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    Home » Recipes » Curries & Stir Fries

    Published: Apr 8, 2016 · Modified: Apr 29, 2023 by Usha Rao

    Garela Pulusu ~ Moong Dal Vada in Tamarind Based Gravy

    Jump to Recipe

    Garelu are donut shaped lentil fritters. Popular name for garelu is vada / vadai. In Telangana pesarapappu ~ moong dal garelu are a common preparation followed by bobbarla garelu than the minapappu garelu/vada. Garelu are prepared for breakfast, tea time snack and for special occasions. Since these are so popular and liked by many, these are usually made in excess, resulting in leftovers. Garelu do not have a shelf life and that is when pulusu comes to rescue.

    Garela Pulusu.
    serve with rice

    What is pulusu?

    Pulusu is a tamarind gravy curry usually prepared with vegetables. Bendakaya (okra), sorakaya (bottle gourd), chikkudukaya (borad beans), pullaganda (suran ~ yam), chamagadda (taro ~ arbi ~ colocasia), kakarakaya (bitter gourd), ulligadda (onion) are common vegetables used to prepare pulusu and mixed vegetables are usually not used. Pulsus is usually paired with plain pappu and in some households, pappu is a must preparation whenever pulusu is made.

    Garela Pulusu

    It is prepared just like any pulusu but without vegetables. Garelu are added after the pulusu is simmered and 5 minutes before turning off the flame. This pulusu is a great way to use up leftover pesara garelu and since garelu are lentil based, it does not require pappu accompaniment. Last time I was in India, amma made garelu pulusu with leftover bobbarla garelu and even that tasted equally good.

    Plate of rice with moong vada curry.

    Before getting into today's recipe in this Journey Through the Telangana Cuisine, let me mentioned the other variety of garelu that are equally popular in the region. Unlike the lentil garelu, this variety has a shelf life of at least 2 - 3 weeks. These garelu are made with rice flour, shaped into flat discs and deep fried. Garelu are named after the additional ingredients that go into it.

    The most commonly used ingredient is palli ~ peanut and these are called palli garelu. Bobbarlu ~ black eyed peas are also used and these are bobbarla garelu. I shall share bobbarla garelu recipe very soon. These are also known as appalu, billalu and chekkalu. Last year when I attended bloggers meet in Chennai, I took some palli garelu and everyone loved it.

    Close up of plate of rice with some curry on it.

    Here is a list of few vegetables, grains and dishes.
    Vegetables:
    Goru Chikkudukaya - Gowar (Hindi) ~ Cluster Beans
    Gummadikaya - pumpkin
    Gobi puvvu - cauliflower
    Gangavalli kura - Purslane
    Gongura
    Grains:
    Godumalu - Wheat
    Other Ingredients:
    Gasaalu - Poppy Seeds
    Guddlu - Eggs
    Dishes:
    Golichina annam (fried rice), goru chikkudukaya koora, gummadikaya koora, gummadikaya pulusu, gangavalli kura pappu, gavvalu, gudaalu, garelu with makkalu and pesarlu,goduma upma
    Gavvalu are sweet shell shaped deep fried traditional snack.
    Gudaalu are prepared with fresh legumes, dry beans or grains. This is a distant cousin of sundal without grated coconut. Anapakaya / avarekalu is one of the most liked fresh legume for gudaalu and preparation is similar to Indian beans or chikkudu gudaalu. Dry black eyed peas, cow peas, sorghum + black chana, dry corn are a few legumes and grains used to prepare gudaalu. These are a very common and most loved snack in Karimnagar district of Telangana. In the below collage, from top left to right is dried corn + black eyed peas gudaalu and anapakaya / avarekalu gudaalu prepared as an evening snack at my nieces post marriage ceremony this past December. Bottom left is anapa gudaalu prepared by mother this past December and bottom right is kandi ginjalu / frozen pigeon peas gudaalu I made a couple of days ago for dinner.

