Tamil: பருப்பு or paruppu
English: dhal
பருப்பு is super easy to make and it’s rare to have a Tamil rice and curry meal without it.
I will usually eat this with white rice, mango pickle, yoghurt, அப்பளம் (appalam or pappadam) + உருளைக்கிழங்கு பொரியல் (fried potatoes) + carrot or beetroot sambol OR just white rice (if low on ingredients).
This recipe uses an ingredient which may not be commonly used in other Tamil homes – ground pepper & cumin (in equal parts). I will swear by the the kick the pepper & cumin gives.
INGREDIENTS (serves 3 or 4)
- 1 cup masoor dhal (split orange lentils)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 medium chillies (green or red) chopped length ways
- 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut milk (tinned coconut milk is not a substitute as it’s too heavy. I use soy or oat milk instead – you can also use cows milk)
- 1 medium red onion chopped lengthways (if you like fried onions add more)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- 2 cloves garlic quartered
- 1 tomato cut into 8 parts
- 1tsp salt (or to taste. I prefer 1.25tsp)
- 1.5tsp ground pepper & cumin spice (I usually use 2tsp – but it’s is quite heavy on the cumin – so i recommend starting with 1.5tsp)
- 3tsp vegetable oil
- heat 2tsp oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds
- once the seeds start to pop, add the onion, garlic and curry leaves and another 1tsp oil. fry.
- once the onion starts turning translucent, remove mix from the pan and set aside (see photo above for how the onions will look)
- in the same pan (or a different one) wash lentils 3 times, add tomato and chillies, turmeric, 2.5 cups water and bring to boil
- reduce the heat and add salt and onion mixture. you may need to add another half cup water
- once the lentils are soft, add milk (fresh coconut / soy / cow /oat), pepper & cumin mix and cook for another 2 minutes.
- if you want a more liquidy texture – add more milk. if i don’t have soy milk at home, i will make it without milk, but because I always have yoghurt with rice and curry, it doesn’t really matter.
- remove from the stove and serve.
My Tamil Kitchen 
Hi Brami,
I am was making this curry and was wondering is it 2 tsp each of cumin and pepper, or 2 tsp total of the combined spices?
Anna.
Hi delcoseAnna – total 2tsp. More if u want spicier. I prefer spicier. But start with 2 in total. Thanks for the visit.
Absolutely love your blog ! I see that there is not much difference between South-Indian and North-Sri Lankan food 🙂 I try to do quite the same as you do, but with illustrated recipes ! Please have a look, would love to have your feedbacks (even though all my blog is in French) : http://www.jodydanasse.wordpress.com
Hi Jody, thank you for visiting my sight and for your support. I really appreciate it. Having spent a bit of time in Tamil Naadu, I felt the food was very similar. The thosai, iddly and sambar etc. Yum. I want to go back there. Your blog is great. I enjoyed the Thakkali chutney recipe. One day I would love to post on of your recipes on My Tamil Kitchen.
Thanks for your message Brami ! And would love to collaborate with you, sure we have a lot to share 🙂 I’m working on a Tamil illustreated-recipe cookbook (with recipes from my mum and grandma), would love to show you some of the drafts I’m working on !
Would you recommend fresh or dried curry leaves? And how long, roughly, does it take for the lentils to soften?
@alisonorme always fresh if possible. Dried otherwise. Dish could take maybe 10-15min. You need to use the orange lentils
Bless you for this recipe! You’d think it’d be easy but, for some reason, I’ve always struggled with paruppu curry. It ends up being too salty or turns into a really thick consistency after cooling down or something else of the sort. But, since I started using your recipe my paruppu curry has never gone wrong. Thanks to you I no longer fear the red lentil.
For my own personal taste, I found that 2 tsp of the cumin & pepper mixture was overpowering so I use 1 or 1.5 tsp. I hope you keep posting more recipes like this. Thanks!
Thank you. Appreciate the feedback. I live in fear that others are trying these recipes and thinking they are terrible. I on the other hand keep increasing the cumin and pepper mixture amount.