This recipe of green gram sundal uses whole moong bean, also called green gram. Curry leaves are added too in the standard sundal recipe but I prefer the taste of sundal without. Add them in if you wish.

You Need:

[Serves 4]

• Green moong bean/green gram – 3/4 cup
• Coconut – 150 grams
• Green chilies – 2 or 3
• Ginger – 1/2 inch stick
• Salt – to taste
• Jaggery – 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry red chilies – 1
• Asafoetida – a pinch
• Ghee – 2 teaspoons

In the picture above (from bottom-left): asafoetida, mustard seeds, dry red chili, green chilies, ginger, fresh coconut.

How To Make Green Gram Sundal:

1. Boil green gram

Soak green gram overnight (~7 hours) in 2 cups of water.

Drain and boil till soft but not mushy. The texture of cooked green moong should be firmer than it would be for dal preparations like green gram masala or toor sabut moong dal. [If using an Indian-style pressure cooker, boil with two cups of water on high heat till one whistle, then remove the cooker from heat and let the steam release naturally.]

Unlock the cooker. Separate out the boiled green gram from the water used for boiling.

Do not discard the flavorful moong water – collect it and use for making osaman.

2. Prepare the coconut spice base

Grind together fresh coconut, green chilies and ginger coarsely.

3. Cook it all together

Break the dry red chili into 5-6 pieces.

Heat ghee in a pan. When the ghee is hot, add asafoetida, dry red chilies and mustard seeds.

When the mustard seeds have popped, add boiled green gram.

Stir to coat the green gram with the spiced ghee.

After two minutes, add salt to taste, jaggery (if using) and the ground chili-ginger-coconut.

Turn off the heat and stir.

Green gram sundal is ready.

Sundal is versatile in its ways of serving. Tastes good warm as well as at room temperature. Works as a standalone snack as well as an accompaniment for a bigger meal. Exhibit below: green gram sundal with boiled millet, sun melon slices, plain dahi, cauliflower masala.

The post Green Gram Sundal: Coconutty Whole Moong Bean appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Due to the denser texture of green moong bean, hare moong ka cheela turns out softer and thicker than yellow moong ka cheela. You could add a tablespoons of rice flour to the batter if you prefer the cheela crisp; I don’t normally do so.

You Need:

[For 5-6 cheelas]

• Whole green moong bean – 1 large cup
• Green chili – 1
• Asafoetida powder – a pinch
• Roasted cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt – 1/3rd tesapoon, adjust to taste
• Oil – for shallow frying (approx. 1 teaspoon per cheela)

How To Make Hare Moong ka Cheela:

1. Pre-cooking steps

Wash green gram.

Soak green gram overnight in 3 cups of water.

Chop green chilies. Dissolve a pinch of asafoetida powder in a tablespoon of water.

Drain the water from the soaking green gram, rinse. Place soaked green gram in a grinder along with chopped green chili, roasted cumin powder, asafoetida powder dissolved in water, and salt.

Grind to paste. Add water a few tablespoons of water and grind again till you bring it to batter consistency.

2. Make the pancakes!

Heat a teaspoon of oil on a wide non-stick pan. Spread the oil around using a wooden spatula so that the pan gets coated evenly.

Using a ladle, spread green gram batter evenly on the pan, shaping it into a disk of about 5-inch diameter. Let the cheela cook on one side for 3-4 minutes on medium-high flame.

At this stage, the cheela would have browned on the side facing down and would have started separating from the pan.

Sprinkle a few drops of the oil on the open surface of the cheela. Gently slide the spatula under the cheela and flip it over.

Cook the other side too for 3-4 minutes, pressing gently this time to ensure even cooking.

When done on both sides, the cheela is ready to eat. Hare moong ka cheela pairs well with tomato chutney or ketchup.

Notes:

This is the Gujarati style of making green gram cheela, without onion or garlic. If you aren’t keen on a no-onion-no-garlic version, you could try these variations:

• add finely chopping onions to one side of the cheela as it cooks
• instead of asafoetida powder in the batter, add a teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste.

Also try these recipes with green gram as the starring ingredient:

• green gram sundal
• boiled green gram salad with potatoes and coriander dressing
• moong and onion raita

…and if cheelas interest you, check these out:

• sooji ka cheela
• cucumber carrot rava cheela
• besan ka cheela

The post Hare Moong ka Cheela: Green Gram Pancakes appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

This dal is pretty easy to cook, great to taste.

You Need:

• Sabut moong (green gram) – 1 cup [buy here]
• Tomatoes – 2, chopped
• Onions – 1, chopped fine
• Ginger – 1/2 inch stick, grated
• Garlic – 4 pods, crushed
• Dry red chilies – 2
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt – 1/3 teaspoon (adjust to taste)
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Vegetable oil – 1 tablespoon
• Juice of half a lime
• Coriander leaves – 1 tablespoon, chopped

How To Make Sabut Moong Dal:

Wash the dal well in several changes of water. Drain and soak in two cups of water for three hours. Drain.

