Moong is delicious and versatile, so it is used in many savoury and sweet dishes.  It contains protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber.   Sprouting increases the nutrients.

50 gm sabut moong/Green gram

2-3 ripped tomatoes

Few lettuce leaves

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

Moong takes time to sprout, so start the salad 2 days prior to your need.  Sprouted moong can be kept in the fridge for a day or two.

Sprout the moong:

1. Wash and soak the moong for 4-6 hours. 
2. Pour moong into a strainer and wash gently. 
3. Place the strainer over a bigger bowl so that there is a gap between the two for air circulation. 
4. Cover moong with a damp cloth and keep in a warm place to sprout.  
5. Wash the sprouted moong gently and keep it aside.

Prepare the tomatoes:

6. Wash and plunge the tomatoes into hot water for about 30 seconds.

7. Peel the skin carefully and cut them vertically into 2 halves. Scoop out the pulps. 

8. Rub the cavities with salt and keep them upside down for the salty water to drain out.

9. Wrap around lettuce leaves on each tomato halves with the help of wooden picks.

Prepare the salad dressing:

10. Make the salad dressing by adding 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice and salt to taste together and mix well. 

11. Lightly fold in the dressing into the sprouted moong.

12. Spoon the moong mixture into the prepared tomato halves. 

30 gm moong flour

50 gm butter

100 gm flour/maida

60 ml milk

75 gm sugar powdered

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon rind/vanilla essence

1. Soak moong flour with 50 ml of milk for 1 hr.

2. Beat butter and powdered sugar till creamy and fluffy. 

3. Separately beat moong for some time. 

4. Add moong to butter mixture and mix well.

5. Sieve flour and baking powder together and keep it aside. 

6. Add lemon rind and little milk to the buttered mixture and mix well. 

7. Fold in flour gradually to a smooth batter and add the lemon juice and mix it well.

8. Preheat oven for about 5 minutes. 

9. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin.  Bake in a moderate oven 350 degree C, for 30 minutes.

10. Cool it on a wire rack.

For the Dhokla:

100 gm channa dal

Handful of curry leaves

2 tsp ginger juice

2 green chilli chopped

½ tsp salt

2 Tbsp refined oil

½ tsp jeera/Cumin seeds

1. Wash and soak channa dal for about 4 hours.  Drain and grind the dal in the grinder with curry leaves, chopped chilli, salt and ginger juice to a fine paste with as little waster as possible.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan. 

3. Add the jeera and fry for few seconds. Add the channa paste.  Lower the heat and cook until the moisture evaporates. 

4. Oil a pan and spread the channa mixture while still hot into it and level it to 3 cm thickness.  Let it cool.  Cut into 3 cm squares.

For the curry:

¼ cup peanut milk* (given at the end of the recipe)

2 Tbsp onion finely chopped

1 Tbsp tomato ketchup

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp green chilli finely chopped

2 Tbsp refined oil

Dhokla cubes

Salt to taste

5. Heat a pan and add the oil. 

6. Fry the dhokla pieces, few at a time, till slightly brown and keep them aside.

7. To the oil left, add the chopped onion.  Saute for few seconds.  8. Add the chopped chilli and fry. 

9. Add the ketchup.  Stir and fry until blends well the onion . 

10. Add ½ tsp turmeric powder and fry for few more seconds.

11. Add the peanut milk into the fried spices and stir well.  Add ½ cup of water and bring the mixture to boil. 

12. Add the dhokla pieces and allow to simmer till curry is done.  Add little water if necessary.  You may pep up the curry with ½ tsp of garam masala.(optional).  Garnish and serve hot

1. Wash and soak 30 gm of peanuts with the skin for about 10 minutes. 
2. Cook it in a pressure cooker for 1 minute.  Switch off the heat and allow the cooker to cool. 
3. Grind finely the peanuts with the water.

Kashmiri rajma is a smaller variety of rajma/kidney bean with a beautiful sparkling red colour with thinner skin instead of reddish brown. It is a good source of protein.

