Thotakoora pesarapappu podi koora | Amarnath leaves-Moong dal stir fry

I prefer more greens in my daily food diet.Thotakura/Amaranth is one of my favorite greens as it is versatile and can be used in various preparations like Amaranth stir-fry,Dal,Pakora and Parathas.This is a very simple dry curry and is the most favorite of mine with these greens.A bite into moong dal and the flavors from coconut makes this curry absolutely delicious.It goes well with rice as well as roti.

Thotakura Pesarapappu Podi Kura Recipe:
(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped Amarnath Leaves/Thotakura
1/2 cup Moong dal
1 Onion,chopped
7-8 garlic pods
1/4 cup grated fresh Coconut
4-5 Green chillies,chopped
1 tsp of Urad dal
1 tbsp Chana dal
1 Red chilli,broken
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
a pinch of Asafoetida
Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadai,crackle mustard seeds and jeera,add hing,red chilli,urad and chana dal and fry for a minute.
• Wash and soak moong dal for 10 mins.
  
• Add garlic pods,sliced onions and fry until it turns pink.
• Add moong dal and fry for 2-3 mins,now add chopped amarnath leaves to it and cover with a deep plate and pour water over the plate.This will help in steam cooking,cook for 12-15 mins till the moong dal is cooked.Do not make moong dal mushy,it should be cooked and hold its shape.
  
• Grind coconut,green chillies and salt to a coarse paste and add this to the cooked curry and give a good stir to it and fry for 2 mins.

Serve hot with Rice and papad or roti and dal.

I am sending this to the sowmya's SWC: Cooking with greens Event which was originally started by Lakshmi.