Pappu pulusu aka Pappu charu is a traditional Andhra favorite, nutritionally complete, delicious and easy to cook. A tamarind based lentil stew cooked with vegetables, Pappu pulusu is redolent with the delicate flavor of curry leaves and seasoned with Indian spices like cumin, mustard, fenugreek and garlic.
There are certain foods which have comfort written all over them and Pappu pulusu falls in the comfort food category, which when eaten with rice, makes a soothing combination. It makes a great meat-less main course and is cooked with seasonal vegetables like ladies finger (okra), brinjal (egg plant), shallots, tomatoes, sweet potato, radish, carrot, pumpkin and drumsticks, each of which gives the ‘pulusu’ a distinctive flavor of its own.
In fact, left over pappu charu tastes even better the next day by absorbing all the wonderful flavors of the vegetables. As one savors the pulusu-rice combination, it releases an tangy sweet mix of flavors from the tamarind, lentils and the vegetables, that its difficult to resist the temptation of having another serving of this earthy, hearty and filling dish 🙂