100 gm Kashmiri rajma

30 gm urad dal

75 gm rice

Few methi/ fenugreek seeds

½ tsp salt

1. Wash all the 3 ingredients rajma, rice and urad dal separately, add few methi to the urad dal and soak all of them for about 4 hours.

2. Rinse and drain them well.

3. Separately grind rajma and urad dal to  fine pastes and rice to a slightly coarse paste like soji/semolina.  Use as little water as possible while grinding.

4. Mix all the three ingredients well with ½ tsp of salt.

5. Cover and set them aside in a warm place to ferment for about 8 hours – overnight is the best.

6. Once the batter is fermented, stir it well. 

7. Oil the idli moulds and spoon the batter into them. 

8. Heat the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water, place the idli stand inside and close the lid. 

9. When steam escapes through the vent of the cooker, time it for 6 minutes and then switch it off.  Allow the cooker to cool.

10. Take out the idli stand from the cooker and carefully remove the idlis on to a plate. 

11. Serve them hot with chutney.

150 gm rice

100 gm kashmiri rajma/kidney bean

1 Tbsp chopped onion

5 Tbsp tomato puree*

2 Tbsp refined oil

Few curry leaves

1tsp chopped green chillies

Salt to taste

1. Wash and soak the rajma for about 4 hours. 
2. Pressure cook the same with ½ tsp salt and ½ cup water.  After the first whistle, reduce the heat and cook for 4 minutes.  Allow the cooker to cool.
3. Drain the water and keep it aside.

4. Wash and cook the rice with ½ tsp of salt.  When done separate the rice with a fork. (You may also use leftover rice.)

5. Heat the oil in a heavy and big pan.

6. Add the mustard seeds. When the seeds crackle and turn black, add the chopped onion.  Stir fry the onion for few seconds and then add the curry leaves and the chopped chillies. 

7. Add the tomato puree. Stir and fry until the colour of the tomato turns red.

8. Add rajma to the fried spices and keep frying over low heat for few seconds. 

9. Fold in the cooked rice gently and mix well. Switch off the heat.  10. Serve hot.

2 medium size ripe tomatoes. Wash, Chop and grind.

Toor dal is one of the most popular pulse in India. It has a sweet nutty flavour and is a good source of protein. 

100 gm toor dal.

70 rice

30 gm urad dal

Few methi/fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste

1. Wash toor dal, urad dal and rice separately.  Add a few methi seeds to urad and soak them all for about 4 hours.

2. Rinse and grind them with as little water as possible- toor and urad to fine pastes and rice slightly coarse like sooji/semolina. 

3. Mix all of them together with ¼ tsp of salt to a dropping consistency batter. Add little water if needed.

4. Cover and leave it in a warm place to ferment for 8 hours or overnight.

5. Once the batter is fermented, stir it well.

6. Oil the idli moulds and fill them up with the batter.  If you feel that the fermentation is not complete, you may add ½ tsp of baking powder and mix well

7. Heat the pressure cooker with 1 cup of water.

8. Place the idlis inside and close without the pressure weight. 

9. Once the steam escapes from the vent of the cooker, time it for 6 minutes and then switch off the cooker.

10. Allow it to cool for a minute or so.

11. Take the idlis out  from the cooker. 

12. Carefully remove them onto a plate.  Serve hot with chutney.  Go well with jam and butter

100 gm moong flour

100 gm butter

70 gm sugar

1 litre milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

¼ cup chocolate sauce*

1. Over a low heat melt butter in a pan. 
2. When the butter melts completely add the moong flour and fry it for a minute.

3. Pour milk over the fried mixture and mix well. Keep stirring. There should be no lumps. 

4. Cook over low heat until the mixture begins to boil.Add sugar and vanilla, cook until it thickens.  Stir well and remove it from the heat.

5. Pour 2 Tbsp of the chocolate sauce into the mould where you would like to set the dessert.  Pour the moong mixture while it is still warm over the sauce. 

6. Let it come to room temperature. Cover with a thin film and keep it in the fridge for 3 hours.  Overnight is the best.

7. Turn the mould onto a plate.

8. Pour more sauce on top to cover it completely. Decorate it and serve.

3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder.

