The dancing daal
It’s called the “Kuthipodichu parippu” loosely translated – coarsely mashed/ground daal or lentils. When we were kids we used to call this the “Kuchipudi daal” 😄. This is one of my favourite dishes that mamma makes. She usually makes a light moru curry (yoghurt based curry) to complement the heavy daal. The flavour combination is divine. We could finish both the curries in one meal, there was never any left for dinner no matter how much she made. I’m in the same boat now, where my family also devours this curry with or without the moru curry. If there is no time for another curry, try it with just yoghurt, pickle, pappadam and hot steaming rice. Blisss!!!
Since it is made with lentils, the curry thickens when it’s resting. You may need to adjust the consistency by adding some more water and salt to balance the seasoning, while re-heating.
I like my daal spicy, so i have used 1.5 tsp chilli powder – my powder is a mix of kashmiri chilli powder (non spicy and great color) with normal chilli powder (spicy but not much color). Please adjust the spice based on your preferences.
This is not a complicated one, few ingredients, easy to prep, cook and amazing results. Try it out and let me know.
Kuthipodichu Parippu
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow lentils/tuvar daal
- 400 gms Ash gourd/Kumblanga/Safed bhopla peeled, seeds discarded and chopped into cubes
- Onion 1 medium sized finely chopped
Instructions
- Wash the tuvar daal/yellow lentils and let it soak for atleast 15 minutes
- Meanwhile, peel & wash gourd and discard the seeds, chop into medium sized cubes
- Combine the soaked daal and gourd pieces with turmeric powder and pressure cook for 4 whistles*
- After the steam releases from the cooker, carefully mash the daal with the back of a ladle. Make sure you do not mash it completely, just coarsely. You should see some of the lentils holding its shape.
- In a wide wok, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and asafoetida
- Add the onions, shallots, garlic and curry leaves. Stir the mix and let it fry till the onions are nicely browned
- Reduce the flame to low and add the chilli powder. Let it fry until the color darkens a little bit. around 2 minutes or so. Make sure you do not burn the chilli powder
- Pour the cooked daal, add salt and some more water to adjust its consistency. I added around 1/2 cup of water more
- stir it nicely until it is mixed thorougly and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes until all the flavours blend
- Serve it warm, after it rests for 5-10 minutes with a plate of steaming rice, pappadam some pickle and yoghurt perhaps.
Notes
- If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can cook the lentils/daal on the stove top. Pour 4 cups of water for 1 cup of lentils , bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the lentil softens. But not completely mashed up. It should retain its shape
