Moong Dal with Mushrooms & Spinach (Green Gram Lentils)

Doc and I are at the point in our lives where it seems like every week brings a new happy announcement from friends.  Babies, marriages, vacations, new houses, graduations, engagements, promotions.  It's been a giddy time.  

Last week one of my college buddies posted about some aversions she was having during her pregnancy, in particular how she was struggling with meats and dairy.  I offered up some of the dal/bean recipes I've posted.  As I went through them I realized that I had a few more I wanted to add, including this one for mung/moong dal (also called green gram).  So her happy news is good for all of us because it means a new post.

(I won't Piro-rant you with excuses about infrequent posts this spring.  The long and short of it is that I've been enjoying salads and fresh veggies more often than not.  I feel silly posting salad recipes and I don't delude myself that anyone is anxious for the next installment, so I've been waiting for recipes that I felt were worth sharing.)

Moong Dal with Mushrooms & Spinach

Total Time:  2 hours soaking (can be done while at work / overnight) + apx. 1 hour cooking the beans and ~30 minutes making the flavorings.  The process can be sped up by cooking the beans and flavorings at the same time or using a pressure cooker for the beans. 

Weirdest Spice:  Fenugreek leaves.  Can be substituted (fenugreek powder, celery seeds, celery salt, lemon leaves) or omitted.  

Credits:  I can't say I have a base or inspiration recipe for this one.  It bears a resemblance to my basic tadka dal, if that counts.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup green gram (moong / mung dal)
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1 tsp oil or ghee
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 0.5 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1.5 tsp chili powder or paprika (optional, adjust to taste)
• 2 cups pureed tomato
• 2 tsp fenugreek leaves
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp fresh cilantro (optional)
• 1 tablespoon cream or coconut milk (optional, adjust to taste)
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse lentils thoroughly in a fine-mesh sieve under warm water until the water runs clear.
2. Pour the boiling water over the lentils in a heat-proof bowl.  Set aside to soak for 2 hours or overnight.
3. Transfer the lentils and water to a large nonstick saucepan and heat on the stove on medium-high.  When the water boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer approximately 1 hour or until lentils are soft.  Stir occasionally, adding more water if needed in order to keep the lentils covered with a small amount of water (see pictures below for an example).
4. While the lentils are booking, heat a second saucepan on medium heat.  When the pan is hot, add the oil.  When oil is shimmering, add the cumin seeds.  Allow to cook for 10-30 seconds or until fragrant.
5. Add diced onions and a dash of salt.  Saute 5-10 minutes or until translucent.
6. Add ginger & garlic pastes, saute 2 minutes.
7. Add the mushrooms, saute 5 minutes.
8. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, and chili powder.  Cook 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring constantly.  Add a small splash of water if needed to keep spices from burning.
9. Add tomato puree and stir until onion paste and tomato puree are well-mixed.  Turn heat down to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until tomato darkens and loses its raw flavor.
10. Add fenugreek leaves, garam masala, and spinach.  For maximum flavor, use palms to crush the fenugreek leaves before adding.  Cook 5-10 minutes or until spinach is wilted and flavors are incorporated. 
11. When both the lentils and the tomato sauce are cooked, stir them together over low heat.  Salt to taste.
12. Optional:  add cilantro and cream or coconut milk.
13. Serve hot over rice or with flatbread.

What I like best about this lentil recipe is that it's as decadent or as simple as you want to make it.  The difference is the addition of cream or coconut milk at the end.  No cream makes it almost rustic, whereas adding it in makes it restaurant-style in richness.  Or you can shoot for somewhere in the middle, as I usually do.

The first step is to wash and soak your beans.  You can quick-soak in 2 hours by using boiling water, or do it overnight / while you're at work.  

Use 3:1 water to lentils to ensure that they're well-covered and have room to expand.  When you're done soaking you can either use the soaking water or rinse them again and use vegetable stock to cook them instead.  Up to you.