    Collage of gudalu

    Garela Pulusu Recipe

    📖 Recipe

    Garela Pulusu

    A tangy moong vada curry in a tamarind based gravy.
    No ratings yet
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: South Indian, Telangana Cuisine, Telugu Cuisine
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 3
    Calories:
    Author: Usha Rao

    Equipment

    • Saucepan
    • Grinder/blender
    • Cutting board & a knife

    Ingredients

    Onion Paste

    • 2 teaspoon Oil
    • 1 small Onion chopped or ½ cup chopped Onions
    • ½– ¾ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
    • ½ teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds

    Pulusu

    • 4 teaspoon Oil
    • 4-6 Curry Leaves
    • 1-2 tablespoon Fenugreek Leaves opt
    • ½ small Onion chopped
    • 2 teaspoon Ginger Garlic Paste
    • 1 ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
    • 1 ¼ teaspoon Chili Powder adjust to taste
    • 1– 1 ¼ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
    • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
    • 2 tablespoon Yogurt
    • 2 ½ cups Water
    • 2 ½ tablespoon Tamarind Paste I used 3 tablespoon homemade tamarind paste. Adjust tamarind paste to taste. Degree of sourness / tang depends on the tamarind.
    • ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek Powder
    • 4-6 Garelu broken into 3 pieces
    • Cilantro to garnish

    Instructions

    Onion Paste

    • Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin, fenugreek seeds and when seeds change color, add onions. Saute until onions are light brown. Remove from the pan and let cool. Grind to fine paste and keep aside. This should yield 2 – 2 ½ tablespoon of paste.

    Pulusu

    • In the same pan or in a separate saucepan, heat oil listed under pulusu.
    • Add curry leaves, methi leaves and let the leaves change color.
    • Add onions and saute until translucent.
    • Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the paste is roasted.
    • Add ½ the onion paste and saute until paste is roasted.
    • Add coriander powder, chili powder, salt, turmeric and mix well.
    • Reduce the flame, add yogurt and stir immediately. Gradually increase the flame, continuing stirring until oil begins to separate.
    • Mix tamarind paste with water and add this to the saucepan.
    • Bring the the gravy to a boil and continue boiling.
    • Once the gravy begins to boil, add remaining onion paste, fenugreek powder, mix and continue boiling for 5 – 10 minutes, until desired consistency is reached. Mind you pulusu will thicken as it cools.
    • Add broken garelu and continue boiling for another 2 – 5 minutes.
    • Turn off the heat, garnish with cilantro and serve with steaming rice.

    Notes

    Garelu – I cut each gare into 3 pieces. My garelu were small and wish I had cut them into two.
    Tamarind – If using tamarind, use small lemon sized ball of tamarind. Wash and soak tamarind in water for 15 minutes or microwave for 1 – 2minutes. Let it cool and extract the juice. Tanginess of tamarind varies from one tree to the other. Adjust tamarind depending on how sour it is.
    Tried this recipe?Share a photo! Mention @usha_myspicykitchen or tag #Usha_MySpicyKitchen!

    So far in this A-Z Journey Through Telangana Cuisine,
    A for Attu Tunukala Koora
    B for Biyyapattlu
    C for Chegodi
    D for Dondakaya Barada
    E for Ellipaya Karam
    F for Fenugreek (Menthi) Aaku Pesaru Pappu Koora

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    • Bowl of tomato shorva.
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    Reader Interactions

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    1. VEENA KRISHNAKUMAR says

      May 13, 2016 at 1:32 pm

      Lovely clicks Usha. This gravy is so new to me. Looks very delicious

      Reply
    2. Priya Srinivasan says

      May 01, 2016 at 9:27 am

      Yummy pulusu usha! ! Love the props Love the green board and that napkin, ohhh pls take me napkin shopping with you, pls pretty plssss!!!

      Reply
    3. ruchi indu says

      April 24, 2016 at 3:34 am

      Good pick for G. A very diiferent tangy gravy. Should be a good accompaniment to rice.

      Reply
    4. PJ says

      April 17, 2016 at 11:46 pm

      What a flavorful and delicious dish! Love the props Usha. I too desperately need those serve wares and like you said, I need to know where to look for these...

