Spinach Daal (Muddipalya, Muddabhaji, Palak pappu)

Today I had made the typical karnataka food, spinach dal or muddipalya as we call it and Hasi Tomato Chutney(green tomato chutney). Usually this dal and chutney go well with Bhakri(Jowar roti), but I couldn't get good jowar flour, so we managed with wheat rotis. Although there are many ways of making spinach daal, I like my mom's version of spicy daal with garlic, green chillies and tamarind. Yum! doesn't that sound appetizing, well as for us we just overate today and I had to take a good 2 hr nap to digest all the food, but it was worth it. So here comes the recipe for Muddipalya and Hasi Tomato Chutney.



Muddipalya(Spinach Daal)
Ingredients:
Spinach - 1 bunch, washed and chopped finely (you can also use the pre-washed and bagged spinach, and I personally don't like the frozen spinach, but you can go ahead and use it if you really can't get the fresh one)
Toor daal - 2 cups
Green chillies - 5-6, chopped finely or ground into a paste
Garlic - 5-6 pods, crushed coarsely
Tamarind - 1 big lime size, saoked and squeezed to get the pulp, or if using tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
Peanuts - 1 tbsp
Besan(gram flour or chickpea flour) - 1 tbsp
Oil- 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
curd chillies - 5-6(optional)

Method:
Pressure cook the daal with 4 cups of water to two whistles, you don't want the daal to get too mushy. In a large deep pan heat 1 tbsp oil, when hot add mustard seeds, jeera seeds, let them splutter and then add garlic, stir till garlic gets light brown, now add peanuts(if you are using raw peanuts add them at this stage, if you are using the roasted peanuts you can add them at the end). Fry till the peanuts are light brown, now add the besan and fry till you can smell the besan, about 5 minutes, don't let the besan burn. Now add chopped spinach, green chillie paste, tamarind pulp and salt. Mix well and cover for about 5 minutes on low heat, the daal at this stage tends to splutter everywhere, so use the pot lid and stay at a distance from the pot to avoid spluttering on your face.
In another small pan take 2 tsp oil, when hot add curd chillies and fry till dark brown and pour this over the daal.
This daal tastes great with roti or rice.


Green Tomato Chutney
Ingredients:
Green Tomato - 2, chopped into big cubes
Green chillies - 6-8 (according to taste)
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
Roasted sesame powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Hing(asafoetida) - 1 pinch
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - 4-5

Method:
In a shallow pan, heat 1/2 tbsp oil, add chopped green tomatoes, green chillies, jeera and cover and cook for 10-15 min, stirring in between till the tomatoes and chillies get very soft. Let it cool down a bit, and then transfer them to a blender, add salt, sesame powder and blend to a smooth paste, if you like the chutney coarse then just pulse it in the blender. Take it out in a bowl and mix well. In a small pan, heat another 1/2 tbsp oil, when hot add mustard seeds, when the seeds splutter add hing, turmeric and curry leaves and pour over the chutney. Enjoy!