Dosakaya Pappu/Lemon Cucumber Yellow Lentil curry

Second Lemon Cucumber from the yard and I had to make dal! Simple and wholesome and so tasty! Traditionally South Indian dal uses tamarind but I don’t use it in most of my cooking. Here is my version of the dish.

Dosakaya: 1/2 large, around 150 gms
Onion: 1/2 large, chopped
Green chillies: 2, slit
Tomato: 1, chopped
Toor dal/kandi pappu/yellow lentils/pigeon peas/red gram: 1/2 cup, washed and drained
Ghee: 1tbsp

Tempering:

Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Garlic pods: 2 crushed
Spilt urad dal (split black gram): 1/2 tsp
Chana dal (split bengal gram): 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies: 2, broken into bits
Curry leaves: 1 stalk
Asafetida: 1 dash

Heat Ghee in a pressure cooker. Once hot, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Next, add all the rest of the tempering ingredients, taking care not to let it burn. Add chopped onions, green chillies and turmeric powder and caramelize till light brown. Add chopped tomatoes and cucumber pieces and mix well and sauté covered on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add washed and drained dal/lentils and pour 3 cups water and pressure cook for three whistles on high heat and 5 minutes on low heat. NOTE: if you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can add the mixture to a crock pot and let it cook on low setting overnight or for 6-8 hours till cooked. Let the pressure cooker cool naturally. Remove lid and add salt and chili powder to taste. Bring to a quick boil till desired consistency is reached. Serve hot with rice.