21 Feb Mung Bean Dal Recipe

A couple of times a year I simplify my food and have a few days of eating mung bean dal in various forms for each meal. I tend to do it when I’m feeling over indugled or I’ve lost touch with my intuition when it comes to choosing what I want to eat.

The beauty of this dish is that it can be cooked as a base for several other ingredients. I make a big pot of it to keep in the fridge, then add different ingredients to keep it varied, such as fresh spinach, a poached egg, cress, roasted sweet potato chunks, sliced avocado… the list is endless.

Ingredients:

Two cups of mung beans, soaked in water overnight

Enough water to cover the mung beans and then some

Olive oil

Three cloves of garlic, chopped or grated

Two thumbs of fresh ginger, peeled and grated to a fine pulp

1 tsp asafoetida

1 tsp Turmeric

2 tsps Cumin seeds

Fresh lemon

Fresh Chili, chopped

Fresh Coriander

Method:

Soak the beans over night and rinse well before pouring into the pot and covering with about a third more water. Add the turmeric and asafoetida to the water, bring to the boil and simmer until the beans are broken down and soft. You can add more water if you like and it also depends how wet you like your dal. You want it to absorb the water but not so much that it goes dry.

While the beans are simmering, heat the oil in a pan and gently toast the cumin seeds for a few seconds, careful not to burn them. Add the garlic and gently cook until soft. You can either add the fresh chili to this stage and cook lightly, or add right at the end.

Once the beans are cooked, add the spices, garlic, fresh grated ginger, a couple of squeezes of lemon juice and chopped coriander.

Season to taste with salt and pepper or with tamari. And as I mentioned before, either keep it simple or add vegetables or an egg. Enjoy!