Mango Soya milk

Soya milk is very good for health and is prescribed as a low fat and protein rich drink in most of the diets. Soya milk tastes different from the normal milk. Mango Soya milk tastes awesome. For those who don’t like milk, Soya milk is the best alternative.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 5 - 10 mins

Ingredients:

Medium sized ripe and yellow Mangoes 1 or 2
Chilled Soya Milk (soya paalu) 1 cup(250 ml)
Cardamoms (elaichi) 2
Crushed almond/Almond powder (badam powder) 1tsp
Sugar to taste
Ice cubes (Optional)




Method:

Slice the mango and keep aside. Incase of the juicy varieties of mangoes, squeeze the juice out and keep aside.

Now into the juice jar of the mixie/juicer/blender, add the chopped slices of the mangoes or the juice extracted from the mangoes. To this add 4 ice cubes (optional for extremely chilled). Add 1 cup of chilled Soya milk. Add Cardamoms and ½ a tsp of Almond powder/crushed almonds. Add sugar to taste. Generally, Soya milk itself is sweet and mangoes are also sweet. Sugar can be added accordingly.
Now grind/blend the ingredients together till they make a thin liquid mixture.

Take into the serving glass, garnish with a few crushed Almonds/badam powder, few small pieces of mango and serve.

Sweet and chilly, Mango Soya milk is a refreshing evening drink and good for the health too. A getaway from the sweltering heat and a treat to the sweet tooth.

Channa dal khichdi

Channa dal khichdi is a popular punjabi recipe. A rice item that is apt for lunch, Channa dal khichdi is a simple recipe which is easily digestible too.

We learnt this one from Arpit’s grandmother. This recipe is dedicated to dadi, always remembered for this special dish.

Preparation time: 15-20 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:
Chick peas (Kabuli Channa/ senagalu) 1 cup (150 gms)
Raw Rice (Chawal/biyyam) 1 cup (150 gms)
Finely chopped onion 1
Black Cardamom (Bada elaichi) 2
Pepper powder (miryala podi) ½ tsp
Ghee/refined cooking oil 2 tsp
Cumin seeds(jeera/jeelakarra) 1 tsp
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste


Method:

Wash and soak the chick peas for 2 hours.

Place a pressure cooker on the stove. Add 2 tsps of ghee/ refined cooking oil. Once hot, add cumin seeds and black cardamom. Add finely chopped onions and sauté.

As the onions turn golden brown, add a pinch of turmeric, pepper and salt to taste and mix well. Add the chickpeas and leave to cook for 5 mins.

Add raw rice and mix well. Add water equal to double the quantity of rice used.

Pressure cook up to 1 whistle.

Khichdi is done. Channa dal khichdi goes well with plain curds or any of the raithas and gravy curries. Dadi’s style of serving was however with onions and thick plain curds. The sweet taste of curds, with the pungent onions and hot khichidi is still an ever lasting memory in all our hearts.

Aam Ka panna/Raw mango juice

This is a popular summer special dish. Raw mango juice is very good during summers because it cools the system down.

Serves 2

Ingredients:-

Medium sized raw mango 1
Sugar 4tsp
Cardamom ½ tsp
cumin powder (jeera powder) 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Ice cubes to serve

Method:-

Boil the mangoes without peeling but chopping off the black corners at the head and bottom. The mango can be properly pressure cooked to make preparation easier.

Once the mango is boiled , then peel the mango(The peel comes off easily) Collect the mashed mango pulp into a vessel removing the peel and seed. Now mash thoroughly. Add a pinch of salt , 2-3 tsps sugar and a pinch of cardamom and keep in refrigerator.

After around 1-2 hours, take the mango mixture into serving tumbler up to half the tumbler. For the remaining half add water and mix well. Add sugar if required. Add ice cubes and sprinkle cumin powder and serve.

Fresh and refreshing, Raw mango juice beats the heat not just of summers but also the IPL final between Bengaluru and Hyderabad……..Wonder whom we got to support!!!??!!

Baby Potato Methi Rice

We have already seen a recipe each of baby potatoes and fenugreek leaves or methi leaves, called menthikura in telugu and menthin soppu in kannada. As the name suggests, Baby potato methi is flavoured rice.

