50th Post and Mamidikaya pappu / Mango Dal

My 50th post. Its taken me 7 months to get to this. A bit too long for a lot of you. But its OK for me. I am happy I am still posting after 7 months. I haven't given up... yet.

When V was staying in India, my parents told me that Mamidikaya Pappu was one of his favourite dish. I had totally forgotten about this. P was working on Saturday. So I took V and went to the Asian shop first thing in the morning. I was there by 10. Not many people had been there so every thing was still fresh.

I saw these small green mangoes and thought I bought them on instinct. I wanted to make this dal and see if V still likes it. I am so glad I bought the mangoes. V absolutely enjoyed it. He doesn't eat on his own anyway. We need to keep him busy and feed him.

Its extremely easy to prepare as well. I guess I'll be making this more often - atleast till V gets tired of it. Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
1 cup Toor Dal - washed
1Kg small green Mangoes - the tangy variety - cut into bite size pieces
3 Green Chillies - slit vertically
1 Onion - chopped
2 tsp Chopped Tomatoes
1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
2 tsp Cumin Seeds
20 Curry Leaves
1/2 tsp Hing
2 tbsp Oil
Chopped Coriander Leaves to garnish
Salt to taste

Method

1. Pressure cook Toor Dal, Mangoes, Chillies, Onion and Hing in 3 cups of water for 3 to 4 whistles.
2. Once its cooked, mash well.
3. In another pan, add Oil.
4. Once hot, add the Fenugreek Seeds, Mustard Seeds and Cumin Seeds.
5. Once they crackle, add the Curry Leaves and fry for a minute.
6. Now add the chopped tomoato and cook till the oil separates.
7. Add this to the cooked dal, add salt, mix well.
8. Add a cup of water and boil till you get the desired consistency.
9. If you feel the "tanginess" is not enough, add some lime juice.
10. Garnish with Coriander leaves.
11. Serve hot with Rice and Ghee or Roti.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did. I made small rice balls for V. I generally do this so I can feed him fast. But this time, he picked up and started eating them on his own. We were shocked. Here's how his rice balls looked.