5 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp flour/maida

1 tea cup water

1 tsp butter

½ tsp vanilla

1. Sieve cocoa powder and flour together. Mix the sugar to it.

2. Warm the water over low heat and stir in the cocoa mixture until smooth.  Keep stirring while you cook the sauce.

3. Keep cooking until it thickens.  

4. Add the butter and vanilla, stir well.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Sabut urad/Black gram is very nutritious. These beautiful black and rich legumes when soaked and grinded finely gives a wonderful grey colour to the batter. After steaming, colour is enhanced.

120 gm sabut urad

200 gm rice

1/2 tsp methi/fenugreek

Salt to taste

1. Wash rice and sabut urad separately. Wash few methi and add them to the urad. Soak them for 4 -6 hours.

2. Grind urad to a fine paste.  Grind rice coarsely to a sooji/semolina like texture as shown in the picture. Mix the two well.   Add ½ tsp of salt to the mixture and leave in a warm place to ferment.

(Normally soaking is done in the morning.  Grind them by evening and leave it to ferment overnight.)

3. Once fermented, stir the batter well.  Adjust the salt.  Oil the idli moulds and fill them up with the batter.

4. Heat the pressure cooker with 1 cup of water. Place the idli stand into the cooker. 

5. Close the cooker with the lid but without the pressure weight.  Once the steam escapes from the vent of the cooker, cook the idlis for 6 minutes and then switch of the heat. Allow the cooker to cool.

6. Take out the idli stand from the cooker.  Carefully remove the idlis from the moulds and sever hot with chutney.

Urad dal/ white lentil is one of the main ingredients in idli.  It is the split/whole and skinned black gram.  It is rich in protein.

120 gm urad dal

200 gm rice

½  tsp of methi/ fenugreek seeds

½  tsp salt

1. Wash rice and urad dal and soak them separately for about 8 hours .  Add few methi seeds to the urad while soaking.

2. Rinse and grind urad very finely whereas the rice should be little granular like sooji. Use as minimum water as possible while grinding because the final urad-rice batter should be of thick dropping consistency. 

3. Mix rice, dal and ½  tsp of salt together into a smooth thick consistency batter.

4. Cover the batter and leave it in a warm place overnight or about 8-12 hours to ferment.

5. Stir the batter well. Oil the idli moulds and fill them up with the batter.

6. Heat the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water.

7.Place the idlis in the cooker.  Close the cooker without the pressure weight.  Once the steam escapes from the vent of the cooker.  Time it for 6 minutes and then switch of the cooker. Allow the cooker to cool.

8. Remove the idli stand from the cooker.  Carefully take out the idlis from the moulds.  

9. Serve hot with chutney/ sambar

Idlis go well with jam and butter and honey also.

Summarizing, the earlier post of Urad dal: the urad seeds underwent epigeal germination.  The seeds emerged from the soil as seed leaves to serve the plants before the true leaves. Later the plants grew into beautiful and healthy plants with compound leaves.

Beautiful lemon yellow flowers adorned the plant.

When the plant was about 90 days old the first bud was seen.  At a closer look, it was not just a single bud but a cluster, where one of them was about to unfold.  The cluster was at the end of a short stem which emerged from the space between a leaf and the stem.

In this way all the buds turned into a cluster of beautiful flowers.

3 days later another bud stem with more flowers and pods were seen.  In one cluster there are 3 flowers and 1 pod and in another 1 flower and 2 pods with the withered flowers still at their tips. The pods are marked with arrow heads.

About 15 days later, only 2 pods each were left from both the clusters.   2 of them still had the dried flowers at their tips. 

Another 10 days later, the pods were quite matured.  The outlines of the seeds inside the pods were quite visible from outside and the colour changed from lighter green to yellowish green.

The following day out of the 4 pods, 2 became brownish black.

The pod that fell off, we allowed it to dry for a day or two and then split it open to display its seeds

The colour of the seeds also changed along with the colour of their shells or sheaths – from green to browish black.

We collected all the matured pods and allowed to dry.

A plateful of sabut urad, who could ask for more ?