Simple dosakaya pappu is a andhra style dal recipe made with cucumber and lentils. It is served with chapathi or rice and ghee.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 7 minutes
  • Cook time: 23 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Side
  • Cuisine: Andhra

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup dal (or pappu (toor dal or moong dal or a mix))
  • 2 ¼ cups water
  • 1 ½ to 2 cups dosakaya (or chopped cucumber)
  • 1 small onion (sliced (optional))
  • 1 medium tomato (chopped (optional))
  • 2 green chilies
  • salt as needed
  • 2 garlic (cloves crushed)
  • ½ tsp mustard
  • ½ tsp cumin (or jeera)
  • 1 to 2 tbsp ghee (or oil)
  • 1 red chili (broken)
  • ½ tsp red chili powder (optional)
  • 1/8 tsp turmeric
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • pinch asafoetida (or hing)

Method

  1. Wash dal few times till the water runs clear.
  2. Wash and peel Cucumber / dosakaya. Cut to quarters, remove the seeds and discard. Chop and add them to the cooker.
  3. Add dal, cucumber, sliced onion, chopped tomato and green chili to the cooker. Pressure cook for 1 to 3 whistles depending on the kind of cooker you use.
  4. If using tamarind, soak it in 4 tbsps water and extract thick juice.
  5. When the pressure releases, Add salt and mash the dal.

Temper Dosakaya Pappu

  1. Heat ghee or oil in a pan, add red chili, mustard and cumin.
  2. When they crackle, add garlic and curry leaves. Allow the curry leaves to turn crisp.
  3. Reduce the flame to low. Then add hing, chili powder, turmeric and salt to the hot ghee.
  4. If using tamarind, you can pour the tamarind juice to the pan and quickly pour everything to the dal.
  5. Stir and cook for a while until the raw smell of chili powder goes off. Dosakaya pappu is ready to serve with rice or chapathi.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.