Place the lentils and the cooking water in a large saucepan and dial it up to medium-high.  Ignore the urge to add salt here as that will only increase the cooking time.  

It should take about an hour for the lentils to get soft and for most of the liquid to cook off.  Stir every 5-10 minutes.  Keep an eye so that the lentils don't get dry.  At the end you want a little water/stock in with them but not a huge amount.  Like so:

See how they're soupy but not drowning?  That's the goal at the end.  Add in more liquid as needed if they get much drier than that as they're cooking.  Depending on how dry/old your lentils are it might take more or less than an hour.  It's hard to predict because every bag of lentils is different.  For me it took about an hour and fifteen.

While the lentils are simmering, get the flavoring put together.  

It starts with a second saucepan on medium heat.  When the pan is hot, add the oil, and when the oil is hot, add your cumin seeds.  Ghee is also an okay choice if you're not going for a vegan dish.

The cumin seeds only need about 10-30 seconds in the oil before you'll smell them.  Immediately add in your sliced onions and stir so that the cumin seeds don't burn.

After about 5-10 minutes you'll find the onions have softened up and gotten a bit translucent.  That's the time to add the ginger and garlic pastes.  For some reason, I missed getting a picture of that.  Sorry guys.

Cook the ginger and garlic, stirring occasionally, for about 2-3 minutes.  Then add in the mushroom slices.

About 5 minutes is what it should take for the mushrooms to soften up.  When they are soft add in the spices.  Also toss in a splash of water or stock if the mixture is looking dry in order to keep the spices from burning.

Stir the mushroom-onion-spice mix about 1-2 minutes to cook the spices.

Next up is the tomato puree.  You could use canned or fresh, whatever makes you happiest.

Stir the onion mix and the tomatoes together until they're well incorporated.

Turn the heat down to low to keep the tomatoes from scorching.  Stir from time to time as well.

It'll take about 20 minutes or so for the tomatoes to cook through and lose their raw taste.  They'll also darken up a bit, as you can see here:

The spices in the above photo are fenugreek leaves and garam masala.  Fenugreek leaves get a big boost in flavor from crushing them between your palms just as you add them in.  If you don't have any, go ahead leave them out.  You could potentially replace it with makrut leaves or celery salt for a similar flavor, but it's not necessary.

This is also when you'll want to add in the spinach, which until it wilts will probably seem like an absurd amount.

It'll take about 5-10 minutes for the spinach to wilt and mix into the tomato sauce.  After that it's time to pour the tomato sauce into the cooked lentils.

Stir it well so that the tomato sauce is completely incorporated into the lentils.  Add salt to taste.

If you're a fan of cilantro you can add in a little at this point.

And if you want a richer, creamier flavor you can add in either heavy cream or coconut milk (according to your tastes).  I only go with a small splash.  Start small, is my recommendation, and taste as you go if you think you want a lot of cream.

Stir it all up and you're good to go!


I have a preference for rice rather than rotis, but mung dal go equally well with either.

I served them up with some fresh cucumbers for crunch and some masala eggplant for kick.

Indian Brunch Part 1: Upma (Cream of Wheat with Stir-Fried Vegetables)

India is a stupendously diverse place, you guys.

Every time I refer to something as "Indian" I get a little ping of guilt.  Not only is the country itself huge, it's chockabock full of hundreds of different subcultures that vary by caste, ethnic group, religion, region, and of course the normal variation that occurs just from family to family.  To help confuse things more, when I say "Indian" I often mean "South Asian, generally," or "countries in the Indian sub-continent," because several countries in South Asia have a number of similarities across culture and cuisine and it's difficult to hone in on what precisely I mean without the wording getting awkward.  It's kind of like how people refer to America when a number of things that are true for the U.S. are also true for Canada, but maybe not the case across the entire North American continent.  Or the difficulty that some of us experience when trying to refer to places in and around the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.  These things get tricky.

