Mung or moong bean is also known as green gram or golden gram, native to India, and mainly cultivated in India, China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Burma, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and regions of Southern Europe and the Southern United States (Source: Wikipedia)

I’m often asked how to prepare lentils. Whether you call them a ‘legume’ or ‘pulse’ (yep, pulse), lentils can pack incredible flavor, and as many of you already know, there are hundreds, if not thousands of different lentil varieties — far beyond what you find on a standard supermarket shelf. One of my goals is to add more lentil recipes to Big Apple Curry, so I had just the opportunity when fellow food blogger Elizabeth of HOWGiyrot sent me this email: “I was at the store last night and I purchased 2 exciting ingredients — mung beans and Bhutanese  red rice.  I think they would look so pretty together…any ideas?” Elizabeth was in the midst of a vegan challenge at the time. Countless Indian recipes are perfect for vegans. The first thing that popped into my mind was my mom’s “Moong Daal” recipe, which is my favorite way to enjoy the hearty, toothsomeness of moong. It’s vegetarian, healthy, and especially wholesome when paired with a nutty rice or fluffy whole wheat chapatti or roti. Whether you love lentils or hardly ever eat them, let us know — especially if you have a great lentil recipe, post a comment below, we will try it!

Moong Daal

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked moong beans (we also call it ‘moong daal’)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder or ground cayenne powder
• 1/8 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 small tomato, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Preparation

1. Pour the uncooked moong into a medium-sized saucepan with a sufficient amount of water (just cover the moong) and bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium flame. It will take about 15-20 minutes to cook.
2. In a small frying pan, heat oil on medium flame, then add onion, garlic, ginger, red chilli powder, garam masala, and tomato and saute for 5-8 minutes until the onions are glassy and the tomato has cooked down and become absorbed.
3. Once your onion-spice-tomato mixture is cooked, add it to the cooked moong in the saucepan and combine well. Add cilantro and salt, and simmer for 5 minutes so all the flavors blend together. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Food blogger Elizabeth from HOWGiyoret sent me a photo of her delicious dinner, which included my mom’s mung daal recipe alongside Bhutanese red rice and Indian-spiced cauliflower