prerana Jasti, Roanoke
Ingredients
Definitions:
Chana dal: split and skinned chickpeas
Ghee: a form of clarified butter
Tadka/tempering: a traditional method of frying whole spices in oil and adding that mixture to the final dish
Tur dal: dried pigeon peas
Urad dal: split black gram
Curry leaves: Indian herb with a unique flavor that has no substitute; simply omit if you cannot find
Ingredients
¼ to ½ yellow or white onion, diced into half-inch pieces
1 serrano pepper, cut in half lengthwise
1 cup tur dal, rinsed
1 teaspoon chili powder
3 cups water
2-3 tablespoons ghee or a neutral oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin
1 teaspoon urad dal
1 teaspoon chana dal
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1-2 curry leaves (stems with leaves)
Salt to taste
Rice for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Dal:
- Add onions and serrano peppers to an Instant Pot with dal, chili powder, and water (you can add any additions at this point too: e.g., tomatoes, squash, etc.).
- Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes and let the pressure naturally release according to your Instant Pot’s instructions. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can cook this in a slow cooker on medium-high until lentils have softened, about three hours.
For the Tadka:
- Add ghee or oil to a small pot or frying pan on medium-low heat.
- Immediately add mustard seeds and wait until they start popping (a very distinct sound, my mom says, “when they go ‘putputputput’”).
- Add the turmeric, cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal and curry leaves if you have them. Cook until the spices are slightly toasted and fragrant, about 60 seconds.
- Add the entirety of the tadka, including the oil/ghee, to the cooked dal.
Add salt to taste and serve with rice!
Notes:
This recipe is easily modifiable, and I encourage everyone to add their own flair to it. You can add any additional vegetables to the dal when it is being pressure cooked. Just make sure to dice any veggies into small pieces and roughly chop greens into ribbons. You don’t need to add any additional water here — they’ll release some on their own.
If you can’t find tur dal, any lentil will work.
You can use any spices you like to flavor the dish; it’s great with just cumin and thinly sliced garlic. You could use ground spices too but would have to be a bit more careful to avoid burning the spices and overpowering the dish.\
