Sprouted Mung Masala Daal

Anitra came by with her friend Sylvie and we COOKED and ate and laughed and shared! Here is Sylvia's email. (She is a writer you can tell) Scroll down to see the Mung Recipe. It's delicious!!

This was the thali-style meal Anitra, 

Sylvia and me shared that day. Rice,

yogurt, carrot relish, Mung Daal, lemon

pickle and leftover spicy eggplant!!

"Cooking with Shona

was more of a dance with food...

not a recipe to be followed,

but meal to be created...

tasting, adjusting flavors,

bringing them into

balance and harmony...

where no one ingredient 

could be tasted 

over another...

instead they created one

smooth coherent taste...

Everything was done

by hand:  washing, peeling, cutting...

holding the sensuous 

in our hands 

as we julienned

the carrots, chopped very fine

little mounds of onions, tomatoes 

and cilantro.

The kitchen was filled with

such a delectable rhythm

and richness of aromas, flavors,

interest and enthusiasm

for the simple, whole foods, 

straight from the earth mingling

with generations of relationships;

bringing stories, knowledge and 

reverence for spices and herbs 

and foods right into the kitchen...

It was palpable that day

as it permeated and filled the space...

The sprouted mung beans,

bursting forth with new life

were divinely delicious...

It felt sooooo good to put such

clean, healthy, living food into 

our bodies...

Food served with care and

grace and beauty

that nourished mind, 

body and spirit.

When I handle food

now, something from that

day with Shona and Anitra

is still present with me..."

- Sylvia Anne

Sprouted Mung Masala Daal

Here is the Recipe: I am too lazy to list ingredients separately. I have colored them instead!!

You will need to prep the mung a day or so ahead:

Wash 3 cups whole green mung and soak overnight in 5 cups of water. Next morning wash and drain thoroughly and leave in a colander covered loosely with a plate for 3-4 hours. The mung will start to sprout  (see pix).

Boil sprouted mung with 4 cups of water and the following:

½ teaspoon turmeric,

11/2 teaspoons salt,

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon Oginga  paste (optional)

(Cook mung till it is soft – add water if necessary. You know the mung is cooked when you should be able to squish it with the back of a spoon or between your fingers)

Take heavy bottomed pan with lid. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil till it smokes add ¼ teaspoon asaodita salt and ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds. Wait till cumin sizzles and begins to change color then add 2 teaspoon diced fresh ginger, I small diced onion, 4 cloves diced garlic, 1 large tomato &  ½ cup diced cilantro.  Cook stirring constantly till onion caramelizes. Add the boiled mung and another cup of water and cook for 20 minutes on low till water is absorbed. Adjust salt.

This dish is finished using an old fashioned method of spice tempering.

I use a bar-b-que basting cup – which is a metal cup like thing with a long handle. Heat two tablespoons of ghee or oil in this and add to it 1 tablespoon powdered cumin, 1 tablespoon powdered coriander, ½ teaspoon chili powder and ½ teaspoon garam masala. Switch off heat immediately (be very careful not to burn spices). The spices will sizzle in the oil. Pout this oil tempered mix directly into the pot of cooking mung. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice to taste. This dish goes really well with rice or Indian Chapattis (tortilla) or naan and some nice raita.