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 20-25 mins




Ingredients:

Baby potatoes 5-6
Fenugreek leaves (menthikura) 1 bunch
Rice 150 gms/1 cup
Refined cooking oil 2 tsps
Red chilles 2
Mustard seeds ( aavalu) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeelakarra/jeera) 1 tsp
Black gram(uddi pappu/urad dal) 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Fenugreek seeds(menthulu) ½ tsp
Vangibath powder/sambar powder 3-4 tsp
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

Method:

Pressure cook the rice and baby potatoes without peeling in separate containers for 3 whistles.

Once cooled, Peel the baby potatoes. Pluck the Fenugreek leaves.

In a kadai/pan (bandli/mookudu) add cooking oil. Once hot add mustard seeds and once they splutter add the cumin seeds, black gram, red chillies, curry leaves and fenugreek seeds.

Add a pinch of turmeric and the fenugreek leaves and sauté for 2 mins. Please note that the fenugreek leaves do not make a lump but a dry kind of mixture. Add the baby potatoes and sauté. Add salt to taste and mix well. Leave on simmer to cook for a min.

Now add 3-4 tsps of sambar powder (depending on the spice required) and mix well. If vangibath powder is available, it can be used instead of sambar powder, but each has its own taste and aroma though. Leave for a min and switch the stove off.

Now add the boiled rice and mix well.

Baby potato Methi rice is done.

Baby potato Methi rice can be had with any chutneys/raithas or even gravy curries. Baby potato Methi rice is the best for packed lunch boxes as fenugreek is a digestive and baby potato adds glamour to the food. Rice as already mentioned cools the system. It is filling too. Amma always gave it to us for our lunch and this is indeed her recipe.

Kobbari Pachadi/Coconut chutney

Coconut chutney is the best supplement to dosas, idlis, vadas, upma or any other South Indian snack and in fact form the core of a South Indian break fast menu.


Ingredients:

Fresh coconut (Pachi kobbari/hasi kobbri) 1 cup
Raw mango cut into average sized cubes 2 cubes
Split Chick peas (putnala pappu/bhooni chana dal) 1 spoon
Green chillies 2
Fresh Coriander 4 strands
Refined cooking oil 2 tsps
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Black gram( urad dal/uddi pappu) 1 tsp
Red chillies 2
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste

Method:

Fresh coconut pieces or grated fresh coconut can be taken.

Grind together the fresh coconut, 2 cubes of the raw mango, split chick peas (putnala pappu), green chillies, salt to taste and fresh coriander chopped.

In a kadai/Pan make tempering. Heat 2 tsps oil, add mustard seeds and once they splutter add a tsp of black gram, red chillies, curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida.

Season the coconut chutney with the above tempering and serve. Coconut chutney has freshly ground coconut as the main ingredient and cannot be stored for longer than half a day to a day.

As Known, Coconut chutney goes well with any of the South Indian snacks, but it tastes great when mixed with rice and a tsp of oil and eaten with chips.

Dosas

Well, Dosas need no introduction. The most popular breakfast, snack and sometimes even dinner, it is synonymous with South Indian cuisine.

We learnt making dosas from Rathna mummy, our maternal grandma and it’s a fact that the world would accept: Her dosas were the best food in the world. Even Vidyarthi bhavan dosas at Gandhi nagar in Bengaluru or the drive in Woodlands dosas at Chennai are nothing in comparison.

We still reminisce those childhood days when we alighted at cantonment station to see a gleaming Babu, our grandpa, who would take us home where mummy was already ready and waiting with piping hot dosas , rubbed with home made butter and gulped with chutney podi. That was our regular summer vacation and the dosas actually implied a beginning for our summer vacation.



Ingredients:

Raw rice (preferably the South Indian varities: sona masoori/ponni) 2 cups
Black gram (uddi pappu/minapappu/urad dal) 1 cup
Beaten rice (Poha/atukulu/avlakki) 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds (methi/menthulu) 1 tsp
Refined cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and soak 2 cups of raw rice, 1 cup of black gram, 1 cup of beaten rice separately for 3-4 hrs. Add a tsp of fenugreek seeds to the raw rice while soaking.

Now grind into a fine paste all the above to make dosa batter. The batter shoud not be very loose or very hard. It should be of milk shake consistency, easy to spread on the pan to bake the dosas. Add a pinch of salt and mix the batter well. Cover and store in a moisture free place for 10-12 hrs for the batter to ferment. After 10-12 hours, it is advisable to keep the batter in the refrigerator so that it doesn’t get spoilt.

