Gongurra Pappu is a tangy and spicy dal that is made with 'Red Sorrel Leaves' usually served with rice for lunch. It happens to be one of the most popular main dishes of the 'Andhra Cuisine'. Let's see how to make this dal both on stovetop and Instant Pot with step-wise photos.

'Gongurra is also called 'Pulicha Keerai' in Tamil. Gongurra Pulihora is yet another Main dish from Andhra and this 'Pulicha Keerai Thokku' from Tamil Nadu is something that you will love.
These leaves are rich in Iron and including them often in our daily ensures overall good health.
Gongurra cooks very quickly and turns mushy on its own whether it is sautéed or boiled, making it easy to blend well in any recipe.
This beginner-friendly gongurra pappu recipe is very simple and easy to make yet very delicious.
Table of Contents:
About Gongurra Pappu
We make this dal recipe by cooking yellow moong dal along with gongurra, green chillies together to a pulp.
Then we make a tempering of whole spices which is added to the dal, and then it is all mashed together.
Traditionally, we use a clay pot called 'Keerai Chatti' is used to mash the dal to get a creamy yet coarse consistency that comes together all on its own without much effort.
This recipe uses both green and red chillies and unlike Dosakaya Pappu or Mamidikaya Pappu, a much larger quantity of spice is added to compensate for the sourness of the Red Sorrel leaves.
In general, dal usually goes well with both rice and rotis. But this particular gongurra dal is served only with rice and also tastes best with only rice.
Ingredients
Dal: This recipe uses yellow moong dal also called 'Payatham Paruppu' in Tamil. Alternately you can also use tur dal or a combination of moong dal and tur dal in equal quantities. Masoor dal won't taste that good with this recipe.
Gongurra: These greens are the star of the dish. It is also called 'Pulicha Keerai' in Tamil. Usually, I use the bunch in which only the greens with the red-coloured stalk to make this dal as it gives a creamy consistency to the cooked dal.
Tastemakers: I have used onions to give a good body to the dal, and it also gives a good volume to the dal.
Green chillies add more heat & spice to the dal. This recipe demands more chillies to compensate for the tanginess of the gongurra.
Whole Spices: A seasoning of whole spices consisting of mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and dry red chillies fried in gingelly oil is added to the dal and mashed together before serving.
Instructions
To make this gongurra pappu on the stovetop,
- Take yellow moong dal in a bowl and rinse well. You can make it directly in the pressure cooker too.
2. To this add green chillies, onions, garlic, and turmeric powder.
3. Remove the red stalk from the gongurra leaves, wash well, drain and add it to the bowl.
4. Add salt, water, and pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles on medium flame. Let the pressure release on its own.
5. Take the bowl out and set it aside.
6. Meanwhile, heat oil in a tempering pan and add mustard, cumin, coriander seeds, and dry red chillies.
7. Fry over low flame till the mustard crackle and the other ingredients change colour slightly.
9. If you have a clay 'keerai chatti' like this one, use it along with a wooden pappu guthi .
10. Transfer the cooked dal and keerai to the clay pot. Transfer the seasoning too to the pot.
11. Mash it with the pappu guthi till all the ingredients disintegrate and come together. Transfer to a serving bowl.
To make this in Instant Pot,
To the inner pot, add rinsed yellow moong dal, gongurra leaves, onion, garlic, green chillies, turmeric powder, salt, water and mix well.
Turn on the Instant Pot. Close the lid with the vent in the sealed position. Pressure cook at high for 10 mins. Let pressure release naturally.
Do the seasoning in a pan and add it to the cooked dal.
You can either transfer both the dal and the seasoning to the clay 'keerai chatti' and mash them together, or you can mash using an immersion hand blender to your preferred consistency.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot with rice.
Recipe Notes
Sorrel leaves happen to be sour and tangy, so based on that, you might need to add more chillies than usually required to compensate.
You may leave out the whole coriander seeds while doing the seasoning as some don't like biting into that while eating.
In general, greens require less salt. So before pressure-cooking, add less salt. You can always taste check while mashing and adjust accordingly.
Nutrition Profile
This recipe is
- Dairy-Free
- Diabetic-Friendly
- Egg-Free
- Gluten-Free
- High Fibre
- High Protein
- Low Calorie
- Low Carb
- Nut-Free
- Soy-Free
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
FAQ's
Gongurra is a spinach variety that is called Sorrel leaves. There are 2 varieties of Gongura in the market. The one that is used here is green leaves with red-colored stem and stalk, called 'Red Sorrel'.
The other one has green leaves and green stems and stalks. You need to use the 'Red Sorrel' as it becomes slick and mushy upon cooking and is the most preferred for making this gongurra pappu.
It is a clay pot with small pebbles embedded or carved striations at the bottom. This pot is traditionally used for mashing things together with a 'pappu guthi' (wooden masher). The friction created while mashing gives a coarse, pulpy yet creamy consistency instead of turning into a paste.
If you do not happen to have one, either use a potato masher or an immersion blender.