So when I say this is an "Indian" brunch, I'm using that as a shorthand to refer to a couple dishes I put together this past weekend using savory, produce-filled breakfast-type foods that are sometimes served in parts of South Asia, though I've added some fusion elements to bring it more in line with my own tastes.  As if all that weren't confusing enough, part of the brunch was a dish called akoori, or Parsi eggs, which have a middle-eastern influence.

Although I made the upma and the akoori together for a single Sunday brunch, there is nothing in the world stopping you from making them separately.  To my knowledge they're not commonly eaten together.  I like the idea that both are similar to western breakfast foods and the carbs in the cream of wheat complement the protein in the eggs, resulting in a more balanced meal than either provided on their own.

Do what makes you happiest, I say.  And as always scroll to the bottom if you want the condensed recipe.

Upma (Savory Cream of Wheat with Stir-Fried Veggies)

Total Time:  About 20-30 minutes, depending on how fast you chop.
Weirdest Ingredient:  curry leaves
Credits:  Believe it or not, I first spotted a version of this recipe in a Betty Crocker cookbook that Doc got me the week I moved in with him.  From there I adapted it using influences from Veg Recipes of India, Vegan Richa, and Indiaphile.  Making upma is like making oatmeal: you can personalize it pretty much any way you want, so please feel free to get creative with the ingredients.

Because this all comes together so fast I suggest gathering all the ingredients first and then cooking.  Normally I tend to dig things out as I go, but for this I line it all up ahead of time.  Which, as you probably know, is how "real" cooks do it.  I never seem to have the patience to think that far ahead unless there's a reason I need to move quickly.

First, let's talk terminology.  Semolina is a wheat by-product made from soft (durum) wheat and is coarser than flour.  When boiled with water, it makes a porridge that -- depending on your location -- is called either cream of wheat or farina.  In the west we tend to eat it like oatmeal: typically as a hot breakfast cereal with sweet additives like cinnamon, honey, or fruit.  Raw semolina is also a popular way to dust pizza stones (along with cornmeal) to give that grainy, slightly nutty quality to the crust.  In India (see above re: shorthand) one of the many uses of semolina (aka sooji / suji) is to boil it up, similar to cream of wheat, but with savory elements like vegetables and spices.  I've also seen versions of upma made with vermicelli noodles and quinoa, so I'd like to think that this recipe is pretty forgiving of substitutions.  The quinoa in particular appeals to me since that'd be a wonderful way to swap in some extra protein if that's of interest to you.

Completely unnecessary trivia:  Like cream of wheat and grits in the U.S., upma is more of a "southern" dish -- in this case referring to the south part of India and into (so I've read) Sri Lanka.  For northerners like me (and north Indians like Doc), it's a less common food where we're respectively from.  In fact, until I started researching this post I wasn't 100% certain of the difference between cream of wheat (made from -- get this! -- ground wheat) compared to grits (made from ground hominy, or white corn treated with lime).

Isn't learning fun?

So anyway, to get started the first thing is to "roast" the semolina grains.  Not a strictly necessary step if you're in a hurry.  On medium-low heat, I use a skillet to heat 3/4 cup of semolina (more than plenty for two adults) for about 3-4 minutes, stirring them about every 20-30 seconds or so:

What you're looking for is a color shift from pale white to more of a very, very light golden.  Thing is, it was very cloudy and my camera battery was running low, so I wasn't really able to capture that color shift in a photo.  This is the after shot, which is ostensibly the same color as the one above.  I guess the advantage there is that it shows we're not looking for a dramatic browning of the grains here -- just enough to give them a lightly toasted flavor is plenty:

Take the pan off the heat and scrape the grains into a separate bowl to cool.  I then use a damp paper towel to wipe down the skillet to remove any semolina dust and then re-use the same one for the next step, which is to heat 1 tsp of oil (ghee is a popular choice, I myself prefer olive oil) and 1.5 tsp of mustard seeds:

You'd think I'd just start recycling these oil + seeds photos from all the other Indian recipes I've posted, and yet I can't seem to shake the impulse to take a fresh photo each time.