Heat the pan/dosai tava for a min or two and take a ladle or two of the batter and spread in circular motion. The more the batter is spread, the thinner and crispier the dosas. Depending of the fluffiness required, spread accordingly. (The fluffier, spread lesser and vice versa).

After spreading the batter, add oil all around and allow the dosa to bake. Turn the dosa after a min. Now the outer crust in brown and the inner is done. Remove the dosa and serve. Continue the process for as many dosas as required. (Please cook on simmer for better results)

The batter when kept in the refrigerator shall stay for 3-4 days.

Dosas are best with Coconut chutney, tomato chutney, mango chutney, onion chutney and even sambar. But we shall always cherish the buttered dosa and chutney podi that Rathna mummy used to feed us.

Mamidikaya pulihara/ Mango rice

Pulihara is the most popular rice item in Andhra homes.Whether a festival or a celebration, or breakfast or lunch or for the tiffin box, or for an evening snack or for dinner having guests at home, pulihara is the first thing that comes to every Andhra wife’s mind. And yes it is a must have dish anyway.

Maamidikaya pulihara or mango rice is made from raw mango. We learnt this recipe from Pratyoosha’s Mother in law and thank you amma for this simplest and splendid recipe.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 10-15 mins.

Ingredients:

Rice 150 gms/1 cup
Medium sized raw mango 1
Refined cooking oil 2-4tsps
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Green chillies 2
Red chillies 2
Groundnuts (palli/kallekai) 1 tsp
Black gram(uddi pappu/urad dal) 1 tsp
Bengal gram(Senaga bedalu/chana dal) 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

Fresh and chopped coriander to garnish

Method:

Pressure cook the rice. Wash and peel the mango. Grate the mango. Slit the green chillies.

Once the rice is cooked, take into a shallow dish/vessel/plate, add salt to taste and a pinch of turmeric and mix well. Keep aside.

Now in a kadai/pan (bandli/mookudu) Add 2-4 tsps oil. Once oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and once they splutter, add the cumin seeds, ground nuts, black gram, Bengal gram, green chillies, red chillies and curry leaves and saute.

Season the rice with the above tempering, add the grated raw mango and mix well with hands or a big ladle so that the mango and rice are bound together.

Garnish with fresh coriander and mango rice is ready to serve.

Being a Rice item, any of the gravy curries will go well with it. But the traditional way and probably the “right” way is to have maamidikaya pulihara as it is. Tangy rice as the name pulihara suggests is tangy the mango way.

It is advisable to have more of rice and less of breads during summer. This is because rice cools the system while rotis etc create heat in the body leading to acidity, indigestion and other related health problems. The ones on diet can have lesser quantities of rice mixed is more quantities of curds if rotis are really inevitable.

Fatafat Aloo

Back to our recipes, and here is another North Indian curry. A gravy curry, as the name suggests it a quick and instant preparation. Thank you Parul for the wonderful recipe.

Preparation time: 25-30 mins

Serves 2
Ingredients:

Potatoes 2
Tomatoes 2
Cardomom(Balck Elaichi) 1
Cumin seeds 1tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander(Dhania) powder 1 tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp
Refined cooking oil 4 tsp
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste
Fresh Coriander to garnish

Method:

Wash and dice the potatoes into cubes. Grate the tomatoes

In a pressure cooker add 4 tsp cooking oil. Once the oil is hot add cumin seeds (jeera/jeelakarra) and once they splutter add the cardamom (kaali/badi elaichi) and saute once.

Add the grated tomatoes and allow to cook properly. This may take upto 4-5 mins.Add salt to taste and leave the tomatoes to turn into a saucy paste. This may take 1-2 mins.

Add red chilli powder, coriander (dhania) powder, a pinch of turmeric and garam masala and mix well.

Now add the diced potato cubes and mix well. Add 1/4th to ½ a cup water (depending on the consistency of the gravy required) and close the pressure cooker and cook upto 3 whistles.

Once done, take into serving dish and garnish with fresh coriander.

Fatafat aloo is a saucy,spicy side dish that tastes great with any of the Indian Bread. But it tastes greatest with flavored rice or even plain rice.

Enchanting Egypt

A small deviation from our regular recipe posts - this is a travelogue on our most memorable and exciting Egypt trip.


