Moong Lentils With Coconut

Photo: Tanvi

Ingredients

1 cup split yellow moong dal

3 cloves

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup fine shredded unsweetened coconut [preferably fresh]

1/2 teaspoon jaggery [or sugar]

1 teaspoon turmeric

Salt to taste

Water for cooking the dal

Chopped cilantro for garnish [optional]

For tempering:

3 tablespoons mustard oil [for authentic taste.You can use ghee[clarified butter] also]

1 teaspoon cumin seeds [jeera]

2 tablespoons fine shredded coconut, lightly toasted on a skillet

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon [dalchini]

of grated nutmeg

1 pinch of ground mace [javitri]

2 wholes red chillies

Preparation

Dry roast the moong dal [without any oil]for about 5-6 minutes on medium heat or till it become light brown in color and you smell the aroma.Be careful not to burn the dal. After dal has cooled off, wash the dal in cold water 2-3 times.

Dal Cooking :

This is what I did :In a pressure cooker , tip in the washed dal with double amount of water along with the cloves, bay leaves, turmeric,salt and shredded coconut.Pressure cook for 3-5 minutes on full pressure.Dont over cook! Discard the bay leaves from cooked dal and mix jaggery [or sugar].

On Open stove top: Put the dal with 2.5 cups of water and other ingredients as mentioned above in a pot with a lid on the stove top. Let it cook. The dal will boil and bubble, remove the froth on surface. Add more water if required and cook till dal is soft but not mushy.About 20-30 minutes.

Tempering : In a small sauce pan or tadka pan, heat the mustard oil on medium high.Once the oil is hot enough and the raw aroma of oil is gone, lower the heat slightly and add the cumin seeds to the oil.Cook for about 30 seconds.Next add the whole dry chillies and toasted coconut.Cook for 1 minute and remove from heat.Add the ground cinnamon, nutmeg and mace.

Add this tempering to the cooked dal and cover the lid of the utensil.Let it sit for about 5 minutes.Thereafter, stir well and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve it with rice or slurrrp like a soup as I did.

Notes :

If the dal is too thick , add some water & simmer it on low heat for few minutes to loosen it.

Top up the dal with few drops of fresh lemon juice to enhance the flavor.