Menthi aaku pesara pappu koora is a quick and nutritious dry curry with fresh fenugreek leaves and moong dal. With some prep-planning, pesara pappu menthi koora is ready in under 20 minutes and goes well with both rice and roti.
Fenugreek leaf and seeds are a common herb and a spice in Indian cuisine. Dry and/or fresh fenugreek leaves are staple herbs Indian kitchens. Both the seeds and leaves are slightly bitter in taste but when cooked, the bitter flavor dissipates.
This post is updated with new images, step by step instructions and content.
About the recipe
Fenugreek leaves are available year round but it is in abundance during cooler months. Here in the US, most Indian stores carry this herb. When it is in abundance, one of the recipes to make with it is menthi aaku pesara pappu koora.
Menthi aaku is fresh fenugreek leaf and pesara pappu is moong dal. Unlike methi dal or methi palak dal, pesara pappu menthi koora is a dry curry. It is more like a stir fry. It is a common preparation in Telangana and is similar to palakura pesara pappu podi kura (sukhi spinach mung dal fry).
To prepare sukhi methi moong dal sabzi, stir fry soaked moong dal and fenugreek leaves with onion, green chilies, garlic and a few basic Indian spices. You can also pre-cook the dal but when I so pre-cook dal, I prefer using toor dal as in fenugreek leaves cooked dal fry.
Fresh fenugreek moong dal stir fry is part of my A-Z series of Telangana Telugu recipes for letter 'F'. You can check all the recipes in A-Z recipes series for Telangana Telugu recipes.
Ingredients
Moong Dal - Moong dal cooks fast and tastes good with leafy vegetables and herbs. Soak moong dal for at least 30 minutes to one hour. When pressed for time, you can microwave for 2-3 minutes until the dal is semi soft.
Fresh Methi Leaves - I prefer using fresh fenugreek leaves. Plucking the leaves from the stem is time consuming but it is worth effort. Check my tips section below on how to pre-plan and store these leaves.
Green Chilies - use only green chilies and if the spice level is not per your taste, you can add some chili powder after taste testing.
Onion & Garlic - Recipe uses both onion and garlic. However, to make it a no onion, no garlic recipe, skip both these ingredients. Replace garlic with asafetida.
For ingredient list and detailed recipe, scroll down to the recipe card.
Instructions
Wash and soak dal for 1 hour. Roughly chop fenugreek leaves and keep aside. If you are pressed for time, soak dal for at least 30 minutes or microwave dal for 203 minutes.
Step 1 - Heat oil in a pan, add cumin and mustard seeds. When seeds crackle saute onions and green chilies until onions are soft. Then saute garlic for a few seconds and then stir in urmeric powder and salt.
Step 2 - Add soaked moong dal to sauteed onion, stir well, cover and cook on medium flame until dal is soft. Reduce the heat if needed and also sprinkle some water if necessary.
Step 3 - Saute roughly chopped fenugreek leaves along with cooked dal until the leaves wilt. Then cover the pan and continue to cook on medium flame.
Step 4 -Cook until dal is soft but firm. Remove the lid and saute for a few more minutes until the curry is dry and done. Sprinkle some cilantro, mix well and serve hot with rice or roti.
Substitutions
Methi Leaves - There is no substitute for methi leaves in this recipe but you can replace methi leaves with spinach or amaranth leaves (thotakura). To get a similar taste, I would use amaranth leaves.
Dal - Masoor dal is a good substitute for moong dal. Both these dals cook really quick and also taste almost similar. Cooked toor dal is also a good substitute. If using toor dal, you can follow this fenurgreek toor dal fry which is almost similar to menthi pesara pappu koora.
Tips
- Meal Prep - Plucking methi leaves is a time consuming step in the preparation. Hence do this step ahead of time. I normally do this task when watching television the day before I plan on cooking or soon after I get the leaves from the store.
- Storing Methi Leaves - Store plucked leaves in a tight container lined with a paper towel in the refrigerator or as you normally store your fresh herbs.
- Moong Dal - Soak moong dal for at least 30 minutes to an hour. I recommend an hour. However, if pressed for time, semi cook the dal on stovetop or in the microwave.
- If you can not soak the dal before hand, cook the dal a little longer until it is soft and then add the methi leaves.
Fenugreek Leaves Recipes
Methi leaves blend well with many vegetables. One of the popular winter recipes is methi gajar subzi as both red carrots and methi leaves abundent in winters. Methi geen peas pulao, fenugreek cauliflower stir fry and fenugreek green beans stir fry are few methi leaves recipes with vegetables.
For seafood lovers, I have a delicious methi chili garlic shrimp which is a snack and also doubles as a side dish.