**


We reached Kuwait airport at around 5 pm and the flight to Sharm el Sheikh took off at 6.45 pm as scheduled. To our amusement, we found just 9 people on board including the two of us!

We reached Sharm at around 8.30 pm and by the time we reached our resort it was 9.30 pm. The resort looks like heaven. It is damn beautiful. We then settled down in our quarter 701. So wonderful and cozy. I feel I should stay here longer. :) Good night

Surprisingly we found a capsicum cheese pizza at 1 in the night, that too veggie, & OMG in Egypt.

*

We had a wonderful fruit filled breakfast & set out with Albert to Sharm. We drove past Nama bay which is the centre of SES. Before that we also drove past the Sahara mountains. The terrain of SES is surprising as it not only has a wonderful beach and sea but also hills and mountains. We reached the old market, where I bought this book; rather he actually searched, found and bought me one. I also spotted two Indian restaurants, a NOVOTEL and a Marriot here at Nama bay. SES as I realize is at the tip of Egypt. It is a part of what is called the Sinai Peninsula.

We took the old ring road which heads towards Cairo to enter the desert. Like in Kuwait, habitation in Egypt is more towards the sea and lessens towards the desert. SES seemed more of a European tourist destination & not very populated otherwise.

We set out on a camel ride on the desert. At the nick of the time I got scared and I couldn’t get on to the camel. I wasted 800 rupees!! But he didn’t say anything. He enjoyed the ride. But the camel was very rugged and his legs were aching after the 40 min ride.

We then reached the McDonalds at Nama bay. As usual we didn’t find any veggie food. We ordered some garden salad and orange juice. It was a quick bite before the submarine.

The climate at SES is quite pleasant. There was a chilly breeze in the morning but the noon was quite sunny and warm.

After the quick bite, we headed straight to the submarine. There it was amazing. We got to the underwater world. I have no words to describe this. And my pics don’t even depict anything from what we actually got to see. Different kinds of corals and a wonderfully abundant number of fishes. Marine life is so beautiful. Except for the gold fish and zebra fish and banana fish, I can’t even get to remember the names of the fish… There were so many… big, small, colorful, colorless, but what is amazing about fishes is every specie has its own build and all the fishes in that particular specie will have that uniform build. They are not fat or thin like us! :)

After this amazing hour, we reached the most memorable part of our trip. I shall cherish this for the whole of my life… Yes!! The Dolphin show. An amazing family of 3 – Papa dolphin, mama dolphin and baby dolphin. They stole our hearts with their hilariously enchanting feats. You blink an eye and you would have missed a lot… I thoroughly enjoyed trying to catch a click of every of these innumerable tricks. An entertainment I never had but would never forget later. It indeed made our “honeymoon” sweeter!!

We then came back to the resort, though it was dark by then, we still tried venturing into the beach. An unimpressive attempt though.

After a tasteless, rather menu less dinner, a forced intake of food just as it was necessary we had it, we went to bed early.

*

12.30 am – The alarm rang and we got up and changed it into 12.45, then we changed it to 1. Yes and when the alarm rang at 1, we had to get up, for we couldn’t delay anymore. By 2.30 am we were fresh and ready and checked out of the room on a get, set, go!!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…. Yes it was chilly cold and very very icy. We had planned for something else and we were doing something else, as is always the case. We had planned to enjoy a beach side holiday and what were we doing? Driving through the dark roads of Egypt that pass through different kinds of terrain. It was dark, it was cold, we know not what was along the road, and sometimes they seemed mountains, sometimes water and sometimes desert. Nothing was visible and yes of course we were shivering!!! The only thing we could do was to cover ourselves with the towels we had taken to enjoy at the beach. We were also racing against time and that made it even colder…

After the 5 hour long journey and as the sun had just shone up a few minutes ago, our car stopped. Albert was enquiring the way from someone. It was all foggy. As we turned right to see actually where we were. And what did we see??

Through the fog, a misty glimpse of the PYRAMIDS!!! A gigantic mountain like structure stood just a couple of km away from us and beyond the fog… It was so beautiful! I couldn’t capture this on my camera as it was too hazy for anything to come into the picture.

