Mooga Sukki - Green Gram side dish

This is one of the side dishes I like. I have been eating this since my childhood with rice and saaru. But, when we moved to North Karnataka my Mother started making jowar rotis. Then on she prepared mooga sukki when she made jowar rotis. The soft rotis will go well with the flavor of onions and spicy taste of red chili and green gram.


Ingredients :

1 cup green gram
1 onion - chopped
1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 inch piece of tamarind
Curry leaves
1 tablespoon oil

Method :

Dry roast green gram until golden brown and pressure cook till soft using 3 cups of water. Drain off the extra water after boiling. Save this water.

Heat oil in a wide and deep pan (so that mixing is easy) and add chopped onion. When Onions are half cooked add grated coconut, red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, curry leaves, salt and tamarind and mix well together. Remember the onions should be still little raw.

Now, add the cooked green gram and mix all the ingredients together. Keep covered on a low flame till the onions are cooked.

The aromatic flavor of raw onions will be absorbed by the green gram while onion gets cooked. This gives a very distinct flavor to the side dish.

Serve hot with rice, saaru or chapati. It tastes good with roti or phulka too.

The extra water used to boil the green gram can be used to prepare a delicious soup. Add little red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and boil again. Just before serving add juice of half lemon, and season with curry leaves, mustard and asafetida.

Khichadi

Actually this is not the khichadi people make when somebody is sick !! My Mother cooks this sweet dish in the month of Shravan. We Konkanis celebrate something called 'Chudi' on every Friday and Sunday of Shravan. And this Khichadi is prepared as offering to the Goddess. Chudi is a small and beautiful bunch of leaves, flowers and a specific type of grass called dirvankur. May be I will post a picture some time. My Mother prepares these chudis and after the ceremony she calls 5 women in the neighborhood and offers them these chudis with beetle leaves and banana. And also this sweet dish Khichadi.


Ingredients :

1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup green gram
2 table spoons grated coconut (fresh or dry)
3/4 cup jaggery (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)

Method :

Dry roast green gram. Wash the rice. Pressure cook green gram and rice together with 2.5 cups of water. Make sure both rice and green gram are cooked soft. Add grated coconut, jaggery and ghee. Mix well.

Serve hot.