Green Lentil Curry

This mung bean dal is a rustic spicy soup or curry. Warm and colorful soup, good served with flatbread or rice.

Mung beans are type of green lentil common in Indian and Chinese cooking. They can be purchased whole and split with a couple of pulses of a food processor.

Ingredients
MAIN
1 cup split mung beans, (green lentils)
SPICE
1 in fresh ginger, chopped
1 whole green chili pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
FINISH
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp salt
handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Preparation
In pot add split mung beans, ginger, whole chili, turmeric and water, and bring to boil, 10 min. With strainer remove foam.
(Use split mung beans, or use whole mung beans and give 5-10 pulses in food processor, until more beans are split open than not. Don't process too much, or you quickly get just lentil flour and dust.)
Then reduce heat and simmer, 15-25 min., until lentils are tender.
Meanwhile, in spice grinder, grind cumin seeds. After lentils have simmered, add tomatoes, cumin powder, garam masala and salt, and simmer additional 10 min. (Total cooking time for lentils is 45-55 min.) Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve.
Quick use of stick blender turns into finished soup, or serve chunky and rustic. (Remember to remove the chili if you don't want hot!)

NOTES
Curry can be made more or less hot by adding or leaving out chili pepper.

Basic Lentil Soup

Ingredients

1 cup lentils
4 cups water
1/2 inch ginger, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seed
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red chili pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
fresh cilantro

Preparation

Boil 1 cup lentils in 4 cups water. Add ground spices. Reduce heat and simmer covered, approximately 30 minutes until tender.

In separate pan, brown onion, 10 minutes, then add tomato until just cooked, 5 minutes. Add finish to lentil soup. Salt to taste and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Spices: Pulses

Cook with spices so the lentils absorb the flavors.
Aromatics include turmeric, ginger and garlic.
Spice includes cumin seed.
Hot spices include black and red chili pepper.
Finish with browned onion and tomatoes.
Variations include coriander, mustard seed, bay leaves, curry leaves, green chili pepper and garam masala.

Cooking: Pulses

Cooking Time
Mung Bean, whole, soak 20-40 min, cook 20 minutes.
Mung Bean, split, no soak, cook 20-30 minutes.
Masoor, split, no soak, 20 minutes
Urad, split, no soak, 20 minutes.
Toor (yellow split pea), no soak, cook 25 minutes.
Chana (chickpea), split, no soak, 30 minutes.
Use 1 cup lentils with 4 cups water. Split lentils require slightly less, and whole lentils require slightly more.
Bring to boil, cover and simmer. Can check water level.

Refrigeration and Freezing
Cooked lentils stay fresh in the refrigerator for 3 days, in a covered container.
Cooked lentils may also be frozen.

Preparation of Pulses

Hulling and Splitting

Lentils can easily be split using a food processor. Using the whole food keeps all of the original plant nutrition. Milling processes remove and discard the hull, which contains fiber. Whole lentils will hold shape better when cooked. Split lentils will mash and blend better.

Soaking

Whole and hard lentils should soak 2 hours or overnight. Split and soft lentils like split red dal (masoor) and split black dal (urad) do not need soaking.

Ingredients: Selecting Pulses

There are many, many different kinds of lentils. For variation in taste, texture and color, keep 3-5 different kinds of lentil. Red Lentils (Masoor Dal) These are quick to cook. The whole lentils is reddish-brown. The split lentil is orange or pink. Good for mashed or blended soups. Black Lentils (Urad Dal) Skins have strong flavor. Used in curries. Skinned and split are white, soft and mild or bland.

Green Mung Beans

Chinese lentils also popular in India.

Toovar Dal

Mild nutty. Whole lentil is tan. Popular side dish and ground as flour.

Channa Dal (split chickpea)

These popular lentils are sweet and nutty.

Pantry: Storing Pulses

Pulses are an staple pantry item.
Pulses keep well. Dried pulses keep 6 months to 1 year. The ideal pantry should be cool, dry and dark.
Buy only whole pulses. Whole pulses can be processed and used as either whole or split. By keeping your inventory items down, you increase your quantity turnover and freshness. The hull is also nutritious.
Pulses can be purchased in 2 pound or 4 pound bags, and kept in dry good containers.