Mung Adraki - healthy mung beans recipe

Whole mung - a wholesome food

Mung beans are extremely healthy. An excellent food for those trying to lose weight, Mung is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Copper and Manganese.
Here's a spicy mung recipe that goes well with any kind of bread or rice; or else you can have it just by itself...

Mung adraki

• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• Whole mung beans - 1 cup
• Water - 3-4 cups
• Ginger - 2" piece (cut into thin shreds)
• Garlic - 3-4 cloves (finely chopped)
• Onion - 1 medium (finely chopped)
• Green chillies - 2 (finely chopped) (optional)
• Oil/ghee - 2 tbsp
• Dried red chillies - 2 (optional)
• Asofoetida - 1/8th tsp
• Cumin - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4th tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

Instructions

Wash mung beans thoroughly. Put them in a pressure cooker.
Add 3 cups of water, salt to taste and turmeric powder.
Pressure cook till one whistle.
Let the cooker cool of on its own.
When you open the cooker, the mung beans should be soft but should retain their shape. They should not get mushy.

If you don't have a pressure cooker, soak mung for about 4 hrs.
Cook them in a covered pan with 3-4 cups of water until they are soft.
you might need to add more water while cooking in a pan.

Preparing the tempering:

Heat 2 tbsp oil/ghee in a large pan.
When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds.
As cumin seeds crackle, add dried red chillies and asofoetida.
Add chopped onion, garlic and shredded ginger.
Add chopped green chillies.
Add chili powder and coriander powder.
Cook till onions are slightly golden.

The tempering is ready.
Now pour boiled mung over it and let it simmer on low to medium flame for about 20 minutes.
Adjust the consistency by adding more water if you like it thinner.

Here's a different way out

Use boiled mung as a stuffing!

Once your mung are boiled as suggested above, you can use them without the tempering to make an excellent sandwich stuffing/filling. Here's how you can do it.
Drain out all the water from boiled mung. (And yes, this water or mung stock is super nutritious. Add a pinch of black pepper and a health drink is ready!)
Add some chopped garlic and ginger to boiled mung. You can also add some chopped onions to it.
Add half a teaspoon each of garam masala, coriander powder and cumin powder. Remember we had added salt while boiling. Still you can add some more if required.
Mix everything well and use it as a stuffing for sandwich or pitta.

Dal Makhni - creamy gram (urad) and kidney bean curry

Smooth as silk!

Anyone who knows about Indian cuisine, surely knows about Dal Makhni. A dish that can well be called the crowning glory of north Indian cuisine. It's wonderfully smooth, amazingly creamy (even when you do not add cream) and it's quintessentially flavourful.

It's a simple black gram curry to which a few kidney beans are invariably added to lend some texture and more flavour.

A dish you can never over cook....

Take the challenge if you disbelieve!

Dal makhni seems to have a love affair with the low heat on which it can simmer eternally to get silkier and creamier with every passing minute.....
The kidney beans never let it lose texture and the black gram gets only better with more cooking. This is one dish where taste depends more on the length of cooking (simmering) time than on the other ingredients added to it.
The sublime becomes divine the next day. So, when you make dal makhni, make sure you save some to savour the next day... or the experience is not complete.

Asafoetida is a must....

It will work wonders!

Asafoetida is integral to Indian cuisine and it has a very peculiar flavour and aroma. It is valued not just because of its taste but also because it has medicinal properties.
Dal makhi is a very heavy dish (even without cream). The black gram and kidney beans also make it a bit tricky to digest. Adding a pinch of asafoetida will not only add a terrific flavour, but will also help your stomach digest this heavy weight delicacy better.

Dal makhni

• Serves: 6
• Prep Time: 30 min.
• Total Time: 2 hrs.

The preparation time given in the recipe does not include the soaking time for black gram and kidney beans.

