Muddi Palya

        Muddi Palya or Pappu ( Known in Telugu) is a very famous side dish cooked with greens and lentils and eaten with rice. This in particular is a very common recipe in Central Karnataka like Bellary, Raichur etc.

        There are various methods to cook this. I have presented here the one without onion and garlic. Various green leafy vegetables like Spinach (Palak) , Fenugreek (methi) and Amaranthus (Dantu/ Rajgiri) can be used.

Ingredients:

Methi Leaves chopped - 1 bowl
Toor Dal - 1/2  bowl
Tamarind - 1 lemon size
Rice Flour - 2 tsp
Salt to taste

For Tempering:

Red Chillies - 5 to 6
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Channa Dal - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Hing (Asafoetida)

For the masala:

Desiccated Fresh Coconut - 2 tbsp
Green Chillies - 3 to 4
Dhaniya Powder - 2 tsp
Jeera Powder - 2 tsp
Coriander chopped - 2 tsp
Ginger - 1/2 inch

(Note: You can also add garlic to the above masala)

Method:

Cook the toor dal and keep aside. Soak the tamarind in water.

Ground all the masala ingredients in a grinder.

Wash the methi leaves and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, channa dal and urad dal. Also add turmeric, hing and red chllies. Now add the methi leaves. Add sufficient water and cook till the methi leaves are done.

Once the methi leaves are cooked, add the toor dal and the ground paste.

Mix the rice flour to the tamarind paste and add it to the pan. Add Salt. Simmer for around 5 more mins. Serve hot with rice and tamarind thokku.

Note: You can also substitute corn flour to rice flour. This is used only to thicken the dish.

2. You can also cook the methi leaves in the beginning and add the tempering at the end for the red chillies to remain crisp.