Dal tends to lose its fresh flavour when refrigerated for a longer duration. So it is always best if you could consume it on the same day or refrigerate it and finish it off on the next day itself.
Both the ingredients add more flavour, texture, and volume to the dal. But if you wish to make it saatvik, then simply skip adding them.
You can use shallots or sambar onions instead of regular onions.
After mashing, the consistency should be coarse and smooth. You should not be able to make out either the leaves or the dal. The seasoning should have blended well with the dal and gongurra.
If the pappu seems too thick while mashing, then add hot water little by little to adjust to the required dropping consistency.
If the dal is thin, don't worry as it tends to thicken as it cools down, or simply boil it for a few mins till it reaches the required consistency and serve hot.
Related Recipes
See more Dal Recipes
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Recipe
Gongurra Pappu Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Gongurra or Red Sorrel Leaves Bunch
- ½ cup Yellow Moong Dal
- 10 Green Chillies
- 1 Onion medium
- 3 Garlic pods
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
For Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
- 3 Dry red chillies
- 1 tablespoon Gingelly Oil
Instructions
Preparation
- Remove the Gongurra leaves from stalks, wash them and let it drain.
- Rinse yellow moong dal. Chop onions and garlic.
Stovetop Method
- To a pressure cooker, add yellow moong dal, gongurra leaves, green chillies, onion, garlic, turmeric powder, salt and 1 cup water.
- Close with lid and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles over medium flame or till the dal is cooked soft.
- Switch off and let the pressure release on its own.
Instant Pot Method
- To the inner pot, add rinsed yellow moong dal, gongurra leaves, onion, garlic, green chillies, turmeric powder, salt, water and mix well.
- Turn on the Instant Pot. Close with the lid with the vent in a sealed position. Press the 'Pressure Cook' button. Set the heat to 'Normal' and Pressure level 'High' and time for 10 mins.
- After the cooking finishes, let the pressure release naturally (npr).
Seasoning
- Heat a tempering pan and add gingelly oil. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dry red chillies, and roast till the aroma arises and the color changes slightly.
Mash Gongurra Pappu
- Transfer the pressure-cooked dal & gongurra into a clay 'Keerai Chatti'. Add the seasoning on top. Mash everything together with a wooden 'pappu guthi' or a potato masher.
- If you do not have the clay pot, you can also blend it in a blender or use an immersion blender.
- The consistency should be coarse and smooth. You should not be able to make out either the leaves or the dal. The seasoning should have blended well with the dal and gongurra.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and serve this gongurra pappu with hot rice, any dry vegetable curry, and a pickle of your choice.
lagrasshopper
Just made this for dinner tonight. It was wonderful. We will make it again and again. A good use for our garden sorrel.
the mad
Radhika when I googled for sorrel leaves images and we can safely say I ma a bit confused. for the images include the four leafed clover kind of plant which is sour. Pulichcha means sour right? Is this some kind of sour palak that we get?
The dal is awesome and I would like to make it.
Hari Chandana
Woww.. Lovely and tangy dal.. looks super delicious.. thanks for sharing dear 🙂
Asmita
Love this recipe for dal. Looks delicious!
Kanan
dal looks delicious. I love the sour taste
anthony stemke
This sorrel dal looks very delicious. I've never eaten sorrel but will look for it now.
I'm not a vegetarian but I love vegetables.
Although I own an Indian pressure cooker (Manttra) it doesn't whistle. 3-4 whistles I think is about 10 minutes.
I see you have a mirliton (chayote)kootu too, I see wonderful new (to me at least) recipes.
Thank You.
Kaveri
Perfect with a bowl of steaming hot white rice and a dollop of ghee...
Lavanya
First time on ur space. Glad to follow u. Nice clicks out there. Do visit my blog when you get time 🙂
Follow foodie
Lovely Clicks and so yummy!
Kalyani
simple and delicious dal ........
Nitha
Love gongura.. should try this combo too...
Vidhya
Delicious and healthy.
radha
This dal is delicious and has a flavour that is unique.
Rosh
Awesome version of dal. I love gongura pickle so Im sure this is very flavorful! Thanks for liking this with Gimme Green 🙂
Suja Manoj
Lovely clicks,nice curry,will surely try this.
The Yogi Vegetarian
This looks so healthy and tasty! I wonder what it would be like with whole green mung? Thanks for the info about sorrel; I must try it sometime. btw there is an award on my blog for you; you can stop by and pick it up from 10:00 (BST) on Thursday.
What's Baking??
Looks good..love the color.
Priti
Love anythign with gongurra ...this looks so gud ..nice pics
Hamaree Rasoi
Nice and comfort dal, new to me
Deepa
Hema
Superb, very tempting clicks, love keerai when it is mashed in this chatti..
Prathibha
This is my fav daal...love the tangy touch of this green
faseela
healthy daal recipe...yummy
Shobha
I love this dal with gongura..eat a lot of it when I visit mom's place every year.
Also the gongura pachadi tastes yum.
Sangeetha Nambi
Wow ! its tempting me......