Anyway, about 10-30 seconds is plenty of time for the mustard seeds to start to sizzle, at which point you'll want to add 1 tablespoon of dal (small lentils, I used masoor dal since they cook fast) and 2 tablespoons of unsalted broken cashew pieces:

Because the dal are so small they can actually cook about as well in oil ("dal fry") as they do in water.  Give 'em about 2 minutes of stir-frying -- as in, you keep stirring continuously as they fry -- before adding in 2 tsp of curry leaves (okay to omit if you don't have them):

Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.  Next up are 1/3 cup of minced onion (any kind is okay, doesn't have to be a red onion like in the picture) and 1 tsp of ginger paste:

Stir-fry this for another 3-5 minutes to soften up the onion, then add in Veggies of Your Choice.  Tomatoes, green chillies, and peppers are popular.  I swapped the chilies for spinach.  There's about a quarter cup of each vegetable here.  I encourage you to add more or swap things out according to your tastes.

Another 3ish minutes should be enough to soften up the veggies, at which time you can add an optional teaspoon of red chili powder for kick, if you'd like:

Last is 1/3 cup of green peas.

You don't have to stir-fry these if you're using frozen since they'll heat up enough in the next step.  Overcooked peas get mushy so unless you're using raw I'd immediately push everything to the edges:

And then add in 1.5 cups of either vegetable stock or water and the roasted semolina you made a few minutes ago.  The rule is 2x as much liquid as you've got semolina, in case you want to adjust the amounts.

At this point I reduce the heat to low and just stir it every 1-2 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.  As you might guess, the semolina expands quite a bit when it's cooked.  As long as the dish is hot and all the liquid is absorbed (add more if you want to water it down some), you're done:

If you've got other things going on the stove then feel free to let this sit on low heat.  Give it an occasional stir to prevent burning or sticking.

I added in fruit raita (swap in fruit of choice, such as berries, pomegranate seeds, mango slices, apple, banana, etc. for the veggies in this recipe) along with akoori (Parsi eggs) to round out the meal.

Upma (Savory Cream of Wheat)

Serves 2-3 adults

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of semolina (also called sooji/suji or farina/cream of wheat)
• It's okay to use 2 packets of plain cream of wheat / farina from the cereal aisle since it's just a pre-measured serving of semolina.
• 1 tsp oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1.5 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 TBS dal/lentils (such as masoor dal or urad dal, ok to mix multiple kinds)
• 2 TBS unsalted cashew pieces
• 2 tsp curry leaves (okay to omit)
• 1/3 cup minced onion
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• Apx. two cups of thinly-sliced vegetables of your choice (e.g. bell pepper, chili pepper, spinach, mushroom, tomato, kale, zucchini, cooked potato cubes, shredded carrot, etc.)
• 1 tsp red chili powder or paprika (optional)
• 1/3 cup frozen green peas
• 1.5 cups vegetable stock or water
• 2 tsp minced cilantro (fresh coriander) for optional garnish
• salt & black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large skillet on medium heat, roast the semolina grains 3-4 minutes or until very lightly toasted.  Remove from skillet and set aside in a separate bowl.  Wipe down the skillet with a damp paper towel and return to stove.
2. Roast mustard seeds in hot oil for 10-30 seconds or until they start to sizzle.
3. Add lentils and cashew pieces, stir-fry 2 minutes or until lentils just begin to brown slightly.
4. Add curry leaves and stir-fry another 1-2 minutes.
5. Add onion & ginger paste, stir-fry 3-5 minutes or until onions soften.
6. Add vegetables, stir-fry 3-5 minutes or until soft.
7. Add chili powder, stir-fry 1 minute.
8. Add green peas and immediately push all vegetables to the edge of the pan to create a hole in the center.
9. Into the cleared space add first the liquid (stock or water) followed by the semolina.
10. Stir the mixture every 1 minute or so for about 5 minutes or until semolina has absorbed all the water and heated through.  Turn down heat to low.
11. If desired, add additional liquid to thin out the mixture.  
12. Add cilantro if desired, along with salt and pepper to taste.
13. Can be served either hot or cold.

