Sprouted Mung beans curry

Mung beans are  full of protein.  They can be cooked in several ways.   For this recipe, I soaked them overnight and then left them covered in a warm place so that they start sprouting.   Making the curry is very similar to cooking the simple mung bean curry.

Ingredients (for 3-4 servings):

2 cups of sprouted mung beans
2 tablespoons oil ( I used sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 or 3 cloves
1 or 2 small dry red chillies (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilly powder
2 green chillies sliced through the middle ( if you like hot food!)
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
3-4 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon sugar or jaggery
1 tablespoon lemon juice (can use more if you like sweet and sour taste)
2 cups of crushed tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes can be used but would need to be softened a bit before adding.
a few curry leaves and a small bunch of coriandar

Method

1. To sprout the beans, wash the mung beans and allow them to soak overnight.  The next morning, remove all the water and keep the beans covered in a warm place.  I tend to keep these in a see through jug or bottle covered with a dark plastic bag.  Keep these overnight and they should have started to sprout.  In cold countries, you may have to leave them for half a day more to sprout. Once sprouted, wash the mung beans and use in curries or salad. Any extra beans can be frozen to use next time.

2.  Add a litre of water to the mug and boil them until they soften and split - I used a pressure cooker and cooked them for 40 minutes on a medium heat.  Some people like their mung beans  runny and can add more water.  I prefer mine to be thick so don't add too much water to them whilst cooking them.  Also, it's always easier to add water to the mug as it is cooking so start off with just a litre of water.

Whilst the mung beans are cooking, prepare the spices etc:

3.   Blend the tomatoes in a bowl.

4.   Add the tomato puri, salt, turmeric, chilly powder, sugar, lemon juice, the green chillies, crushed ginger, crushed garlic and coriander and curry leaves to the tomatoes and mix well.

5.   Once the mung beans have cooked - prepare the seasoning.

6.   Pour the oil in a saucepan and let it get hot.

7.  Add in the cinnamon, cloves, the dry red chillies and mustard seeds to the oil. The mustard seeds and cloves will pop so keep the saucepan covered.

10.  Add the tomato mixture with all the spices to the oil and stir well.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.

10. Now add the cooked mung beans to the tomato mixture and allow it to cook for 10 minutes.  At this stage, you can either cook it further to reduce the water - or add water to the mung - depending on how you like your mung bean gravy.

11.  Sprinkle coriander and serve the mung beans hot with rice or chappatis or porathas.

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Mung Dall with lemon and maple syrup

Mung beans when split become Mung Dall.  You can get mung dall with the green husk or the polished one with the husk removed.  All of the versions are full of proteins.   However, all three are used in different recipes.

Today's recipe is using the polished husked Mung dall.

Ingredients:

One and a half cups Mung dall

half can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tumeric

3 green chillies - chopped (use less if you are not keen on hot food or just slice the chillies so  some of its flavour goes in the dall)

1 tablespoon maple syrup (sugar is fine too)

1 tablespoon lemon juice.

1 teaspoon garlic paste

1 teaspoon ginger paste

small bunch of coriander

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 teaspoon dried mustard seeds

1 or 2 pieces of cloves and cinnamon (optional)

pinch of  asafoetida (optional)


Cooking time: 20 -30 minutes depending on how long the dall was soaked for.

Method:

1. Soak  the mung beans for at least 2 hours but if possible longer.

2.  Heat the sunflower oil.

3.  Add the mustard seeds, cinnamon, cloves and asafoetida

4.  Once the mustard seeds and cloves stop popping, add the mung dall to the oil.

5.  Stir the mung dall so that all the beans are covered with the oil.

6.  Add the salt, tumeric, ginger, garlic and green chillies and stir.  Add in the maple syrup.( you can substitute this by using honey or sugar).

7.  Add two and half cups of water to the dall.

8.  Let the dall cook gently until it gets soft.  (should take 10-15 minutes).

9.  Once the dall softens, add the tomatoes and lemon juice and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Although we call this a dall, do not stir the dall too much as the dall then becomes like a soup. In fact, the Gujarati's do not add a lot of water and make their dall fairly dry.  They serve it with Khadhi - which is a heavenly tasting soup made from Yogurt.

Note:   If you add lemon juice or tomatoes too early to the dall, the acid in the tomatoes and lemon stops the dall from softening. 

10. Transfer the dall to the serving dish and sprinkle some coriander before serving with rice and chappatis.