Gongura Chana dal Curry & St. Louis, Missouri trip

Gateway arch

The main attraction of St. louis city is The Gateway Arch, or Gateway to the West. It is an arch that is the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri. It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. At 630 feet (192 m), it is the tallest man-made monument in the United States, Missouri's tallest accessible building, and the largest architectural structure designed as a weighted or flattened catenary arch.

gate way arch st. louis Missouri

Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River where the city of St. Louis was founded, the arch was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. Construction began on February 12, 1963, and ended on October 28, 1965,costingUS$13 million at the time ($90,491,005 today). The monument opened to the public on June 10, 1967.

view from to of the arch

view from gateway arch , down town

It is almost 250miles/400Kms far from our place Kentucky, we went all they way by car. We crossed Illinois in the middle and entered Missouri, the gateway arch can be seen just from the entrance of Missouri. It was really a historic and big  construction, as it was weekend heavy rush flooded in, it took nearly 4hrs to get the tram which takes us onto the top of the arch. Finally we been there, it was really awesome experience. Every thing seemed very small, even smaller than ants from top, the beautiful view of downtown attracted us very much.

american indians in the museum

gateway arch musium

Now coming to the  Gongura Chana dal (senaga pappu) curry:

Gongura

Gongura is andhra's favourite leafy vegetable. Ask which andhrite dosen't love this pickle. I've been craving for this from many months finally I found it in the international food market. I love this curry very much my mother used to prepare it for me. Gongura is known as Sorrel leaves in English.
Pulicha Keerai in Tamil.
Gongura in Telugu.
Pandi in Kannada.
Gongura Ela in Malayalam
Pitwa in Hindi.

Ingredients:

Gongura ripped, washed and cut-5cups

Chana dal-1/4cup cooked  in a cooker/ microwaved (do not cook to mushy, see that texture remain intact)

Chopped onions-1/4cup

Green chillies-2

chopped cilantro-2t.s

Cumin seeds-1/2ts

Mustard seeds-1/2ts

Chana dal-1ts

Turmeric-Pinch

Salt to taste

Chili powder-1/2t.s

Red chili-1

vegetable oil-2ts

Method:

Take a pan and heat 2ts of vegetable oil and add cumin seeds + red chili+ Mustard seeds + chana dal and saute them until they splutter. Now add onions + green chili and cook till onion turn transparent. Add turmeric and cook till raw flavor goes away. Add gongura and cook under medium flame while covering pan with lid. After the gongura is completely cooked add tomato and cook until tomato is well cooked. Add cooked chana dal + red chili powder + salt to taste and cook well, add water if necessary. The curry is ready to serve.

Goes well with rice. I bet you'll love it, the tangy flavor of gongura mixes with onions and chana dal and gives very unique tangy taste to the final recipe.

Gongura chana dal/senaga pappu curry/kura