Albert found his, or rather our direction and he took us towards the pyramids. There we hired a Tonga or a horse carriage to take us around. Though a little expensive, it was really useful and fun… The Tonga took us to the entrance and we got down and bought the ticket and entered through the so called security check. To the other side, the Tonga was waiting for us and we climbed in again. Our guide was the horse man and his English was not very clear. However, we tried hard and understood as much as possible. A thorough look at the info providing websites is utmost necessary anyway. We were first driven past the biggest pyramid, that of the King. It is called the great pyramid from what I could collect. It was open with an entrance to look into the tomb. From what I could understand from what the guide explained to us in his English was that the pyramids were actually tombs built to bury the dead bodies of the Kings, Queens, ministers and other in the royal family and King’s courts. There are a total of 96 pyramids in Egypt alone, 6 here at Giza and the remaining over 20 km away from there. The 6 at Giza are 3 big ones of the King, Queen and the minister and 3 small ones, no idea of whose these were. It took nearly 30 years for the pyramids to be built. There are 2 different kinds of stones used, one is granite, the others name starts with A, unheard by me and I was unable to catch it then. These heavy stones were brought in all the way from Luxor. It took 10 years to bring the stones, 10 to cut them into blocks and 10 to assemble to build the gigantic pyramids. The second pyramid though looked bigger than the 1st one (the reason I shall mention later) was polished at the tip on top. It is said that one Mohd. Ali did something to bring out that look and so it held his masjid inside. Now the 1st pyramid is 166 m high, where as the 2nd one is only 148 m and the reason why the 2nd looks bigger than the 1st one. We drove past the 3rd pyramid, which actually had the 3 small pyramids before it, into the Sahara desert, the greatest desert in the world. As we were busy clicking the biggest desert, we were told to turn around and have a look by our guide. And wow!!! We could see all the pyramids together, a breathtaking view!! After a photo session we rode back to the 3rd pyramid and the 3 pyramids before that. There was another guide there who took us around and showed us a few interesting things. We climbed the pyramids and then alighted. It was exciting, though it was not till the tip. To the right of this pyramid we saw, the remains of what we were told were the funeral temples built for burying all those who died during the construction of the pyramids, while working on the field. We had a look round this place and were shown where actually and how the mummies were buried and an account of innumerable jewels and other things removed from there. These pyramids were built 5000 years ago. And the architectural promise is just so amazing.

After this short but informative round, we rode back along the Pyramids saying a bye bye. But wait a minute! The Tonga was going down the lane in a different direction from where we had come and then we got to see the Sphinx. An architectural marvel!!

It is said that the excavation of the Sphinx revealed a whole story of a dynasty and gave historians a completely new direction of what actually prevailed 5000 years ago. Here we saw it had the body of a lion and the face of the Pharaoh.

After this we rode back to our car and said a thank you to the house and were driven to a perfume shop. There we had a look of the different essences they had and were given an overview of how perfume is made. Though not very informative, it was fun, especially because we got to try out the different scents. And by the time we got to the car, we had variably smelly hands.  We then drove to a papyrus showroom, where we were told about the making of paper and the paintings at display. The natural and ancient method of making paper seemed rather interesting and nice to know. The stem of the papyrus plant is peeled and cut into long pieces and soaked in water for 6 days to ensure the loss of sugar content. These long pieces are then stuck together horizontally and vertically and covered by two cotton/woolen sheets to help binding. They are kept under a hard box to ensure they stick. In ancient times, animal skins and stones were used respectively. After a polished denial to buy anything, we returned to the car and drove through Cairo to the Egyptian museum.

We were short of time and already half tired, so we just had a look around the museum, a whole single round took us a complete 1 hour!! A big and beautiful one, I agree, that it is a must visit on an Egyptian tour and if interested and patient, it may take 6 – 7 hours to go around the museum.

We got back to the car and were all set to get back to SES. As drove through Cairo, we were shocked at the evidently vast difference between Cairo and SES. Disorganized traffic, oldest of the car puffing their way through the busy roads, crowded and people living in half constructed or even just bricked, it all reminded us of our homeland and the striking similarity was evident by the flyovers constructed badly and to nowhere!!

But as we drove through, we saw the Nile River, the longest river in the world!! Wowww!

After a short drive along the longest river, we were out of Cairo on our way back to SES. It was day light and we could see what we were passing through. We first passed through a tunnel built under the Suez Canal. We then drove along the Suez Canal toward the Sinai Peninsula. It was a beautiful view, though we had no time to stop and see. We also drove past the memorial built for the soldiers who lost their lives during the 2nd world war. The tunnel ride was wonderful and exciting. The famous suez tunnel goes beneath the canal and it another man made marvel!The 1st time we also got to see some greenery and paddy fields of Egypt.

