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Dal is a quintessential Indian home food that every person wishes to devour after a prolonged and tiring day. There is comfort found in savouring a delicious dal prepared at home. And this Bengali-style Kacha Moong Dal is a popular and protein-rich delicacy that is light, comforting, quick, and simple. The bright yellow delicious dal gets ready in only 20 minutes.
The delicate moong dal is tempered with flavourful seasonings including red chillies and mustard oil. Radhuni, a particular ingredient that is quite special and connected to Bengal, is the star of this Kacha Moong Dal. Radhuni is the Bengali term for ajmod and is frequently mistaken for ajwain. It is a strong spice with a celery-like flavour and an aroma reminiscent of parsley. This Kacha Moong Dal is good to go with pretty much everything, enjoy it with rice or dip the freshly cooked phulkas in it.
In India, people eat various Dals but Moong continues to be most popular
Moong dal is typically cooked in pressure cookers or Instant Pots without being first dry-roasted. Then it is tempered with spices. Since the moong dal is not dry roasted, it is known as kacha, or uncooked. The irresistible moong dal is over 1500 years old. Mung beans were first cultivated in southern and eastern Asia, then spread to Africa, Austronesia, the Americas, and the West Indies. It is also called yellow split gram in English, and is a versatile gluten-free gram. It is extremely high in protein and contains potassium, fibre and is easy to digest. It also forms a part of Ayurvedic detox diet.
Here’s the recipe for Kacha Moong Dal.
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
100 gm moong dal
600 gm water
10 gm mustard oil
1 dried red chilli
1 bay leaf
1 green chilli
¼ tsp radhuni powder
8 gm salt
¼ tsp turmeric
8 gm ghee
Method:
Wash the dal properly with water until clean water runs through it.
Take a large skillet or kadai, add water and wash moong dal.
Boil the dal for 15 minutes or until it becomes soft and tender.
Keep removing the scum, if formed.
In another saucepan, heat mustard oil and temper it with dried red chilli, bay leaf, green chilli, and radhuni. Sauté well.
Add the boiled dal to this temper.
Now, add salt, turmeric, and sugar.
Mix thoroughly and allow the bubbles to pop in for 6 minutes over medium flame. Turn off the flame.
Then add ghee on top. Give the Moong Dal, a gentle stir.
Cover and let it sit for 2 minutes.
Garnish with green chilli on top and the dal is good to go.
Serve and enjoy with hot steamed rice or freshly cooked phulkas.
With a selection of side dishes like aloo bhorta, pickles, papad, salads, or raita, enjoy the filling Kacha Moong Dal feast.
