There’s always a first.
Making daal was the first thing I ever learned to cook from my mother. It was and is by far my most favorite food to eat and maybe that’s why I learned to cook it first. It’s my comfort food, which I believe most Indians would say. There are 100s of ways to make it. And I’ve literally made it 1000s of times and each time I think it tastes a little different. This is what I call recipe that I cook from muscle memory. no recipe kind.
Every time I post it on my social media it gets huge response and request for a recipe. I usually post it in the comments, but this time I thought I should measure everything and write a blog post. So here it is!
I collaborated with Bobs Red mill to try their huge array of products and was impressed with the selection of high quality heritage beans and lentils. I normally buy my lentils and beans from Indian grocery stores because of their fast moving inventory, large selection in one place. I choose to experiment with Bob’s Red mills Mung beans and was very impressed with the quality of beans. They are clean, non GMO, really great quality (I can tell just by how well they cook) and very neatly packaged.
Here’s my recipe for everyday Whole Mung Beans Dal.
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Heritage Mung beans, soaked overnight, drained and cooked for 15-18 minutes till tender, soft and slightly disintegrating
- 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
- 1-2 inch chubby piece of ginger, minced, depending on how strong of a ginger flavor you like
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped about a cup
- 1 Hot green chilli or as you much as you like
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons any neutral tasting oil
- Handful of chopped greens for added nutrition
Warm oil in a sauce pan. Add the cumin seeds and stir till they sizzle and pop. Add the onions and sauté for 5-7 minutes till soft. Add the garlic, ginger and fry further. Now add the turmeric and chopped tomatoes. Stir and cook on low heat so the tomatoes cook to-a soft consistency. Add the salt and cooked beans, stir and bring it back to a boil. Add a little water to thin out as needed. Simmer for another 4-5 minutes. You can throw in your greens on top of the beans and let them steam in the residual heat. Serve as is or with some rice or roti or naan.
Leave a Reply