Masoppu Recipe: A Mandya/Mysore specialty

Masoppu means mashed greens. Masoppu is a South Karnataka specialty dish. It is made using many different leafy vegetables & lentils. At least 3-5 different leafy vegetables are used to prepare this.There is another north Karnataka dish called muddipalya, which again loosely translates to mashed greens! The preparation of the two is also similar but the tastes are entirely different. Muddi palya uses more lentils where as masoppu dominates with more greens!

Being spent the half of my life in Mysore/Mandya, I wanted to try Mandya/Mysore style masoppu for a long time, but never got the recipe. I recently got it from my aunt. I cannot vouch about the authenticity of this recipe, but this sure satisfied my craving!

Here is my aunt's recipe in my words!

Ingredients:
Set 1:
Mixed greens: Around 250gms (I have used a mix of dill, amaranth, fenugreek, Indian spinach, huli soppu*)
Toor dal/Split pigeon peas: 1/3rd cup
Onion: 2 medium sized
Tomato: 2 medium sized
Garlic: 4 pods
Green chilies: 6-8 nos, more or less
Brinjal: 1 no, optional
Turmeric: a big pinch

Seasoning:
Salt: According to taste

For spice paste:
Coconut scraped: 1-1.5tbsp, fresh or frozen
Chilli powder: 1 tsp, optional
Tamarind: a big grape sized
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

For tempering:
Oil: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Garlic: 3 pods, minced
Curry leaves: 6-8 nos

* I do not know what is it called in other regional languages or in English

Method:

• Wash the greens thoroughly in water. Chop them & keep aside.
• Chop the onions, tomato & brinjal(if using) into 1 inch cubes.
• Wash the dal in running water.
• Mix all the ingredients mentioned in set 1 along with 2 cups of water.
• Pressure cook it for 2-3 whistles. Reduce the heat after 3 whistles & cook for another 3-5 minutes.Turn off the heat.
• Let the pressure cooker cool.
• Warm the cumin seeds/jeera for a minute.
• Blend together the ingredients mentioned for spice paste. Make a smooth paste & scoop out the paste to a clean bowl.
• When the pressure is released from the cooker, remove the greens mixture & mash it well using a masher/hand blender or using a mixer.
• Heat a big pot. Add oil to the pot,  followed by the ingredients mentioned for the tempering. When garlic gives out the aroma, add the spice paste to it & cook it for a minute.
• Throw in the mashed dal-greens mixture, followed by salt. Boil it on a medium heat for about 10minutes.
• Serve it hot with rice, papad or ragi mudde/finger millet balls.

Notes:

• Generally the greens that are added for making masoppu are dantina soppu (amaranth leaves), menthe soppu (fenugreek leaves), harive soppu, palak soppu (spinach), sabsige soppu (dill leaves). If you are in Karnataka, you can ask the vegetable vendor to give you mixed greens to make masoppu. They will mix some 6-7 kinds of leafy vegetables.

Last note: Updated the previous post. Want to check if you guessed it right?!