      Reply
    5. Mireille Roc (@ChefMireille) says

      April 14, 2016 at 2:31 am

      what a great pulusu - perfect curry with rice

      Reply
    6. Kalyani says

      April 12, 2016 at 8:08 am

      yes, I have a similar set of props from Shilparamam too 😀

      so many many varieties of Andhra cooking.. betn urs and Suma's blogs this BM, I have 50 oddTelugu cuisine bookmarks to try from !!

      Reply
    7. Padma Rekha says

      April 11, 2016 at 10:29 am

      I still remember that flavor of palli garelu wonderful.. this one is a favorite dish for me.. looks yummm...

      Reply
    8. Suma Gandlur says

      April 10, 2016 at 3:44 pm

      Love the rustic setting with those ceramic pickle pots in the background and absolutely love your garela pulusu. I have heard about this dunking vadas in gravies from my MIL but somehow I had always thought the idea belonged to the neighboring states. ? Now I know better.

      I had no idea about the name you used for purslane since we call it differently.
      And because of the regional differences I am not sure whether you call chekkalu, appalu but they are two different dishes in Andhra.

      Reply
    9. harini says

      April 09, 2016 at 11:10 pm

      Usha, the props just stole the show for me 🙂 The pulusu sounds lip smacking. Btw, did you get them in Shilparamam?

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        April 10, 2016 at 10:10 am

        Yes Harini, I bought them in Shilparamam

        Reply
    10. Rajani says

      April 09, 2016 at 8:47 pm

      You had me at Vada :D!! So many versions off the same dish exist across different regions. Reminded me of urundai kuzhambu. Nice pictures

      Reply
    11. Vaishali Sabnani says

      April 09, 2016 at 1:47 am

      beautiful clicks and an awesome dish. Looks super tempting and I am drooling...feel like grabbing that dish.

      Reply
    12. Smruti | Herbivore Cucina says

      April 08, 2016 at 4:08 pm

      Garela Pulusu looks so lovely Usha. I loved reading through the post and the pictures have come really lovely. I especially liked the bottles you have in the background 🙂

      Reply
    13. Priya Suresh says

      April 08, 2016 at 3:41 pm

      Omg, those props and set up looks prefect to showcase this ultimate dish, my mouth is just watering here..fingerlicking gravy.

      Reply
    14. Pavani says

      April 08, 2016 at 2:09 pm

      Very interesting dish with vadas Usha. Totally new to me. It looks very delicious.
      Both of us ended up using similar looking props for the letter G today 🙂

      Reply
    15. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      April 08, 2016 at 12:38 pm

      Love your props that you have used. Traditional recipe presented in traditional style. Love the pulusu 🙂

      Reply
    16. srividhya says

      April 08, 2016 at 11:44 am

      interesting recipe. Reminds me of the paruppu urandai kuzhambu. these servewares are very popular naa.. Let me know where you got it pa.

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        April 08, 2016 at 12:27 pm

        Srividhya, I got these from Hyderabad. You should get them everywhere as I see them a lot in Indian blogs. You need to know where to look for. I was meaning to get these for sometime and this past trip I made it a point to go the arts and crafts village specifically to pick these and it over 1 hour drive each way from my house. 🙂

        Reply
    17. cookingwithsapana says

      April 08, 2016 at 11:25 am

      Moong dal vada itself is so delicious and in tamarind gravy it would have tasted so amazing.Love the clicks and the presentation,so organised.Picture perfect.

      Reply
    18. Srivalli says

      April 08, 2016 at 9:54 am

      Very nice post Usha, I enjoyed reading it and the different notes you included..:)..this is one sinful dish, will make a great filling meal right..

      Reply
    19. Gayathri Kumar says

      April 08, 2016 at 9:25 am

      I like tamarind based gravies so much and this with the vadas look so yum..

      Reply
    20. Amara says

      April 08, 2016 at 7:04 am

      Garela Pulusu looks yummy Usha. Nice share:)

      Reply

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