Pink Moong Dal

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 4 cm ginger, fresh (alternatively 1 tsp ground ginger)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp ghee, clarified butter or sunflower oil
• 2 tsp curry powder, mild
• 250 g mung beans, dried (yellow, peeled or green unpeeled)
• 750 ml water
• Salt
• ½ onion(s)
• ½ tsp garam masala

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 50 minutes

Indian mung bean pot

Peel and chop the onion. Peel the ginger and finely grate it. Peel the garlic cloves and finely chop them. You can also put the peeled ginger and garlic together in a food processor and chop them finely. Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a saucepan. Add the onion and fry over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and continue to fry over medium heat until the onions are golden brown. Add the curry powder and fry everything for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Now add the moong dal (mung lentils/mung beans) and fry for about 2 minutes. Add the water and plenty of salt. Bring everything to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for about 25 minutes, until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, finely slice the onion into half rings. Fry in 1 tablespoon of ghee in a small pan until browned. Just before serving, sprinkle the garam masala and onion rings over the dal. Serve with basmati rice or flatbread. This dal also serves as a main course for two people. Note: “Dal” is the Indian word for pulses. There is no distinction between lentils and beans. Therefore, moong dal is sold in Germany as mung beans or mung lentils. They would be more accurately described as lentils: They are roughly the same size as red lentils. Peeled mung lentils are yellow, while unpeeled ones are green. The original recipe calls for yellow mung lentils, but green ones are also suitable.