Pappu Charu comes from the Southern State of Andhra Pradesh and it is almost a daily staple. Pappu means lentils and Charu is the term that is more synonymous to a soup. In other words,
it’s a lentil soup with loads of vegetables and tamarind. It is Andhra version of Tamil Sambar without sambar masala or coconut.
Since I grew up eating this dish almost every week, I remember every step of making it as I have seen my mother cook it many a times. Here is the recipe right from her Kitchen but with a twist where I will be using local root vegetables in it instead of traditional aubergines, carrots and drumsticks.
150 gm red gram lentil/dal/toor dal
1 small red onion, cut into quarters
1 big tomato, cut into quarters
3 green chillies, slit lengthwise
25 gm tamarind, soaked in 100 ml hot water – in case you don’t find fresh tamarind, use 25 ml of tamarind pulp and not concentrate. If you can’t get tamarind in any form, just use juice of 2 lemons and a tsp of sugar.
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 bunch of chopped coriander leaves
350 ml water
salt to taste
50 ml veg oil
Vegetables
100 gm celeriac diced
100 gm parsnip diced
100 gm swede diced
100 gm sweet potato diced
for tempering/tadka:
1 tsp urad dal/black gram dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 torn dried red chilies
1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped
I tbsp chopped ginger
few curry leaves
a pinch of asafeotida/hing
1 tbsp of veg oil or ghee if you are up for it.
Method:
Wash and soak the dal for about 20 mins or so. Boil it in 350 mls of water till soft. It will take about 25 mins.
Meanwhile soak tamarind in 1 cup of hot water. Once the tamarind is soft, press it with a heavy spoon pass it through a sieve. Keep the tamarind water aside
With root vegetables, we could either rub them with some oil and oven roast them on 170 degrees for about 10 minutes or add them to the sauce pot directly.
Heat the oil in a sauce pot. Add the red onions, chilies and tomatoes. After a couple of minutes add root vegetables(if you decided not to roast them). Sauté for 5 minutes on a medium heat.
Add tamarind water, cooked dal along with remaining water, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Check for consistency and if it’s too thick then add little more water. It should be of a thick broth consistency. If you have roasted the root vegetables this is the time they go in.
Bring it to a quick boil and check if the root vegetables are cooked. Time for tempering.
Tempering
Heat oil in a frying pan and add the mustard, cumin seeds, urad dal/black gram dal then add the torn dried red chillies, curry leaves, ginger and garlic.
Once they are golden brown turn off the heat and add asafoetida/hing.
Immediately add the tempering spices along with oil to the pot of lentil soup and mix well.
Check for seasoning one last time and take the pot off the heat.
Serve hot with rice or as an accompaniment to dosa, idli or vadas or just have a bowlful of it as a filling soup.
