Mag nu Shaak(moong daal vegetable)

This was my family's favorite vegetable/daal( as we Gujaratis call it! ) with meetha dhebra( sweet rotis made with jaggery(gur) ) and some fried papad! Yum! It is very hearty and so comforting and filling. My kinda favorite comfort food. My mom used to make it the best(ofcourse!) and I still need to work on getting the meetha dhebra right, similar to my mom. Once I do get it right, I will upload the recipe! :)


Ingredients:

3/4 cup small moong daal
2 cups water + 1 1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons vegetable oil OR ghee(clarified butter)
pinch of asafoetida
6-7 curry leaves
1 tomato finely chopped
2 big cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilly powder(depending on how spicy you like it)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste


Method:

Soak the small moong daal in about 2 cups water and let it sit for about an hour. The daal should increase in size. Pressure cook the soaked moong, along with the remaining water from soaking + an additional cup of water. Give it about 6 whistles.

In a pan, at medium heat, put in the vegetable oil, put in the cumin seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, garlic and green chilly. Let the seeds splatter. Now add in all the spices, including chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder. Now add in the pressure cooked moong, tomatoes, sugar, lemon juice, salt to taste and let it cook for about 10 minutes till it boils.

You could eat it this with rice and yogurt, or with rotis. For eating with rotis, let the consistency be a little thick. You dont want too much water remaining in the daal. Enjoy!! :)