A Ton of Protein # 10 - Moong aur Chane ki Dal

Moong aur Chane ki Dal served with microwave-cooked rice (behind)

When I published my post on Shankarpali, I thought I was 'back'. I was happy that I did not have to stay away from blogging for too long. I was so wrong. And I will be wrong again, if I think that I'll find the time for blogging easily. Nope, it's not gonna be that easy. I'll have to *make* time for it. The reasons being
a) We had a very limited social circle in Germany. Which meant less time spent in socialising. Here in Pune, however, I can socialise with different people everyday and still have others complaining that we don't see each other often enough. :) No, I am not complaining. This is what we came back for. I am just stating facts.
b) Sundays often were 'stay-at-home' days in Germany. Because all shops there are closed on Sundays. Which often translated into me blogging for several hours together. Whereas here in India, Sundays can sometimes be the busiest days.
c) We get Indian newspapers here!!! When it comes to newspapers, I enjoy reading only Indian newspapers. Better still, Marathi newspapers. And if it is Sakal, then I can spend at least an hour reading it. Which I often do. :)

When do I get the time for blogging then? Well, as you can see, I haven't been getting any. But this will change. I'll have to make sure that it does. Wish me luck!

Let me come back to this post now. It's the tenth one in my series of 'A Ton of Protein'. I got the original recipe 'sent' to me in one of the newsletters from this site. (How convenient is that! :)) The recipe does not 'look' very different from the other Dal recipes that you might be having, but it gives lip-smacking results. Maybe it's the green Moong Dal, maybe it's the proportion of spices or maybe it's both. In case you want to find it out yourself, here's the recipe. :)

'Three' ingredients...'Tenth' post...A 'Ton' of Protein

Recipe for Moong aur Chane ki Dal

Ingredients:

½ cup Moong dal with skin
1 tbsp Chana dal
½ tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp coriander seeds powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
½ inch ginger, chopped fine
salt to taste
2 cups water
juice from half a lime

1 tbsp Ghee or oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds

chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Pressure-cook both Dals together with 1 cup water.
2. Mix all the spice powders in ½ cup water to make thin paste.
3. Heat Ghee/oil in a pan. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds. Once they start spluttering, add the cumin seeds.
4. Add ginger. Add the paste of spice powders. Fry for a minute. Reduce heat, in case the paste jumps too high as it can cause burns.
5. Then add the Dal, salt and the remaining ½ cup water. Add more, in case you like it thin. Boil it on high heat for about five minutes or until it reaches a consistency of your choice.
6. Once you turn off the heat, add the lime juice.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. I happened to have a coil-shaped red chilli in my kitchen, so I used that as well. :)

Serve with rice or Rotis.

Note:

Lime juice added after the Dal is cooked retains all the Vitamin C in it, which helps the body absorb iron from the Dal. (That's my two cents. Just so that I don't feel guilty for reproducing the recipe exactly as I got it. :))

Bottle Gourd Curry with Moong Dal & Yogurt

The curry is not as yellow as it looks in the photograph.
I think, I went overboard while trying to adjust the contrast. :)

I learnt this recipe from my mother. Also, I have only seen her making this preparation and nobody else. (Although I am sure that somebody in some corner of this world must be making it too. :))
Anyway, when she gave me the recipe, she just mentioned in passing that it is based on a Kerala recipe, although she did not mention which one. (As I have mentioned before, she has studied Home Science, in which the students get to learn a lot of cuisines. Hence the connection.)
Before I started blogging, my knowledge of the cuisine of Kerala was limited to 'Avial'. And I knew that this dish could not have been based on that. So I just left it at that.

Then, a few days back, when Indira blogged about 'Kaalan', a bottle gourd and yogurt preparation from Kerala, I was sure it was the mother of this preparation by my mother. :)
As you can see in the next pic, I made this curry with the beautifully round bottle gourd, which was in the guessing game yesterday. Here's how I prepared it.

Recipe for Bottle Gourd Curry with Moong Dal & Yogurt

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

approx. 500 g. bottle gourd/Doodhi/Lauki (3 packed cups, when diced)
1 tbsp Moong Dal, washed and soaked in about ¼ cup water for ½ hour
4-5 tbsp yogurt, beaten smooth
3-4 green chillis
salt to taste

1 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
a pinch asafoetida powder

chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Clockwise from top: Bottle gourd, green chillis, Moong Dal

Method:

1. Wash and peel the bottle gourd. (You need not throw away the peels. This chutney can be made using them.)
2. Dice the peeled bottle gourd. Cut the green chillis in ½ inch long pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a pan, and add mustard seeds once it is hot. Once they splutter, add the asafoetida powder.
4. Add the Moong Dal along with the water and quickly cover the pan with a lid. The water tends to jump high at this point, and may burn your fingers.
5. After about two minutes, open the lid, and add turmeric powder and bottle gourd dices to the pan. Stir and add ½ cup of water.
6. Cover and cook the bottle gourd on medium-high heat for about ten minutes.
7. Once the bottle gourd is cooked, add salt, yogurt and green chilli pieces.
8. Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes, while stirring often, so that the yogurt does not separate too much.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve warm with phulkas/chapatis or rice & dal.

Tags: Bottle gourd, Moong Dal, Yogurt, Vegetarian