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Learn how to make healthy & delicious Andhra Style Thotakoora Pulusu with a video tutorial and step by step photos. A spicy, tangy Andhra style curry made using Amaranth greens - a perfect accompaniment with both hot rice and rotis!

I am probably one of the people who love green leafy vegetables. Even as growing up, I never troubled Amma in eating anything that was served to me.. In short I was a non-fussy eater. As I grew up, my love for green leafy vegetables only kept growing bigger. My Amma makes a lot of things with Amaranth leaves that are a power house of a lot of vitamins and minerals. My personal favorite is the Pulusu, a name given for anything that is like stew, but tangy. When she made this Thotakoora Pulusu for me last week, I quickly clicked some pictures for I wanted to record how she made it. I wouldn't like it any other way but the way she makes it 🙂

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My MIL does a different recipe using the Amaranth leaves, which is quite tasty too but then when I am down, I stick to my mom's recipes - like this one. This is very simple and goes really well with Indian bread (roti) or with hot rice. My Amma also has a special ingredient that makes it very unique and tasty - fresh drumstick pieces in Pulusu always enhance the flavour of the gravy. Its absolutely okay to skip them but do add if you can find them. By the way, my dad chopped these amaranth leaves so finely, spending more than an hour 🙂 I dont talk about him much on the blog but he is an inspiration for my cooking!

Step by Step Instructions

Start by soaking a small lemon sized ball of tamarind in hot water for ten minutes. Squeeze the extract and set aside.

Pressure cook toor dal along with ¼ teaspoon each of turmeric powder, hing and oil. Cook on medium flame for 4-5 whistles and then let the pressure drop off naturally. Gently mash the dal and set aside.

In a thick bottomed vessel, add 5-6 whole medium sized onions and cut drumstick pieces (if using). You can also use chopped/sliced onions if you prefer that way. Cook covered for 6-10 mins until the onion and drumstick pieces are soft.

Add finely chopped amaranth leaves/thotakura along with ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon red chilli powder. Cook covered for another 5-10 mins.

Add salt as needed along with extracted tamarind juice to the cooked amaranth leaves and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Now add the cooked toor dal. Mix well. Cook on low flame until the pulusu/gravy boils.

Add 1 teaspoon jaggery powder (optional) along with a slurry made from 2 teaspoon rice flour mixed in water. Stir quickly and cook on low flame for 4-5 minutes until the pulusu thickens.

In a small pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and roughly cut red chillies. As the mustard and cumin seeds pop up, add hing and remove from heat. Add the tempering to the cooked pulusu and mix well.

Serve Thotakoora Pulusu hot with rice/roti and some fryums.

Recipe Notes

Any kind of amaranth greens can be used to make this. Finely chop them.
Instead of the red chilli powder, sambar powder can be used as well.
It is optional to use the jaggery powder, it adds a mild sweet flavor enhancing the overall taste.
In the tempering or while making the pulusu, add peeled garlic to enhance the taste.
Drumstick pieces are optional but give a good flavor to the pulusu.
Adjust spices accordingly.
For spicier version, slit green chillies can be added as well.

Thotakoora Pulusu | Andhra Style Amaranth Greens Curry

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