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📖 Recipe
Menthi Pesara Pappu Koora
Equipment
- 1 Cutting Board and Knife
- 1 Frying pan with lid
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Moong Dal soaked for 1 hour
- 1 ½ tablespoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ½ cup chopped or sliced Onions
- 4 Green Chilies chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons crushed Garlic 3 medium sized cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Chili Powder only if needed
- ½ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
- 2 cups Fenugreek Leaves firmly packed, this is 1 big bunch
Instructions
- Wash and soak dal for 1 hour.
- Wash and roughly chop fenugreek leaves and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan, add cumin and mustard seeds.1 ½ tablespoon Oil, ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds, ¼ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- When seeds crackle add onions, green chilies and saute until onions are soft.½ cup chopped or sliced Onions, 4 Green Chilies
- Add garlic and saute for few seconds.1 ½ teaspoons crushed Garlic
- Stir in turmeric powder and salt.⅛ teaspoon Turmeric Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Stir in soaked dal, cover and cook until dal is soft. Stir in between and sprinkle some water if needed. Also reduce the if required.¼ cup Moong Dal
- Once the dal is almost cooked, add fenugreek leaves and saute until leaves wilt.2 cups Fenugreek Leaves
- Cover and cook until dal is completely cooked.
- Uncover, do a taste test and adjust salt and chili powder.½ teaspoon Chili Powder
- Saute for few more minutes until curry is dry and done.
- Serve with rice or roti.
Notes
- Moong Dal - I soaked the dal for almost one hour. If time does not permit, semi cook the dal on stove top or in the microwave.
- Fenugreek bunches in the US are really big. It yields about 2 cups of firmly packed leaves.
- Nutrition - Values mentioned below are approximate.
Kalyani says
Am a huge fan of methi and dry koora like this., while I usually use toor dal to make a variation at home, tried this with Moong dal and it was a great hit..
Usha Rao says
Thanks for trying and glad your family liked it. With toor dal I make it a little softer and not this dry. Which is also very good.
Pradnya says
I make similar recipe using palak ...i am a fan of the traditional side stir fry recipes using leafy greens, i would love to make this one.
Usha Rao says
Yes, it tastes good with palak too. I make that also Pradnya. Please do try it out. You will love it.
VEENA KRISHNAKUMAR says
This is new to me and it looks absolutely delicious. Will ty this
ruchi indu says
Fenugreek seems to be ruling F recipes... I have tried this with coconut of course...
Priya Srinivasan says
Simple and healthy subzi usha. I add some coconut too when make this stir fry!!
Mireille Roc (@ChefMireille) says
a hearty and healthy dish...looks great
PJ says
I usually add moong dal to drumstick leaves stir fry and potatoes to fenugreek leaves stir fry. Must try this version. Enjoyed reading your post Usha...
Rajani says
I add a spoon of sugar sugar also to compensate the bitterness of fenugreek , else it's more or less the same. good choice and nice pictures. Can't guess what you will be presenting for the alphabet I!!
Nalini says
Nice and healthy stir fry,addition of moong dhal makes it more colorful and love the color contrast in the curry..
Smruti | Herbivore Cucina says
I have always had my Moong dal with palak. Methi looks like an interesting combination. Lovely clicks too Usha!!
harini says
Love the combo of fenugreek and moong dal.
Pavani says
Methi is one of my favorite greens and this curry with pesarapappu looks so delicious.
Priya Suresh says
When i saw the name of the dish, i thought this dish might looks like a pappu, but this dry curry with moong dal sounds absolutely delicious to enjoy thoroughly with a cup of rice.
cookingwithsapana says
The fenugreek moong dal curry looks very inviting .I thought it would be a gravy curry .I see the backdrop and if I am right its the same that you told about on whatsapp.Pictures looks stunning as usual.
srividhya says
I have tried gravy curry only. This dry curry with moong dal sounds amazing.
Padma Rekha says
so many fenugreek recipes today, this stir fry looks simple and a perfect side dish....
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Very simple and different kind of stir fry this. Love the addition of moong dal.
Suma Gandlur says
I have Telugu channels on TV at home but I rarely watch the shows but I know about the show you are talking about. I saw a couple of episodes and lost interest because of their presentation style.
Leafy greens - Bean combo dishes are a norm in my home too and love these kind of simple, everyday dishes.
Amara says
The fry looks delicious Usha, healthy one too:) F was a tough letter when I was looking through overall Andhra. I had use the clause with no option.
Srivalli says
Nice reading through your notes Usha..I was almost imagining how you would have gone ahead..even I was thinking you would do with Fish...I agree that the clause was for the later tougher alphabets...though I guess all of us used up the clause one way or the other..Let's see how we do it..:)..this is a wonderful curry and the picture looks stunning..
gayathriraani says
Love this type of stir fries. It is so simple but makes a great side dish for rice. I skip dhal and add coconut to the stir fry.