Go Back

Menthi Kura Pappu Recipe - Methi Dal

Menthi Kura Pappu Recipe to prepare Methi Dal/Fenugreek Dal, a simple healthy, delicious & nutritious protein packed dal recipe cooked with fresh fenugreek leaves and lentils. 
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Side Dish / Sambar
Cuisine: Indian (South Indian)
Keyword: Menthi Kura Pappu Recipe, Methi Dal
Servings: 4
Calories: 200kcal
Author: Padma Veeranki

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon Oil
  • 2 Dry Red Chillies
  • ¼ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
  • 5 Fenugreek Seeds
  • 6 Garlic Pods peeled
  • 1 Sprig Curry Leaves
  • 1 Large Onion thinly sliced
  • 2 Green Chillies slit
  • 1 Large tomato Roughly chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
  • 1 cup fresh Methi Leaves cleaned & coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 cup Cooked Tur dal
  • 1 Tablespoon Tamarind extract

Instructions

  • Heat a pan with oil over medium heat. Add dry red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and 4-5 Fenugreek seeds.
  • Once the mustard seeds splutter, add few garlic pods and curry leaves. Optionally, you can also add ginger grate at this stage.
  • Give it a stir for few seconds and then add thinly sliced onions and slit green chillies. Sauté until the onions turn translucent.
  • Now, add roughly chopped tomato and sauté until tomatoes turn soft and mushy.
  • Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Mix well.
  • To this, add finely chopped methi leaves and give it a nice stir until the leaves shrink. Sauté extra 2 minutes if you want the bitter taste of the leaves to reduce.
  • Now, add in the cooked dal and tamarind extract.
  • Mix well and add enough water to get the desired consistency.
  • Adjust salt and add a teaspoon of sugar.
  • Bring it to a boil. If the dal becomes too thick, you can add some more water and adjust consistency.
  • Turn off the heat after 5 minutes.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. For Cooking Dal: Cook half a cup of Tur dal with 1 1/2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles, simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Open the lid once the pressure subsides and mash the dal. Click here for detailed instructions.
  2. Any dal can be used in place of toor dal. Adding oil while pressure cooking helps to quickly tenderize the dal.
  3. You can adjust dal quantity to your liking.
  4. Methi does come with bitter flavour in it and there are many ways to get rid of the bitter flavour. My preferred way is to sauté methi in the masala for longer time after adding it to the pan.
  5. Do not add methi more than required, otherwise the taste of the dal may turn bitter at times.