Parippu curry or moong dal with coconut is a must have dish for any kind of Keralite feast whether it’s Onam or any wedding celebration. Parippu means lentils in South India. Roasted moong dal (lentils/parippu) cooked with ground coconut and cumin seeds, then seasoned with mustard, red chilies and curry leaves. Parippu curry is a creamy and coconutty delight and for many Keralite people it is an ultimate comfort food.

The first time, when I was staying away from my family during my graduation, the food which I most craved was my mom’s made parippu curry and her special pineapple pachadi. Well… I still do miss my mom’s parippu curry, but the next best part is I have learned the recipe of parippu curry from my mom and it does satisfy my cravings. So the credit for this recipe really goes to my mother!
Parippu curry goes really well with rice, pineapple pachadi and papadum.

Kerala Parippu Curry / Moong Dal with Coconut Recipe

Recipe by Neha NairCourse: MainCuisine: Indian, KeralaDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Parippu curry is a must have skinless mung beans and coconut based curry in Onam (festival in the state of Kerala) feast.

Ingredients

1 cup of split skinless moong dal / split skinless mung beans
1/2 cup of grated coconut
1 tsp of cumin seeds
5 garlic pods
green chilies, slit
1 sprig of curry leaves
2 dry red chilies
2 tsp of oil
1 pearl onion/shallot, finely chopped
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Ghee for drizzling (optional)

Directions

Roast moong dal in a wide pan until it releases toasty aroma. Don’t brown it.
Then cook dal with 3 cups of water with green chilies, turmeric, half of curry leaves and salt in a pressure cooker over low-medium heat.
After 2-3 whistles, turn off the heat and let the steam escapes by itself.
In the mean time, grind coconut with cumin seeds and garlic cloves.
When the cooker is ready to handle, open the lid and mash the dal(lentils/parippu) with the back of your spoon. Add around 2 cups of water and let it boil.
Then add ground coconut and let it simmer for another 6-8 minutes.
In another pan, heat oil and splutter mustard, then add dry red chilies, onion and remaining curry leaves.
When the onions are brown, add it to the dal mixture and mix well.
Drizzle ghee over parippu curry. Kerala parippu curry is ready to serve.

Notes

Parippu curry goes really well with steamed rice and papadum and pineapple pachadi.
If you don’t have shallot or pearl onion around, use a small slice of red onion instead for the seasoning in parippu curry.