“Palak- Mooga Dali Usli (Spinach- Green Gram Dal Bhaji)” served with Nachani- Atta Poori … tried out our own mooga dali usli from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine, but with addition of palak … tastes awesome served with hot puffed poories/ parathas/ chapati for lunch/ bf … Yummilicious …
** Mooga dali usli/ Green Gram Dal bhaji is a common dish in GSB Konkani Saraswat community prepared for breakfast and served with steamed nendrabale kele/ banana or pova chutney. It is even preferred with roti/ chapati/ poories etc. This dish is often served during auspicious functions like Ram Navami or other festive/ fasting days in temples or at home, though not usually prepared during marriages or other functions.
** I have always relished usli from childhood with fried bread slices or poori and I love both combos. Serving with bread slices is easier especially if it is to be a home affair while poori is preferred in case of guests. Grilling bread/ sandwiches came much later with the introduction of electric grill toaster after which I started using them as fillings for sandwiches. I have shared a post of radish leaves moong dal grilled sandwich before.
** I have always loved giving small twists to our own cuisine dishes, so that I do not deviate completely to unknown fields, not that we don’t like it, but with advanced age one always prefers to relish dishes that one grew up eating. Here, I added palak/ spinach which is easily available all round the world, so you can try out this dish serve it with poori/ roti or prepare as grilled/ plain sandwich too, they all taste wonderful.
** Here is my recipe for “Palak- Mooga Dali Usli (Spinach- Green Gram Dal Bhaji)” … My very own Style, do try it out and enjoy with family …
** Wash and finely chop about 2 cups of fresh palak/ spinach leaves. Leave in colander to drain, then add into a kadai and cook covered on low heat sprinkling water if necessary. Add a pinch of salt, mix well, remove and keep it aside ready.
** Note : You can microwave it in a glassware dish for 2-3 minutes like I did, I always put my MW oven to best use to cut down time and tedious works.
** Wash one cup of moong dal/ green gram dal well in plenty of water. Strain in a colander and keep it ready aside. Keep 2 cups of water to boil separately and let it simmer aside while we proceed with the preparation of the usli/ bhaji,.
** Heat 2-3 tblsps of ghee/ oil in a pan, (I use ghee), when it melts, lower the heat, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds (rai/ sasam), when they crackle add 5-6 green chillies (tarni mirsanga/ hari mirchi) cut lengthwise/ small pieces, 1/2 inch piece of ginger (adrak/ alle') finely chopped (Optional), 1 tsp hing (asafoetida) powder and 7-8 curry leaves (karbevu/ kadipatta) and fry all together for a few seconds only.
** Immediately add strained moong dal, mix well and fry all on low heat for 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle a little bit of water if necessary to avoid dal getting stuck to the bottom. Frying helps moong dal grains remain slightly separate when cooked, if you want mushy textured then you can skip frying part and straight away proceed to cook.
** Add 1.5 cups of boiling water and keep ½ cup aside to add on later if necessary only. Add salt (namak/ meeta) to taste, mix well and bring to a full boil on medium heat, mix well, then lower the heat to minimum, cover with a fitting lid and let cook. Do check it out in between for water consistency and add some boiling water kept aside if needed only. You should be careful with heat and water consistency for perfect usli.
** When the moong dal is cooked 85-90% add in ¼ cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal), cooked and kept aside palak/ spinach leaves and mix well without applying much pressure to avoid breaking the moong dal. Cover and cook till soft and done, remove and keep it covered aside for 5 minutes to cool a bit. Mix once in between while cooling for even settling of usli/ bhaji, does help a lot from overcooking.
** “Palak- Mooga Dali Usli (Spinach- Green Gram Dal Bhaji)” is done and ready to be served. You can serve it hot as it is if desired or with any accompaniment dish of your choice like chapatti/ poori/ roti/ bread slices etc. In GSB Konkani Saraswat homes it is served with pova chutney along with steamed nendrabale kele, a great combo for breakfast. However in my home we prefer either roti/ chapatti/ paratha or poori along with this usli preferably for lunch especially on upvas/ fasting days.
** Definitely a must try healthy dish as both moong (green gram) dal and palak (spinach) are supposed to be having lots of nutrients in them. Moong dal or Whole Moong (Green Gram) is one of the healthiest amongst all grams (pulses) and in my home we prepare it quite often, it’s not only tasty but a very good source of protein too. Children always need to be lured to eat home cooked food, so make it that much more interesting by adding in variety each time and they are sure to enjoy it and you will be relieved too.
** Note : You can also prepare plain or grilled sandwiches using this usli/ bhaji as a filling and trust me it is one of healthiest snack you can feed children for breakfast or when they come home tired and hungry from school or classes. All you will need is either a electric or gas top grilled sandwich toaster preferably that which cuts it them into two. For details check out my similar recipe of “Mullangi Palleche Mooga Dali Usli Grilled Sandwich/ Radish Leaves Green Gram Dal Bhaji Grilled Sandwich” where in all details are given ... I am sharing link to the recipe below, do check it out ….
** Always try out dishes giving them slight twists from routine to keep your family happy. Try the grilled sandwiches if have young children at home, they will have them without a murmur unlike when given plain mooga dali usli. Do add leafy veggies in different forms into your diet and reap in its benefits as and when possible. We need to build a stronger coming generation without falling into the traps of instant packaged store bought foods which are loaded with pesticides, a little bit of changes in lifestyle goes a long way .....
** You can aslo check out the traditional GSB Konkani Saraswat method of preparing “Mooga Dali Usli” and a few combos following the link given below …
https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/2015/01/nachani-wheat-poori-with-custard-apple.html#more
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks.