Spiced Whole Green Mung Dal Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients

• ½ cup of whole green Mung dal
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp ghee
• ¼ tsp black mustard seeds
• ¼ Cumin seeds
• 1pinch of hing ( asafetida)
• ¼ tsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 small handful of chopped coriander leaves
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/8 th teaspoon rocksalt

Method

Wash the mung dal until the water is clear. Soak the mung dahl in a large pot with plenty of water overnight if you are cooking it in the morning or for about 8 hours for cooking at another time. After soaking, discard the water and wash again several times.  Put the mung dal and water in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil. Skim of any scum if it appears. After boiling for 5 minutes reduce the flame to simmer. After a further 15-20 minutes add salt. Continue cooking until the dal is soft and has started to merge with the water. Remove from the heat. Place a small saucepan on low heat. When the pan is warm add ghee. To test the ghee is the right temperature for the spices, drop a couple of mustard seeds into the ghee. If they start to pop, the temperature is correct. Add the remaining mustard seeds followed by cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds have popped and the cumin seeds have turned golden brown add hing (asafoetida). When hing is slightly brown add the chopped ginger, turmeric and coriander powder. Remove the spices from the heat, place dal on low heat and add the spice mixture to it. Stir well and boil for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, add chopped coriander, mix well and cover for 5 minutes before serving

 Variation

• Use green split mung dahl or use hello split skinned mung dahl. For these dahls, no soaking is required. For the yellow dahl use 4 times the amount of water. It cooks in about 20 minutes.
• Add turmeric/ginger/hing as the dal boils
• Add a squeeze of lime at the end of cooking.
• Use fennel seeds/coriander seeds/black peppercorns/ fenugreek seeds in addition to or instead of other seeded spices.
• Add a teaspoon of jaggery to the dahl halfway during the cooking for sweet dahl.  For sweet and sour dahl add jaggery as described and add the juice of half a lime before serving
• Instead of frying spices, simply add ground pepper/dry roasted cumin/coriander and a squeeze of lime at the end.
• Use coconut oil or any other cold-pressed oil instead of ghee.
• Garnish with fresh finely chopped herbs like coriander/mint/parsley
• Use the liquid part of the soup as a soup and flavour with spices and herbs as described above.
• Use the solid part for a bean salad or hummus.