Mukkala Pulusu/ Dhappalam / Indian Vegetable Soup

Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena

PrepTime:5 min    CookTime:20 min   Cuisine:Indian

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Table of Contents⇓     RecipeCard⇓

‘Mukkala Pulusu / South Indian style Mixed Vegetable Soup’, is my family favourite recipe. Read the details and try it out. 🙂 

You can add any other vegetables like Okra, Tindora, Summer Squash, Zucchini,  but the must and should one’s are gumadikaya / pumpkin / butternut squash and chilakadadumpa / sweet potato.

Table of Contents:

Click to Expand / Collapse

1. What is ‘Mukkala Pulusu’:
2. Health Benefits of, ‘Mukkala Pulusu / Dappalam / Theepi Pulusu’:
3. How to serve, ‘Mukkala Pulusu / Dappalam / Indian Vegetable Soup’:
4. Other recipes from my blog:
5. Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Mukkala pulusu / dhappalam / Indian vegetable soup’:
   1. Prep Work:
   2. Cooking:
   3. Tempering / Tadka:
6. Tips & Storage:
7. Result:
8. Recipe Card & Print:

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What is ‘Mukkala Pulusu’:

Mukkala Pulusu / Dhappalam, is a traditional age old recipe of Andhra Pradesh, a South Indian Telugu speaking state.

The ancient name for this traditional recipe is Dhappalam, but in later days it’s called as Mukkala Pulusu in new terms.

Other names for the same recipe are, Theepi (Sweet) Pulusu and Gummadikaya (Pumpkin) Pulusu.

While ‘Mukkalu’ means pieces and ‘Pulusu’ means Pulp in Telugu. Any festival, celebration, marriages would definitely have this in the menu in the Telugu states. Especially in Brahmins Meals.

Health Benefits of, ‘Mukkala Pulusu / Dappalam / Theepi Pulusu’:

Pumpkin / Gummadikaya, is rich in Vitamin-A, anti-oxidants. And is a great source of Potassium and Beta-carotene. Its very low in calories too.

Sweet Potato, are great source of Vitamins B & C and even edible fibre as well.

Tamarind is high in anti inflammatory & anti oxidant properties, that protects against cancer. The tamarind puree helps in reducing body weight.

Jaggery, is a great source of Iron.

To conclude, this dish is suitable for Plant Based, Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten free, Oil-Free, Satvik and No Onion-No Garlic diets. It’s very nutritious mainly because of its mixed vegetable broth. 

How to serve, ‘Mukkala Pulusu / Dappalam / Indian Vegetable Soup’:

Mukkala Pulusu / Dappalam / Theepi Pulusu, is best enjoyed when served as an accompaniment along with plain steamed rice, plain dal / lentils and homemade ghee / butter.

This is perfect combination, which is most common in Telugu meals known as [Muddha Pappu + MukkalaPulusu]. Recipe for Muddha Pappu / Dal / Plain LentilStew

Just see the, Meal Platter / Thali, picture below, where I served this as mentioned above. Recipe link for the entire thali, which has details, plan and recipes too⇒  Bhojanam/Thali/Platter # 1

Other recipes from my blog:

Before starting to cook, don’t forget to see the Tips  mentioned at the end.

60+ South Indian Andhra recipes collection⇒  Authentic Andhra Recipes Collection / Telugu Vantalu

Daily Meal Platters collection⇒  Bhojanam / Thali / Meal Platter

Dal recipes collection⇒ Dal / Pappu / Lentil Stew

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Ingredients:

• Pumpkin / Butternut Squash / Gummadikaya – palm length size
• Bottle Gourd / Sorakaya – palm length size
• Sweet Potato / Chilakada Dumpa – 1 (medium size)
• Drumsticks / Moringa / Mulakkada – 2
• Tomatoes – 2 (small size)
• Eggplant / Vankaya – 10 (cube size pieces)
• Fresh Green Chillies – 4
• Salt – 3½ teaspoons
• Jaggery – 3 to 4 tablespoons
• Red Chilli Powder –  2 teaspoons
• Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon
• Tamarind Puree – ½ cup to ¾ cup
• Coriander Leaves – 4 to 5 twigs
• Rice flour – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Water – for cooking and boiling

Ingredients for Tempering : (optional)

• Cooking Oil – 2 tablespoons
• Mustard seeds / Aavalu – ¼ teaspoon
• Jeera / Cumin Seeds  – ½ teaspoon
• Nuvvulu / Sesame Seeds – ¼ teaspoon (optional)
• Asafoetida / Hing / Inguva – ¼ teaspoon
• Dry Red Chillies – 3
• Curry Leaves – 5 to 6

Special Ingredients:

• Jaggery
• Tamarind

Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Mukkala pulusu / dhappalam / Indian vegetable soup’:

Prep Work:

Wash the vegetables thoroughly and cut them into cube size pieces or finger size length wise pieces.

Slit the green chillies length wise. 

Finely chop the fresh coriander.

If you are using Dry Tamarind: Take it into a small cup. Fill it with hot boiling water and put it aside, for it to soften & ooze out the puree.

In case you are using store bought readily available tamarind puree, leave the above step.

Cooking:

Transfer all the vegetable pieces into a wide, deep vessel.  Add a teaspoon of salt and one cup of water.

Close the vessel with lid. Let them cook on stove top under high flame until the pieces soften.

Takes around 7 to 8 mins, then switch off the flame.

Open the lid, add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, grated jaggery and remaining salt.

Now, add the tamarind puree to the vessel and 2 to 3 cups of fresh water. Mix up everything gently. 

Add a tablespoon of chopped coriander too. Switch ON the stove, over medium flame.

Let the pulusu boil for 8-10 mins. 

Meanwhile, mix the rice flour into ½ cup of water. When the soup in the vessel starts to form bubbles, add the water mix.

Stir everything well, the pulusu / soup starts to thicken. After 2 mins switch the flame off.

Tempering / Tadka:

Put a small frying pan and add all the ‘Ingredients for Tempering’.

Sauté them for 2 mins and switch the flame off once done.

Transfer the entire tempered ingredients, onto the pulusu in the vessel. Add the remaining chopped coriander too.

Mix the entire tempering with the pulusu. Transfer it into a serving dish. Done!

Tips & Storage:

• You can add any other vegetables like Okra, Tindora, Summer Squash, Zucchini,  but the must and should one’s are gumadikaya / pumpkin / butternut squash and chilakadadumpa / sweet potato.
• This is strictly a No Onion, No Garlic recipe. Do not try to add them.
• In case using dry tamarind, take the thick pulp out of the cup of tamarind which we kept aside, by squeezing between your palm.
• In case you are using readily available tamarind puree, just use as it is, as per the mentioned quantity.
• Adjust the salt, spice and sweet as per your taste, but the expected spice is medium.
• If you would like to take it as it is like a soup, then tempering for this recipe can be eliminated.
• Storage: The storage time for this pulusu at room temperature is 2 days and if refrigerated its good up to a week.

Result:

• The taste of this, mukkala pulusu / dhappalam / indian vegetable soup, has a mixed taste of both  Sweet & Sour at the same time.
• We had it as an accompaniment as part of our Bhojanam / Meal as as shown below.

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