This recipe is an oldie but a goldie! Green Moong is one of the most healthiest of the legume family. It does not cause flatulence like some of the other legumes like chickpeas or red kidney beans. Each cup of cooked green moong has 14 grams of protein! Sometimes I have no idea what to eat for lunch, I boil or pressure cook some green moong. Then I will add chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, red onions, red chilli powder, salt and lemon juice. That’s it! It is super filling and super delicious as well!
Green moong has been consumed in the Indian culture for thousands of years now, and has a lot of benefits! Here is a website with great information on the benefits of green moong. This green moong daal was a staple in my home growing up. We used to eat it every week, with a cooked vegetable and rotis, making it a complete nutritious meal. I loved the way my mom prepared it, the Gujarati way, with ginger, green chillies, lemon juice, brown sugar and spices. It is so delicious! That is the way I prepare it as well and the recipe is my mom and grandma’s recipe. My mom would make puris with this daal, made with jaggery, so they are sweet puris actually, and taste so good with some garlic chutney on the side. It is my dad’s favorite meal, so when he visits me, I make sure to make it once for him! You can even have this daal as a soup and it will fill you up well!
Another way to prepare green moong is to sprout it. Sprout moong is super healthy and one of the recipes that many dieticians in India recommend especially if you are trying to shed some weight. Especially if you are a vegetarian or a vegan, it is one of the best ways to get protein in your diet in a good healthy way. My favorite way is to add, tiny chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, red bell pepper, cilantro, purple cabbage, green(raw) mango, chaat masala, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Trust me this is delicious, and its a great salad for the summer too. I think I will have to share this recipe soon as well ! 🙂
Moving onto the recipe, this is a super easy daal and one of the first ones I learnt from my dear mom. It is called Mag ni Daal in Gujarati! The daal is pressure cooked, or if you do not have a pressure cooker, you can boil it covered on the gas stove. It takes longer to boil the moong daal though. I always boil with salt because it helps to raise the boiling point of water, and hence cook the daal a bit faster and better. For the tempering, I use curry leaves, hing(asafoetida), cumin seeds, mustard seeds, green chillies. I add dry spices to the boiled daal , along with the tempering, in addition to chopped tomatoes, lemon juice, cilantro, brown sugar. Mix it all up, let it boil for a few minutes and your daal is done!
It is best eaten with either rice, or roti along with a vegetable. It is nutritious, filling, healthy and one of my go to lunch meals! If you do get a chance to try this daal, and have any questions, please feel free to email or or DM me on Instagram and I can help to answer any questions that you may have.
Have a wonderful week ahead!
XO
Amisha
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole green moong daal
- 6 cups water for boiling
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4-5 fresh curry leaves (you can omit this if you do not have it)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon of ginger, freshly grated
- 1 green chilly finely chopped
- 1 heapful teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- Pinch of asafoetida (you can skip this if you do not have it)
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilly powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan or pot, on medium to high heat, add the green moong daal and water, add a pinch of salt and get it to a boiling stage. Let it boil for about 20 minutes. Check a spoonful to see if they are soft and cooked. If not, let it boil for another 5 minutes and check again. Repeat the process until done. Switch off the stove. OR if you have a pressure cooker, you can use it, and it should take upto 4-5 whistles for the daal to be become soft. If you have a pressure cooker, make sure you open it after 10 minutes, once the pressure is a bit low, and open it slowly so as not to get burnt with the steam or the hot cooker. The water may have boiled off, or very little water must be left. Add about 3 cups of water to the daal and mix gently.
- In a small saucepan, on medium heat, add in the vegetable oil. Add the asafoetida, curry leaves, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and let it splatter for 20 seconds. Add in the green chillies and garlic. Switch off the stove.
- Switch on the stove for the daal. Add in the oil mixture into the daal. Add in all the dry spices like turmeric, coriander, cumin, salt, garam masala, red chilly powder. Mix well. Add in the brown sugar, lemon juice and tomato, and mix well again. Let it boil for about 12-15 minutes. Add in the cilantro for garnish. Your daal is done! You can eat it with rice or naan or roti! It is so delicious!
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