Savour The Best Of Summer Andhra Cuisine With Mamidikaya Pappu

You say summer and we hear mangoes. Mango shakes, mango puddings, sliced mangoes—you name it! But the best part of mango season is the beginning when the unripe, green mangoes are just beginning to appear. Just thinking of all the khatta-meetha chutneys and aam ka achar has us drooling. What if we told you that these raw mangoes can be used to make a delicious dal to go with your summer plate of rice? Don’t be surprised, because Mamidikaya Pappu or mango dal, is a pretty common summer delicacy in Andhra Pradesh.
A favourite among Telugus, this mango Dal in Andhra Pradesh, typically made at the onset of summer, is a tad bit tangy and spicy, making it just the right bowl of flavourful happiness. If you love mangoes and fancy making this lentil dish loaded with the goodness of raw mangoes, read on, because we are about to share the easiest Mamidikaya Pappu recipe you can find!

What is Mamidikaya Pappu?

In Telugu, the term ‘pappu’ implies dal. Mamidikaya Pappu translates to Raw Mango Dal, is a popular Andhra cuisine cooked during the summer.  This mango pappu is nothing but a mixture of our regular lentils with unripe green mangoes cooked to perfection with a tempering of spices and curry leaves. Away from our traditional dal recipes like Dal Fry, Dal Tadka or Dal Makhani, these regional variants of dal are not only exotic but also delicious and healthy.
Mamidikaya Pappu is an extremely easy dish to prepare and tastes divinely refreshing during the nasty summer season. It is not unusual to find Indians cooking lentils with vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, bottled gourd, pumpkin, etc. This particular Andhra recipe involves adding raw mangoes to lentils using the famous ‘dump and cook’ method that pappu dishes are distinguished for. Hence, all you need to do is dump the ingredients together and bring it all to a boil, and your effortless mango dal is ready to be savoured with rice or chapati!

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Health benefits of Mamidikaya Pappu

Lentils are known to be a rich source of protein. The mango pappu, or mango dal, includes the goodness of lentils and the vitamins of raw mangoes. Mangoes are known to be rich in vitamins B and C. As such, the Mamidikaya Pappu should be consumed to ensure protein, vitamin B, and vitamin C intake.  It further aids in weight reduction. However, overconsumption of this dish might lead to constipation and indigestion.

Ingredients needed to make Mamidikaya Pappu

The Mamidikaya Pappu Andhra style dal is easy to make and needs just a few regular ingredients. Here is a list of all the things you need to make this mango dal:

1. Half a raw mango if it's big, or perhaps a small raw mango. It needs to be neatly peeled and chopped. Be mindful of the amount of raw mango you use, depending on its sourness.
2. One cup water and one cup toor dal (pigeon pea) boiled in 2.5 cups of water
3. 1 green chilli, a few curry leaves, and 1 tsp. red chilli powder
4. Half a spoon of turmeric powder and some salt to taste
5. For the tempering, you need 1 tsp. Ghee, mustard seeds, hing (asafoetida) and 1 dried red chilli

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Mamidikaya Pappu recipe

Having looked at the ingredients, let us now go to the Mamidikaya Pappu Recipe:

1. To make the Mamidikaya Pappu recipe, first, peel the skin of the raw mango and cut it into small pieces.
2. Now heat a cup of water in a kadai and add the chopped mangoes to it. Add the turmeric powder, green chillies and curry leaves, and cook this mixture for five minutes till the mangoes turn soft.
3. Add a tablespoon of red chilli powder and some salt to taste. Mix well to ensure there are no lumps of chilli powder.
4. Now add your boiled toor dal to this mixture and give it all a good mix. The dal should ideally be thick, so don’t add too much extra water. Pressure cook the mixture and boil till you have a dal of thick consistency.
5. Now come to the final step of tempering your dal. For this, use your small tadka pan and heat 1 tsp. ghee along with hing, dried red chilli and mustard seeds.
6. Allow it to sputter and then pour it into your mango dal.
7. Your refreshing Mamidikaya Pappu is now ready to be served with hot steamed rice!

Few tips to make your Mamidikaya Pappu delicious

Ace making this popular Mamidikaya Pappu Andhra style recipe by keeping the following tips in mind:

1. If you prefer to have chunky mango pieces in your dal, then don’t chop all of the mango into small pieces. Have some bite-sized pieces and add them to the tempering at last for a more profound taste.
2. While this recipe is traditionally cooked with toor dal, you can also mix moong or other dals as per preference. 
3. The dish tastes best when mangoes are used with the skin. However, we often hesitate to do so with purchased mangoes that aren’t home-grown or from our immediate neighbourhood. In such cases, you can rinse your mangoes thoroughly with rock salt or coarse salt and then use them in the dal with the skin.