Pumpkin-Molasses Ginger Chews

There are some recipes that have childhood and comfort written all over them.  For me, my grandmother's molasses cookies are near the top of the list.  They make me think of holidays and home.  They're chewy and soft, with a snap of ginger that's perfect to warm you up on a snowy day.

Yesterday we got the first - and possibly only - substantial snowfall of the year.  Last year we shoveled all of once.  I think we did twice the year before that; usually whatever dusting we do get melts off the driveway by noon.  Though I can't say I miss the work, this New England girl does miss the unique stillness of a snowstorm.  There's something about snowstorms that makes me feel like everything is on hold.  Errands can't be run.  I can't be called in to work.  There are no priorities other than staying cozy and safe at home.  And, in yesterday's case, hop into the holiday apron Gram made me & bake some cookies.

Isn't this adorable?  Gram's so creative.

These are excellent holiday cookies.  Heck, they're excellent year-round cookies.  My Gram's original recipe didn't call for pumpkin, but I figure it not only gives me an excuse to sneak a little Vitamin A & C into Doc, but also lets me use up some of the pumpkin puree I had from the half-dozen we grew in the garden this year.  Or, truth be told, grew all over the yard.  Pumpkin vines sure do run amuck.

Our cookie jar was so lonely!

I've heard that subbing in vegan alternatives for butter & cream cheese, dropping the egg, and subtracting about a quarter cup of flour is all it takes to make this recipe vegan-friendly.  Probably makes it a lot healthier, too.  I haven't done it that way myself, though, so I can't vouch for it personally.  Drop a note in the comments if it works for you, or if you have other tips!

As always, a short version of the recipe is at the bottom.

Pumpkin-Molasses Ginger Chews

To start off, grab yourself two bowls and at least one whisk.  If you've got a mixer, attach the wire beater.  That is, unless you have an edge-scraping beater.  My mom just got me one for an early Christmas present and it is brilliant.

How did no one invent this sooner?

Okay, so in the first mixing bowl you're going to add half a cup of butter and 1 tablespoon of cream cheese.  Both the butter and the cream cheese should be room temperature.  I just leave them out the night before when I go to bed and they're set by morning.  If you wanted to set them out before work that'd do the trick, too.  The cream cheese isn't totally vital.  I add it in because of the molasses and sugar - the richness and slight tang of the cream cheese helps to temper the sweetness.

Mix them together so that they're like a fluffy paste.  Err on the side of too cold rather than too warm.  Too warm and your cookies will come out melty.  Think the kind of whipped butter you get at fancy restaurants.  What we're going to do is suspend the sugar in the butter (requires cold), rather than dissolve it (requires heat).

There we go!

Next up is one cup of sugar.  White sugar, here.  I've tried palm sugar in the past and it came out too sweet and a little gritty.  In this batch I used cane sugar from Trader Joe's.

Mixing the sugar into the butter is called "creaming" them, and is the basis for pretty much every cookie ever.  Blend it up for a few seconds until you get a thick dough base.

Next is one egg.

Beat again.  You'll find it's a bit smoother now.

Next are 1/4 cup of molasses and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Beat that up with everything else, and now the dough will start to be the right color for molasses cookies.

Last bit.  One cup of pumpkin.  You can use canned, that's no biggie.  I'd frozen one-cup portions of pumpkin puree from our garden pumpkins.  I love having it on hand in smallish portions, 'cause I rarely am able to use up an entire can of pumpkin.

This is so, so convenient.  Give it a try when pie pumpkins are in the store.

Beat that in as well.  That'll make your dough really liquidy again.  If you're using fresh pumpkin the acidity might cause a little clotting of the dairy.  Don't panic.  It'll all come together when you add the flour.

It'll be okay.  I promise.

