Mango Parrupu (dal)- Super Yummy

Mango dal is my all time favorite dal! It just has the right amount of tangy-ness, right amount of spices and makes the best side dish for rice or roti. The best part is that, it doesnt take that long to prepare this. One trick is to get the raw, fresh green mango for this. Thankfully, we get mangos all through the year here.

Ingredients:
Raw mango: 1 big or 2 small
Toor Dal: 1 cup
Onion: 1 medium, diced
Tomato: 1, chopped
Green Chili: 3
Garlic: 3 cloves, roughly mashed
Cilantro/Coriander: handful, washed and chopped
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Salt

For Tadka:
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Channa Dal: 1/2 tsp
Cumin/Jeera: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 2 strings
Asafitida: a pinch
Oil: 2 tbsp

Method:

• Pressure cook the dal/parrupu until dal with 2 cups water until completely cooked (about 20-30mins). 
• Meanwhile, in a pan, heat oil and add everything under "for tadka" in the same order. 
• Now add green chilies and garlic and fry for 30 secs. Now add the chopped onion and fry for a minute. 
• To the above, add tomatoes and diced mango. You can also put the seed in. Stir and cook until mango is cooked and tomatoes are near mashed. You can add water if you like.
• Now add turmeric powder and salt. Stir once. 
• By now, dal would have been cooked. Remove the lid of the pressure cooker (after the steam is gone) and add the mango mixture to the dal. Switch on the stove and bring the dal to boil. You can also add water should you like your dal to be a little watery. 
• Check for salt and add coriander leaves. Switch off the stove. 

Serving suggestions:
1. Parrupu with dal and ghee. You can also add some pickle.
2. Parrupu with roti.
3. You can freeze this and use it even after a week if you want.

Pepper Rasam

For generations we have been making Rasam this simple way. Actually its very easy and hardly takes any time. For every Tamil household, its pretty much a must as a final course. Since my dad hates tamarind, my mom often used to skip this but in my grandmom's place or my K Aunty's place, Rasam is like water; there is no way a day goes by without having Rasam. Even though she was very busy all the time caring for her inlaws, a very demanding son and a super demanding career, she never skipped making Rasam, not even a single day. She used to take a small stone pestle and while coarsely mashing the spices, she used to heat up the pan for making Rasam. In like 5 mins, Rasam is done!!
Rasam aids in digestion. So, if you want you can even drink this steaming hot in a cup. Below Ingredients would serve 2.

Ingredients:
Tamarind pulp: 1 tbsp
Water: 3 cups
Tomato: 1 ripe, medium, mashed with hand
Garlic cloves: 3, mashed
Coriander leaves: handful, coarsely chopped
Cumin/jeera powder: 2 tsp (if possible, freshly grounded)
Pepper powder: 1 tsp (if possible, freshly grounded)
Turmeric: just a pinch
Salt: 1 tsp or as needed per your taste

Mix the above all in a bowl one by one and keep aside. At this stage, you can also check if the salt is sufficient and also check if the sourness from tamarind pulp is sufficient.

Tadka/Tempering:
Oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seed: 1 tsp
Jeera/cumin: 1 tsp
Asafitida/hing: a small pinch
Curry eaves: 1 string
Red chilies: 1 broken into 2 pieces

Heat oil in a pot and add mustard seeds and when they start to dance around add cumin seeds, red chili and hing followed by curry leaves. Now add the water mixture you have prepared in the above step.
Reduce the flame to medium and keep an eye on Rasam. Switch off the stove when you see the foam forming in Rasam, about to boil in a minute (Like shown in the picture). The best tasting Rasams are never allowed to boil. Remove the pot from the stove and cover it for about 10. Serve hot with rice, mango pickle and papad...emmmm bliss!