Ingredients

• Black gram (whole) - 1 cup
• Kidney beans - 1/4 cup
• Heavy cream (or the low fat one) - 1/4 cup + 2 tsp for garnish
• Onion - 1 medium
• finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium
• finely chopped
• Ginger - 2" piece (ground)
• Garlic - 5 cloves (ground)
• Green chillies - 2 pieces, finely chopped (optional)
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (or to taste)
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (or to taste) (optional)
• Oil / ghee - 2 tbsp (you can use butter if you like)

Instructions

Mix black gram and kidney beans, wash and soak them overnight. (atleast 6-8 hrs).
Drain and add double the quantity of fresh water to the volume of soaked gram and beans. Pressure cook for about 30 minutes on medium heat.
For boiling in covered pan add 3 times the quantity of water and keep checking in between; you will most probably need to add more.

For seasoning:
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan.
Add asafoetida to it.
Add chopped onion and saute till golden brown.
Add ginger, garlic and green chilli. Cook for a minute.
Add chopped tomatoes; cook till tomatoes are done and oil separates.
Add coriander powder and red chilli powder. Mix well.
Turn off the heat, the seasoning is done.

Add this seasoning to the boiled black gram and kidney beans. Mix well.
Add some water if it is too thick.
Let it simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes.
Slowly stir in 1/4 cup of cream.
Add garam masala.
Cook for another 1/2 - 1 hour.
Keep stiring every 10 min.
You can also add water to adjust the consistency to your taste. The consistency should be that of a creamy liquid.

Dal makhni is ready to be served. Garnish with a swirl of cream and serve hot with tandoori naan or paratha.

No yellow but surely mellow!

Do not add turmeric powder to this dish if you want the authentic reddish brown dal makhni. Turmeric will make it yellowish!

Ensure that the kidney beans are completely cooked (mash one with your fingers to test); this will make your dal makhni truly smooth!

Something to go with...

Dal Makhni is a treat by itself. But to think of a side dish go with it... tandoori naan is the best. Even tandoori paratha does great; but if you're looking for an easier and lighter option, rice can also be thought of...

Dum Aloo - Kashmiri and Punjabi

Dum Aloo is probably the most celebrated and rich potato dish in the Indian Cuisine! Dum Aloo is cooked in many regions across India and every region has added its own flavours and touches to it. But the original Kashmiri dum aloo and the onion-tomato gravy based Punjabi version of it are perhaps the most popular ones!
Both Kashmiri and Punjabi dum aloo use fried, boiled baby potatoes; but the gravies are very different and hence the texture, the colour and the taste.

Foreword to the Kashmiri Dum Aloo

This is the recipe for authentic Kashmiri dum aloo. The only fresh vegetable that this recipe uses is potatoes. Apart from oil and yogurt, all other other ingredients are in dry powder form. This is an extremely spicy dish and it has a very sharp, distinct flavour. This sharpness comes from the use of ginger powder which is really pungent. The dish has brownish red colour. Kashmiri red chilli powder lends a beautiful red colour to this yogurt based gravy without adding to the hotness of the taste as these chilies are not hot. So, if you want to cook authentic kashmiri dum aloo, kashmiri red chilli powder is a must or your dish might just lack the electrifying colour.
However, in case you can't find kashmiri red chilli powder, you can use ordinary red chili powder but with caution as ordinary red chilli powder will make your dum aloo even more hot and spicy. Cut down on the quantity of ginger powder if you're using ordinary hot red chilli powder.

Dum Aloo Kashmiri

It's sharp... it's spicy... it's potatoes...

• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 30 min.
• Total Time: 1 hr 30 min.

Ingredients

• Baby potatoes - 10 to 12 pieces
• Yogurt - 2 tbsp
• Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp
• Cloves - 4-5 pieces
• Fennel powder - 1 tsp
• Kashmiri red chili powder - 1 to 1.5 tsp (if using ordinary red chilli powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp or to taste)
• Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
• Green cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp (grind 3-4 green cardamoms in a mortar
• discard the peel and use the powder of the black/brown seeds inside )
• Black cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp (1-2 black cardamoms powdered as suggested for green cardamoms above)
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - for frying + 2 tbsp
• A whole Kashmiri red chilli and a few chopped coriander leaves - for garnish