Now, if you happen to have some ginger paste on hand, add one tablespoon of ginger paste to the batter.  (Seriously, is there anything those pastes can't do??)  If you haven't got ginger paste, then just take a lap.  We'll put in spices in just a minute.

Double-check this isn't garlic paste or you'll be so, so sad later.

Okay, so now your "wet" batter is set.  Put that mixing bowl aside.  Since I only have one bowl for my mixer, I did the "dry" ingredients together by hand.  It's not hard, I promise.  First is 2.75 cups of flour. You can sift if you really want to, but 60 seconds with a whisk is sufficient to knock out any lumps.

It's so fluffy!

To this add:  2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon allspice.  Now, IF you didn't add ginger paste, add in 1.5 teaspoon ginger powder here.  Do not add both ginger paste and ginger powder.  Pick one.  I prefer the fresh ginger, but it's up to you and what you have on hand.

Whisk that all up together and then add it to the wet ingredients.  

Whether you're mixing it by hand or in a mixer, go slow.  It'll only take a very short amount of time before you stop seeing flour.  The second it's a single mass and not a wet mass plus a dry one, then you're done.  Overmixing is going to make the cookies tough rather than cakey.  And that's all it really takes to make the dough!

Grab either a measuring tablespoon or - my preference - a one tablespoon cookie scoop.  

Looove this thing!

Be sure to give yourself plenty of space between cookies.  These things spread out more than you'd expect.  The nice thing about the cookie scoop is that it helps you to pile the dough up high.  That'll help you get cookies that are puffy rather than pancakey.

Tip:  Using parchment paper will save you from trying to scrape these off the cookie sheet later.

Small, tall, with lots of space between.  Them's the rules.

In a 350(F) degree oven, pop the cookies in and set the timer for 6 minutes.  When it goes off, take an oven mitt and rotate the pan 180 degrees (as in, turn it around).  This helps the cookies bake evenly, since even the best of ovens have spots that are hotter or cooler.  Close the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes.  In other words, you're baking for a total of 12 minutes, plus or minus a minute or two.

Halfway there!

My first batch come out in exactly 12 minutes, the second required 13, and the last batch took 15.  I also let my dough get too warm between batches, which is why the last few were melty-looking (as you'll see below).

Here's a confession:  I have never, ever had a recipe come out where I had exactly an even number of servings.  Somehow, beyond all chance, I wound up with precisely 3 trays of 15 cookies each.  Couldn't do it again if I tried.

Upper left, see how they're getting kind of flat and squished into one another?  

I shoulda put the dough in the fridge between batches.

Now, you can definitely put all three sheets in the oven at once.  I find I get impatient and like to have one pan in while I scoop out the next tray, but it's not necessary to do it that way.  It's just a personal quirk.  I'm telling you that so that you can understand that by the time I took the above photo with all 45 cookies, I'd had hot, fresh ones on hand for half an hour that I did not eat, just so you could see how much this recipe makes.  You're welcome.

They came out so cakey!  Perfection!

These are truly superb with a little spot of tea.

Next up:  Egg curry, followed by Japancakes.  Gonna be a fun week!

Pumpkin-Molasses Ginger Chews - The Concise Recipe

Makes 45 cookies.

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (not melted)
• 1 tablespoon cream cheese, also room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste (can substitute 1.5 teaspoons ginger powder in dry ingredients instead)

Dry Ingredients

• 2.75 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until a fluffy paste forms.
3. Cream butter/cream cheese and sugar together.
4. Beat in molasses, vanilla, pumpkin, and ginger paste (if using).  Set wet ingredients aside.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.  If using ginger powder instead of ginger paste, add that to the flour mixture with the other spices.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing gently until the dry ingredients are just barely combined with the wet.  No flour should be showing.  Be cautious not to overmix.
7. Place one tablespoon portions of batter onto a lined cookie sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart.  
8. Bake 10-14 minutes at 350, rotating the pan halfway.