Mukkala Pulusu Recipe | Puli Kuzhambu Recipe Andhra Style | Mixed Vegetable Stew | Dappalam Pulusu | Bellam Pulusu

Mukkala Pulusu Recipe is an eternal favourite in most Telugu homes. Also known as Dappalam, Bellam Pulusu or Teepi Pulusu, it is a traditional delicacy from Telugu cuisine. I would say it is a crossover of rasam and sambar. If Sambar is to State of Tamilnadu, then Mukkala Pulusu or Dappalam is to States of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana. Both dishes are common in, vegetables getting cooked in tamarind stew but Sambar is cooked along with lentils (pappu), where as Dappalam is served along with lentils (Pappu). Though the components remain the same, the tastes of Sambar and Mukkala pulusu are totally different.

This is one traditional recipe that is made for festivals like Sankranti or Ugadi. But, this dish cooks in my kitchen very often as it is a favourite at home. A perfectly made Mukkala Pulusu has just the right balance of sweet and sour and tastes great along with Mudda Pappu. This sweet and tangy pulusu is wholesome and also a healthy option because it combines many vegetables. This is also a win-win situation for mothers. Children love this pulusu because it is sweet & Mothers love to make this because their children eat so many vegetables in one shot 🙂

I love the idea of making delicious dishes the traditional way, spending more time in the kitchen but there are days when you want to wrap up without the hassle of any prepping that is involved before cooking the main dish. Today was such a day…. I came back home with sambar in my mind but ended up making this utterly delicious Dappalam….that too the easy way 🙂

There are different methods to prepare Mukkala Pulusu Recipe. Here is a quick and easy way to make it using a pressure cooker. For those of you who do not have a pressure cooker, use the stove top for boiling the vegetables with tamarind extract, spices, jaggery/sugar and finish off with the tempering, which gives an amazing taste.

Off to Mukkala Pulusu Recipe!!

Steps to follow for Mukkala Pulusu Recipe:

• Grab all the ingredients.
• Chop onion, tomato and coriander. Slit green chillies lengthwise. Peel garlic pods and set aside.
• Now chop all the other vegetables you are using for today’s Mukkala Pulusu Recipe.

Other Vegetables:

• 1 Drumstick, cut into 1 1/2″ pieces
• 1/2 Yellow Cucumber (Dosakaya), peeled & cut into chunks (see pic below)
• 6 Okras (ladies finger), cut into 1” pieces
• 8-10 Bottle gourd pieces of 1″ cubes
• 1 small Sweet Potato, cut into chunks
• 1 potato, peeled & cut into 1″ cubes
• Green egg plant, cut into quarters

• Soak tamarind in 1 cup of water, microwave for a minute and extract the juice discarding the residue.

Let’s get started with the cooking:

• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
• Once the mustard seeds begin to pop, add chopped onions, slit green chillies, peeled garlic, curry leaves and sauté for a minute.

• To this, add tomato pieces and a little salt. Cook till the tomatoes become mushy.
• Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, sambar powder (optional) and mix well.
• Sauté and cook further for another 2 minutes.

• To the onion tomato mixture, add the mixed vegetables, half of the chopped coriander and mix well.
• Add tamarind pulp along with approximately 2 cups of water (or as required for the desired consistency). The consistency should neither be very thick nor very thin. 
• Add grated jaggery, mix and close the lid of the pressure cooker.

NOTE: Before closing the lid of the pressure cooker, you can taste and adjust spices or tamarind juice to make it spicy or tangy.

• Turn off the heat after one whistle. Do not overcook the vegetables.
• Open the lid once the pressure subsides and garnish with chopped coriander.

Optional Step:

As a last step, you can mix a teaspoon of rice flour with 1/4 cup water and add to the Mukkala Pulusu or Dappalam. Mix well and bring to a boil. This will thicken the gravy. I usually skip this step because we like to have it along with Mudda Pappu.

• Serve hot with steamed rice, mudda pappu (boiled lentils), a dollop of ghee. and some vadiyalu (vadagams or fryums) or papadum on the side. This is a classic combination to bring out the best taste to this Mukkala Pulusu Recipe.
• This curry tastes best with rice, but you can also try it with idli, dosa or roti.

A Quick Summary:

Print Recipe

Mukkala Pulusu Recipe | Puli Kuzhambu Recipe Andhra Style | Mixed Vegetable Stew | Dappalam Pulusu | Bellam Pulusu

Mukkala Pulusu Recipe is a traditional andhra delicacy that is sweet & tangy pulusu with a variety of vegetables.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: South Indian (Andhra)

Author: Padma Veeranki

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
• 1 Onion finely chopped
• 4 to 5 green chillies slit lengthwise
• 8 to 10 Garlic pods peeled
• A sprig of Curry leaves
• 1 Tomato roughly chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons Red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon Sambar powder Optional
• 3 Cups Mixed vegetables See Notes
• 1 big lemon sized Tamarind soak in water & extract juice
• 2 Tablespoons grated Jaggery
• 5-6 Curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• 2 Tablespoons chopped coriander divided

Instructions

• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
• Once the mustard seeds pop, add onions, green chillies, garlic, curry leaves and sauté for a minute.
• Add tomato pieces and a little salt. Cook till the tomatoes become mushy.
• Now add red chilli powder, sambar powder (optional) and mix well. Sauté for 2 minutes.
• Add the mixed vegetables, little coriander, tamarind pulp, 2 cups of water, jaggery and mix well.
• Close the lid of the pressure cooker & cook for one whistle.
• Turn off the heat & open the lid once the pressure subsides.Garnish with coriander.
• Serve hot with steamed rice, mudda pappu (boiled lentils) and a dollop of ghee.

My Notes:

1. The vegetables used today- Sweet potato, yellow cucumber, drumstick, green egg plants, okras, drumstick, potato, bottle gourd. I also like to include pumpkin, snake gourd & arbi. Feel free to include vegetables of your choice. You can also include bitter gourd for a slight bitter taste, and trust me it’s too good.
2. I strongly recommend using drumsticks, pumpkin, bottle gourd, sweet potato, yellow cucumber and okras as they impart a nice flavour to the stew. If you do not get yellow cucumber, normal cucumber will also do the job.
3. Always cut vegetables into big chunks for this pulusu.
4. Adjust spice, tang and sweetness to suit your taste. Though this is supposed to be on the sweeter side, you can reduce sweetness, if you do not like it.
5. We use more amount of tamarind pulp in the recipe, so there should be a perfect balance of spices, jaggery and salt. 
6. You can add red chilli powder or sambar powder or a mix of both in the recipe.

Check out other Indian Vegetarian Gravies and Pulusu varieties like Chamadumpala Pulusu, kohrabi kurma, sprouts kuzhambu, Fish pulusu……

Many more to come…STAY TUNED!!

Happy Cooking 🙂

Cheers!!

Padma.