Instructions

Boil and peel baby potatoes. Make sure that you don't overboil your potatoes or else they might break and loose structure.
Deep fry these potatoes till golden brown.
Prick them all over with a tooth pick making several holes. (Some recipes suggest pricking before deep frying but that makes the potatoes take in more oil and the dish gets heavier. )
Mix 2 tbsp of yogurt 3/4 cup water and beat well. Keep this ready at hand.
In a pot, heat 2 tbsp oil on a medium high flame. Add cloves and fry till they blow up.
Add all other dry ingredients into the hot oil except salt. Stir and quickly add the yogurt mixed with water.
(The oil should not be too hot or the spices will burn. After stirring in the spices, add the diluted yogurt immediately. This will prevent the spices from getting burnt. )
Stir well to blend the spices and the yogurt properly.
Reduce flame to low.
Add salt and the potatoes. Potatoes should submerge in the yogurt gravy.
Cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Keep stirring in between.
In about 30 minutes, all the water will evaporate and the potatoes will be dry but moist and coated with all the spices.
If there is still some water, cook uncovered till all the water evaporates.


Your dum aloo Kashmiri is ready to be served.

Dum Aloo Punjabi

It's all in the gravy...

• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 30 min.
• Total Time: 1 hr 30 min.

This is yet another dum aloo recipe, but it uses the classic north Indian onion-tomato gravy. As opposed to almost dry Kashmiri dum aloo, Punjabi dum aloo has a semi thick gravy and is not as sharp in flavour. It uses more of fresh ingredients.

Ingredients

• Baby potatoes - 10-12 pieces
• Onion - 1 medium sized (finely chopped)
• Tomatoes - 2 medium sized (pureed)
• Ginger - 1/2" piece
• Garlic - 2-3 big cloves
• Fresh green chillies - 1-2 pieces
• Yogurt - 2 tbsp
• Water - 1.5 cups
• Sour cream - 2 tbsp (optional)
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - for frying + 2 tbsp
• A few chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions

Boil and peel baby potatoes. Make sure that you don't overboil your potatoes or else they might break and loose structure.
Deep fry these potatoes till golden brown.
Prick them all over with a tooth pick making several holes. Keep aside.

Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies together to make a paste. Keep aside.
Beat the yogurt, add 1.5 cups of water, mix well and keep aside.

In a pot, heat 2 tbsp oil on medium flame.
Add chopped onion and saute till it turns golden.
Add ginger-garlic-chilli paste and tomato puree.
Saute till tomatoes are cooked and oil separates. (You can add a couple tbsp of water if it gets too dry.)
Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Cook for about 30 secs.
Reduce the heat/flame to low and add diluted yogurt. Mix well.
Drop in the potatoes and give it a gentle stir.
Cover the pot and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes.
Keep checking in between. Add a bit of water (1/3 cup) if you feel the gravy has dried up.
Add garam masala and sour cream. Cook covered for another 10-15 minutes.
Your dum aloo is now cooked....:)

You can adjust the consistency of the gravy as per your choice. Add some more water if you like it thin; cook it uncovered on high heat for a few minutes if you want to reduce the gravy.

Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander.

Garnish with a whole Kashmiri red chilli and a few chopped coriander leaves.

Accompaniments to Dum Aloo

The right partner makes a whole lot of difference!

Dum aloo Kashmiri is traditionally served with rice; plain rice helps mask the sharp spicy flavour of dum aloo. However, it tastes great with poori as well.
Dum aloo Punjabi tastes best with laccha paratha, but it is also a great combination with poori. Being a gravy dish, it goes well with rice too.

So choose for yourself!

It seems evryone is cooking dum aloo...

So many resources!!!

This one has a Poppy touch!

This recipe is slightly different and uses poppy seeds.

From master chef Tarla Dalal...

Here, you'll find every possible version of the recipe.

From master chef Sanjeev Kapoor

This one is without yoogurt . Truly a different one.

Yet another Kashmiri dum aloo recipe

It uses gram flour...even I'd never heard of this.

My personal favourite Kashmiri dum aloo recipe

This one comes from a Kashmiri and has authentic flavours!