We then had to drive through the Sinai mountains to enter SES. This drive was excellent. High mountains on one side and the Suez Canal, later merging into the Red Sea on the other. As we drove through the Sinai mountains, we stopped at a mountain called the Moses Eye. It seems that there is a hot water spring below the mountain from where water is taken and this steam of the water and the sand of the mountain are used to cure various ailments like Rheumatism, Arthritis, etc We also drive in between the mountains and again caught the road with the sea on one hand and mountains on another.

As we neared SES, it was almost past 5 and we got to see the sunset. This is the first time that I have seen such a colorful sunset. To the right we had the sea where the sun was setting painting the sky in hues of bright orange and yellow. Underneath was a clearly blue clearly blue sea and above was a not yet dark blue sky turning gray. To the left, was the line of mountains painted in different colors of red, purple, pink, blue and brown!! Oh! So beautiful and breath taking!! My God!!

We reached SES by 6, exchanged the money to be paid to Albert, as we hadn’t planned the Cairo trip before, packed some food at Taj Mahal, an Indian restaurant at Sharm El Sheikh and got dropped at the airport 2 and a half hours before the flight scheduled time. We gulped the vegetable biryani, which was fantastic for Egyptian standards but palatable for Indian standards, checked in and boarded the Al Jazeera flight 513 to Kuwait and get back home… The icing on the cake, our flight arrived two hours before the scheduled time at Kuwait!!! We had traveled 1200 km and 729 miles in 24 hrs.

A never dreamt of trip, the memories that we will cherish forever, the pictures that I may spend hours explaining and showing Neehari, and a great beginning of the New Year…
This trip is my 1st trip in the new year, 1st after my wedding, 1st international trip, 1st time I went to another continent, 1st time he saw a wonder of the world and the 1st time I could sustain in the chilly, icy weather!!!

With so many 1st, this is our sweetest journey the memories of which will make the journey of our life also the sweetest…

Thank you Pavan and Thank you God

Om Namo Narayanaya

**

A few things that this 2 day experience taught me

1. If there is a will, there is a way
2. Time vs. money, time is important
3. Be patient, be firm
4. Never have two minds
5. Vegetarians can live anywhere in the world
6. For a good revision of Geography textbooks, Egypt excursions are a must
7. Amitabh Bachchan is world famous
8. The Israeli & Palestinian talks were on in SES all this while!!

Mamidikaya Pappu/Mango Dal

Back to our raw mango recipes, maamidikaya pappu is the most common summer dish made in Andhra. No summer in an Andhra home is complete without making this dish at least a dozen times.

Serves 2

Preparation time 25 – 30 mins

Ingredients

Medium sized raw mango 1
Pigeon peas (kandipappu/toor dal) 50 gms/1 cup
Refined cooking oil 4 tsp
Red chillies 2
Mustard seeds (avaalu) 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera/jeelakarra) 1 tsp
Black gram (uddi pappu/minapappu/urad dal) 1 tsp
Curry leaves 4-5
Red Chilli powder 2 tsp
Pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

Method I

Wash, peel and cut the mango into average sized cubes.

Pressure cook pigeon peas

In a kadai/pan (bandli/mookudu) add 4 tsps of oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add cumin seeds, black gram, curry leaves and red chillies. Once the tempering is done, add a pinch of turmeric and sauté. Now add mangoes and sauté so as to absorb the oil. Add salt to taste and ½ a cup of water and leave with a closed lid for the mangoes to cook and turn soft.

Once the mangoes are cooked add the boiled pigeon peas and mix well. Leave for 5 mins to cook. Add 2 tsps of red chilli powder (more if more spice is required or if the mangoes are too tangy) and mix. Leave for 2 mins and switch the stove off.

Method II:


Some times when there is limitation of time the mango cubes can be pressure cooked along with the pigeon peas and added to the above tempering together. In such a case, once added to the tempering, salt to taste and 1/4th cup of water shall be added and the dal shall be left to cook for 5 mins before adding red chilli powder.

After adding chilli powder, mix well and leave for 2 mins.

Mango dal or mamidikaaya pappu is best eaten with rice mixed with a tsp of oil or ghee. It also tastes great with any of the Indian breads.