In an Indian-style pressure cooker, put soaked sabut moong, chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder along with 3 cups of water. Close the lid and cook on high heat till you hear a whistle. Set the heat to low at this point and cook further till the cooker lets out three whistles.

Take the lid of the pressure cooker off after it has cooled enough to open without force. Add salt to the cooked sabut moong dal and mix well.

In a kadhai or pan, heat a tablespoon of oil. Add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Follow with dry red chilies, grated ginger and garlic.

When the garlic starts to turn golden, add finely chopped onions. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, till the onions are golden-brown. This could take about 8-9 minutes.

Pour cooked dal into the kadhai. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat and let the dal simmer for five minutes.

Your dal is now ready to be taken off the heat. Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the dal and stir. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serving suggestion: Steaming hot sabut moong dal with parathas and a dry vegetable side dish of okra or plantain.

The post Sabut Moong Dal: Whole Green Gram Masala appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Boiled moong bean salad is a very simple to make, healthy snack/breakfast item. All you need is a little pre-planning. Boil the green moong dal the night before, refrigerate and use it the next morning as a cold salad.

It is also a great way to use the green chutney you made made for dinner last night.

You Need:

• Green moong beans – 1 cup
• Potato, boiled – 1 small
• Green chili – 1 (optional)
• Tomato – 1
• Green chutney – 1 tablespoon
• Salt – to taste

How To Make Boiled Moong Bean Salad with Green Chutney Dressing:

Boil the moong beans

[To do at least six hours before making the salad]

Wash the moong beans in a few changes of water, till any water added to it is clear. Soak the dal in two cups of water for an hour. Drain, wash again and cook the dal in four cups of water till soft. The moong beans should be cooked enough to mush if pressed, but to retain shape and have the skin. If using a pressure cooker, this will take three whistles (high flame till first whistle, then low).

Allow to cool and release pressure naturally. Strain the water into another pan (don’t throw it away!) – you can use this water for making soup or osaman, or to knead chapati dough.

Retain the cooked moong beans. Let them cool to room temperature and refrigerate.

Make the green chutney

Follow the coriander chutney recipe. If you wish, add more lemon juice.

Chop the veggies

Peel and cut the potato into small cubes.

Chop the green chili finely and the tomato into little pieces.

Put it all together

Mix the boiled moong beans with green chutney, tomato and potato cubes, finely chopped green chilies. Adjust salt.

Serve immediately.

Notes:

Suggested variations/additions to boiled moong bean salad: a tablespoon of finely chopped onions, cucumber cubes.

Want to try more dal-based salads? Check out the recipes for raw moong dal salad, rajma chaat and adzuki bean salad with greens.

The post Boiled Moong Bean Salad with Green Chutney Dressing appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

In keeping with my no onion policy of recent times, this one too uses no onions in the tadka (the process of flavoring the dish with spices tempered in hot oil). It is a really quick tadka, done in seconds. If you have a pressure cooker, you could have your toor-sabut moong dal ready in a matter of minutes.

You Need:

• Toor dal/arhar dal (pigeon pea split) – 3/4 cup [buy here]
• Sabut moong dal (green gram) – 1/2 cup [buy here]
• Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste
• Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon, freshly squeezed

    For the tadka:

• Ghee – 1/2 tablespoon
• Curry leaves – a few, washed and patted dry
• Green chilies – 2, chopped fine
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida (hing) – 1/2 teaspoon

How To Make Toor Sabut Moong Dal:

Wash toor dal and sabut moong dal.^[1] Soak them together for two hours.

After two hours, drain, wash again and transfer the dals to a pressure cooker.

Add 3 cups of water , turmeric to the dal. Lock the pressure cooker and place on high flame. After the first whistle, reduce the flame to low and let it cook for another two whistles.

Keep aside till the pressure is released. When cool enough to open, open lid and mix in salt.

Do the tadka: Heat ghee in a tadka ladle. Add to it mustard and cumin seeds. When they begin to splutter, add asafoetida, curry leaves and green chilies. Switch off as soon as the chilies turn brown.

Turn the tadka immediately into the pan containing the dal.

Mix in lemon juice. Serve toor sabut moong dal hot with chapatis or rice.

Meal idea: chapatis with toor sabut moong dal, zucchini tomato curry, fresh fruit/vegetable salad.

Notes:

1. Never made dal before, wondering how to wash it well? Take the dals together in a pot, add water, move the dal around with your fingers. You’ll see the water turn whitish. Drain it out carefully. Repeat till the water in the dal remains clear. Depending on the type of dal this could take 5-6 cycles.
2. Want another toor dal recipe? Try lasooni dal. Does sabut moong dal interest you? Go for green gram pancakes.

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