Mamidikaya Pappu (Andhra Stye Dal With Raw Mango)

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! Wayyy back in 2009, when there was a dearth of projects in Poona, a couple of friends (a bloke, Reads-technical-documentation-when-he's-bored and a girl, Ms. Topper) and I were transferred to Hyderabad for a bit to work on a project, with the promise that we would be brought right back, the moment something turned up here. So we (grudgingly) packed our bags, bid our family & friends goodbye, and took off for Hyderabad for the very first time in our lives.

We landed at the airport, and after what felt like a 16 hour taxi ride through traffic, we reached our guest house, which was to be our home for a week until we found ourselves places of our own. The next day, we started scouring the internet and newspapers, looking for adverts on places to rent, even randomly walking up to and quizzing security guards of respectable looking buildings, but came up empty. With our one week running out, we sought the help of a real estate and letting agent, who after taking money off us just to show us around, gave us what felt like a tour of the seediest places in the city. As panic set in, we ditched the agent and went back to feverishly poring over the newspapers, and to our good fortune, found an advert for a paying guest accommodation fairly close to the office, owned by a little old lady who also had an indoor pool and a little herbal clinic on the premises. Unfortunately, it was a 'boys only' place so only Reads-technical-documentation-when-he's-bored and I could move in, but fortunately, a family in the building across the lane had an apartment there they were looking to rent out, that Ms. Topper didn't hate, and we were all sorted.

In a couple of days, we had fallen into a routine of sorts, we'd go to work in the morning, come back in the evening, after which Reads-technical-documentation-when-he's-bored and I would go for a swim, then have dinner, and crash. Now, Reads-technical-documentation-when-he's-bored didn't know how to swim at the time so I offered to teach him, saying that I'd have him swimming in 10 days if he picked up the tab on our visit to a restaurant we wanted to try out. He consented. I taught him in 8 days and the salli boti I made him pay for still makes my mouth water. As used to the place as we were getting, I still missed home, in particular, playing football with my team. There was an inter-corporate tourney on that I didn't want to miss, so every other weekend, on a Friday evening, I'd take a 10 hour bus ride to Poona, play our matches on Saturday and Sunday, and take the bus back on Sunday night to be in the office on Monday morning. 

As tiring as it was, it wasn't really a bad stint (it was quite short really, since I got called back in about a month!), and in between the exhaustion of travelling and work, I ate some fantastic food; beautiful biryanis, spicy curries, gorgeous kebabs, and of course, dal, all devoured with gusto!

This recipe is for a simple, delightfully tangy Andhra style dal that is cooked with raw mango.

For my Mamidikaya Pappu, you will need the following:

Toor dal                            1 cup

Raw mango                       1 medium

Mustard seeds                    1 tbsp

Green chillies                      2-3

Garlic                                2 cloves

Dried red chillies                 3-4

Haldi                                1-2 tsp 

Curry leaves                       small handful

Salt                                  to taste    

Ghee                              

 

Prep:

1. Pop the dal in a pressure cooker and wash it 2 or 3 times with cold water.
2. Cut the raw mango (skin and all) into cubes. Hang on to the seed.
3. Chop the green chillies.
4. Slice the garlic.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung the pressure cooker on.
3. Add water to the cooker so that the dal is submerged under about 2 fingers of water.
4. Plop in the raw mango cubes, the seed, and a sprinkle in some salt.
5. Slap the lid on and crank the burner up to high.
6. Listen closely for 4 manly whistles.
7. Turn the burner off.
8. As you wait for the residual steam to leave the pressure cooker, turn on another burner.
9. Bung a pan on.
10. Splash in some ghee. (Scratch that. A lot of ghee!)
11. Count to 20.
12. Toss in the mustard seeds.
13. Roll in the green chillies.
14. Throw in the curry leaves.
15. Add in the garlic.
16. Break and pop in the red chillies.
17. Sprinkle on the haldi powder.
18. Cook for a few minutes.
19. Turn off the burner.
20. Unlock the pressure cooker lid. 
21. Turn the burner on.
22. Fish out the mango seed.
23. Scrape the dal off it.
24. Bin it. (the seed, not the dal!)
25. Add water to the dal if it's gone too thick, or dry off the excess if it's too watery.
26. Mix in the contents of your pan.
27. Add salt to taste and simmer for a few. (Tossing in 2-3 vertically sliced chillies would not be the worst idea.)
28. Turn off burner.
29. Serve with rice or rotis.
30. Stuff face.
31. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: If your raw mango is really big, don't put the seed in. You don't want it becoming so tangy that that's all you can taste.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!