Gongura pulusu (Sour leaf pulusu)

Its hard to find gongura or sorrel greens/leaves in United States.
Once or twice a year you might get sour leaves in an Indian store, and that too expensive.
1lb costs anywhere from $5.
During my visit to India, i collected bunches of Sorrel leaves, washed them and dried for a day.
Then i roasted these chopped  leaves in oil, added salt for extra storage life.
This is the basis for Gongura pacchadi or "Sorrel Relish".
It stays for 6 months in normal temperature and 3 times sitting in the freezer.
I used this sour leaf "pickled in salt" for  my gongura pulusu.
You can use the a  store brought Sorrel  Pickle and use instead.
3 tbs is enough to make soup for 2 persons.

Recipe for my gongura pulusu or Sorrel soup.

Ingredients:

For the soup:

Salt pickled sour leaf - 3 tbsp

Onions and tomatoes diced - 1 cup

Chana daal - 1/4th cup

Koora powder All spice mix - 4 tbsp optional

Mustard seeds - 3 tbsp

methi/fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp

Red chillis - 5-6

green chillies - 3-4

For tempering:

Garlic cloves - 1/4th cup

green chillies - 5-6
Powdered mustard -  2tblspn
Powdered Fenugreek . 1tblspn
Curry powder - 2 tblspn

Hing/Asefotida - optional

curry leaves- 1 stem

red chillies - 3

Method of preperation:

For koora powder/All spice powder, i make it the following way and use it in fries.
Recipe for Koora Powder:

Cumin and Cilantro and mustard-1spn each
Red chillies - 3 to 4
Chana daal - 3 tblspn
Roast them and grind them in to coarse powder.



Now the original recipe for pulusu/Soup:

Fry the tempering ingredients in order that was given above in oil.
Now add sour leaf pickle 3 tblspn and fry  for 1 min.
Add chana daal onions, tomatoes and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.
Now add All spice powder, Red  chilli powder, Mustard and Fenugrek powder
Bring it to boil for another 10 min untill it thickens and serve hot.

The chana daal in koora powder will thicken the sauce.
The more garlic cloves  you add in tempering, the more extraordinary is the taste of gongura pulusu.
Frying garlic cloves whole in oil and boiling them with sour leaves gives a pungent smell and taste.
This goes great with Rice.
Gongura has lots of Iron and if you are anemic eat 3tblspn of  gongura every week. 

Serving tips:
Gongura pulusu tastes great with "Mudda pappu" or 100% boiled toor daal.
This combination tastes excellent with combination of Hot rice, Muddapappu and Ghee.