Kerala style cheera parippu curry is a popular and nutritious curry made with green amaranth (pacha cheera) and toor dal.

This is a tasty and nutritious recipe goes well with rice.

How to make Kerala style cheera parippu curry

Here I’m explaining the ingredients and method of making Cheera parippu curry.

Ingredients

1. Toor dal or any dal – 1/2 Cup
2. Water – 1.5 Cup
3. Turmeric powder – 1/4 Teaspoon
4. Salt – To Taste
5. Roughly chopped green amaranth (pacha cheera) – 1.5 Cups
6. Scraped coconut – 1/2 Cup
7. Shallots (chuvannulli) – 3 Nos
8. Garlic – 3 Cloves
9. Cumin (jeera) – 1/2 Teaspoon
10. Green chili – 1 No

To temper

1. Coconut oil – 1 Tablespoon
2. Ghee – 1/2 Teaspoon (optional/ avoid for a vegan recipe)
3. Mustard seeds – 1/2 Teaspoon
4. Dried red chili (unakka mulaku) – 2 Nos
5. Curry leaves – 1 Sprig
6. Red chili powder – 1/2 Teaspoon (optional)

Method

1. Soak toor dal for at least 3 hours.
2. Cook ingredients 1-4 (toor dal, turmeric powder, salt and water) in a pressure cooker. Or cook in normal pot, but it will take more time.
3. Switch off the flame and keep the cooker unopened for sometime.
4. Open the cooker once pressure releases.
5. Put back the cooker over flame, add water if required.
6. Add the chopped cheera/ green amaranth.
7. Cook the amaranth lightly, don’t overcook.
8. Grind ingredients 6-10 (coconut, shallots, garlic, cumin seeds and green chili) into a smooth paste.
9. Add the coconut paste to amaranth and toor dal mixture and heat up.
10. Don’t boil the mixture, switch off the flame immediately when it starts to boil.
11. Prepare the tempering as below.
12. Heat coconut oil in a pan and little ghee. Avoid ghee if you are opting for a vegan version.
13. Add mustard seeds and splutter it.
14. Add curry leaves and dried red chili fry till fragrant.
15. Switch off the flame and add red chili powder and combine.
16. Pour the prepared tempering over the prepared cheera parippu curry and mix.
17. Keep it covered for sometime and serve hot with rice or ghee rice.

Pro tips & tricks by Anishya

1. Don’t boil the coconut mixture after adding to the curry, else the curry won’t taste good. Switch off the flame immediately when it starts to boil.
2. Adjust the thickness of the cheera parippu curry by adding hot water. Add hot water if you need a loose consistency.
3. Adding red chili powder while preparing the tempering is optional but it will give a nice red color to the dish.

Variations you can try

1. You can use Palak or Spinach or Moringa leaves instead of green amaranth.

Storage tips

1.  Cheera parippu curry will get thicken over time. If the curry is thick after storing for a longer time, add boiling water and make it loose.

Best serving combos suggested by Anishya

1. Serve with rice or roti or chapati or any kind of bread as a side dish.
2. Ghee rice + Cheera parippu curry + Papad + Pickle + Chicken/ Beef roast