Andhra Pappu (Dal) w/ Curried Sweet Potato Chips

The Lowdown:

I'm not sure where my fondness for Indian food came from. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I discovered it (or more likely it was forced upon me). The flavours are unmatched. The aromas are unmatched. Well, scratch that. A revised statement would go something like this, the aromas are sometimes unmatched. Right now it looks and smells like a napalm bomb just exploded in my kitchen. I was trying to be what some refer to as a multi-tasker. But let this be a lesson to you, oven @ 485* + shower = disaster. You know you've fudged it when you have to arm everyone in the house (condo in my case) with a fanning-towel. You may have won the battle, curried sweet potato chips, but the war is far from over. For now, a glass of wine. Tomorrow, I will overcome your evil antics.

If you've made it this far, or have read anything else I've written, you'll know that I'm a horrible planner when it comes to cooking. I am sporadic at best. I invite people over for dinner without a plan or menu. I have to improvise because I'm too lazy to go hunting and gathering. To sum it up, I am a horrible cook. But then again, I've never claimed to be anything other than that. I would like to think I make up for my downfalls with wine. Yes, the old "get them bubbly and they'll enjoy anything" tactic. Love it.

If you're still reading, despite my best attempts to warn you, the plan was to make a dal with curried sweet potato chips for dipping. Instead, I have dal with watering eyes and inflamed lungs. Curry is not so pleasant when you burn the hell out of it. In fact, not pleasant is a gross understatement. For your enjoyment, I will refrain from saying what I am really feeling right now. Lucky you.

It is a known fact that curries are better the day after anyway. So let it be called fate that I burned the chips and could not eat the dal tonight. Yes that's it. It was all part of some grand scheme - a master plan if you will. (In a National Geographic narator's voice): the young cook's hunt ended poorly; tonight he will go hungry. Likely, he will survive as he has stored fat reserves over the past winter.

So without further ado, this is Food Mazaa's Andhra Pappu. And that concludes this weeks Recipe Remix. If you're new or confused, once a month we post a remake of a recipe from another blog. So enjoy. Do it, that is an order!

The Playlist:

1/2 cup Toor Dal (medium-sized Split yellow lentils)

1 cup Masoor Dal (split red lentils)
4 Tomatoes, chopped
1 Onion, diced
1 tsp Turmeric

2 cups Spinach, chopped
4 Green chillies, halved

1/2 cup Coriander leaves, chopped

2 tsp Garham marsala 

Salt, to taste

2 tbsp Oil

2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

4 Red chillies, dried
4 cloves Garlic, minced

The Skinny:

1. Soak the dals in water for an hour then strain and add to a large skillet with 3 cups of heated water. Bring to a boil then skim off the froth. Cover and allow to boil for 25 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, green chilis, turmeric, spinach, onion, coriander leaves, salt, and garham marsala into the lentils. Cover and simmer on medium heat.
3. In a seperate pan, put oil, mustard seeds, garlic, red chilis, cumin, and garlic on medium heat and cook until garlic browns. Once browned, add to the pappu. Mix thoroughly and allow to simmer for a while longer.
4. Remove the lid and simmer for 5 more minutes. If you have the time, allow the dal to rest over night. If not, serve warm.
5. If you'd like to make the curried sweet potato chips all you have to do is heat vegetable oil in a frying pan (enought to submerge the chips in), then cut the sweet potatoes thinly and dust them with chickpea flour and garham marsala. Cook in the oil until crispy.
6. Enjoy. 

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Stay Rad -h