Moong dal tadka

You can never go wrong with an Indian dal. This recipe is for moong dal tadka, made with mung beans. The mung beans are not used whole but without the outer skin and split. Mung bean sprouts are well known in The Netherlands as taugé, which is a Malay language word. In Bahasa Indonesia the proper word is kecambah.

Moong dal tadka means the mung beans are cooked with the aromatics: onion, tomato, ginger, turmeric and red chili powder.

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The below quantities are for one person, or two persons if the Moong dal tadka is a side dish.

1/2 cup moong dal (very well rinsed)
1,5 cups water
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
1/3 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder.

Pressure cook the above ingredients for about 10 minutes and let the pressure fall naturally. After cooking add water to gain the correct consistency for a dal. Add salt to taste.

The next step is to make the tempering.

Add 2 to 3 tablespoons ghee in a tadka pan. Add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon mustard seeds. Wait until they ‘pop’. Add 4 to 5 crushed garlic cloves and 1 to 2 slit green chilies. Turn off the heat and add 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder and 1 pinch asafoetida (hing).

Pour the tempering over the dal. That’s it!

Either serve with rice or roti/chapati. I usually make rogni roti. ‘Rogni’ is the Persian word for clarified butter (ghee). This dal is northern Indian so chapati is more appropriate.

225 gram chapati flower (atta)
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons milk
50 gram melted ghee.

Mix well. This quantity will make 6 chapati.