Paruppu Thogayal is a chutney made with Tur dal, coconut and red chillies. It can be served as a side dish with rasam rice and curry.
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Paruppu Thuvayal
Paruppu Thuvayal or Paruppu Thogayal is a chutney made with Tur dal as the main ingredient. It pairs fantastic with a simple lemon rasam and potato curry.
Thogayal is usually prepared with rasam since most rasam recipes do not use dal in them. So, to add some weight to the meal, people typically serve this dal chutney with rasam.
It is simple to make and does not take much time, making it a good recipe for beginners.
It is one of those dishes that does not appear on menus of restaurants or at weddings. Paruppu Thogayal has stayed close to the palettes of Tamil homes and still today makes an appearance only with rasam in my house.
You can also serve Paruppu Thogayal with Vatha Kuzkambu and rice or also eat it along with hot rice and ghee.
Ingredients for Paruppu Thogayal
The first and main ingredient is Tur Dal. It is the typical dal used, but I suppose you could also use masoor dal or chana dal for this recipe – it will taste equally great. South Indians use a lot or Tur dal in their day to day cooking.
Coconut – Fresh grated coconut is the best, but you can also use dessicate coconut if you do not have access to fresh coconut.
Dried Red Chillies – I mostly use Byadagi red chillies that have less heat and more colour. You can also use the Tamil Nadu red chillies that are round.
Pepper Corns – Pepper provides the heat required for the dish; you can use 7-8 peppercorns or more than that as per your heat tolerance.
For the tempering – Cooking oil (I prefer using gingelly or sesame oil), 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp split urad dal and 1 sprig curry leaves.
An optional ingredient is garlic. If you are planning to use it, you will need 5-6 of those small ones or 1 large pod (like the ones you get in the west).
How to make Paruppu Thogayal
Wash the tur dal thoroughly until the water runs clear. Soak the dal in water with an inch or two above the soaked dal, allowing room for it to expand. Let the dal soak for 30 minutes at least. Soaking dal helps digest it better. You can even add an extra step of roasting the dal before rinsing and soaking.
While the dal is soaking, get the other ingredients ready. Grate the coconut and keep aside.
Place a small pan on low- medium flame and dry roast the dried red chillies. This should take about a minute or 90 seconds. Don’t step away from the pan as they tend to roast quickly and you will taste the burnt flavour in the Paruppu thogayal.
Once the red chillies become crispy, transfer them to a plate. Next to the same pan, add the pepper and allow it to roast. The moment you see the pepper popping off the pan, turn off the flame and transfer the pepper to the plate.
If you are using garlic, you can roast the garlic for 1 minute until you see some colour on it. Or you can choose to use raw garlic too.
Once the dal has soaked enough, drain the water and give the dal a rinse. Add this to a mixer jar. To the same mixer, add the coconut, red chillies, pepper and garlic. Do not add any water, this should be a thick chutney.
Grind the paruppu thogayal to a semi coarse paste or a smooth paste depending on the texture you like. In our house, we keep the dal half ground just for the texture.
The final step is to add the tempering.
Place a tadka pan on a low to medium heat. Once the pan is warm, add the oil. Once the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Next, add the split urad dal and let it lightly brown. Now, add the curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Turn off the flame and add this tadka to the paruppu thogayal.
Add 1/2 tsp of salt and mix all the ingredients.
You can serve Paruppu Thogayal with rasam and rice or Vathakuzhambu and rice or with just hot rice and ghee.
Storage and Shelf Life
Paruppu Thogayal can be stored in the fridge for up to two days, after which it might taste funky. Since it contains coconut, make sure to consume it immediately after preparing it, especially in warm temperatures.
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Recipe
Paruppu Thogayal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Tur Dal 180-200g
- 4-5 Dried Red Chillies
- 5-6 cloves Pepper Corns
- ½ cup Grated Coconut
For Tempering
- 1 tbsp Cooking oil gingelly oil (sesame oil)
- ½ tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Split Urad Dal
- ½ tsp Asafoetida Powder
- 1 sprig Curry Leaves
Instructions
- Wash the Tur dal in water until the water runs clear. Soak the dal water with an inch of water above to allow the dal to expand. Let the dal soak for a minimum of 30 minutes. (Do not soak for more than 2 hours)
- While the dal is soaking on a small pan, dry roast the red chillies first until it becomes crisp. It should take about a minute. Remove the red chillies and then add the pepper. Pepper will roast quickly. Once the pepper begins dancing on the pan, turn off the pan and allow them to cool down on a plate.
- Once the soaking is complete, drain the water thoroughly and add it to a mixer jar. Add the grated coconut and the roasted red chilli and pepper.
- Do not add any water, run the mixer until the thogayal is a thick yet slightly coarse paste. We like some texture to the thuvayal, but if you prefer, you can grind it to a smooth paste.
- The last step is to temper the Paruppu Thuvayal.Place a tadka pan on a low-medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil and allow it to warm up.
- Next, add the mustard seeds, split urad dal and allow them to sputter. You can now add the curry leaves and asafoetida powder. Turn off the flame and add this tadka to the Paruppu Thogayal
- Add ½ tsp of salt and mix all the ingredients well.
- Your Paruppu Thuvayal is ready to be served. Serve this with a simple rasam, rice and potato curry.
