Moong mag is Gujarati style whole moong curry. In many Gujarati households moong mag is a staple. Whole moong is cooked and seasoned with green chilies and garam masala.

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The first time I made moong mag was 3 months ago when we did the thali theme. We don’t usually cook dal or curry with whole moong and wanted to try it for Gujarati thali. I could not post all the recipes from that thali on the same day and this recipe was in my drafts since then. Below is the mag picture from that thali.

The last meal for this week’s theme, vegetarian dinner ideas is moong mag with roti. Though I had the recipe in my drafts, I made it again today to capture the complete meal for today’s post. I served moong mag with simple cucumber salad and roti. If serving with rice, moong mag, a vegetable subzi and a salad is a simple everyday meal.

Moong Mag Recipe

Source: Ribbon’s to Pasta’s
Cooking Time: 20 – 30 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Whole Moong, soaked for 2-3 hours
• 1 tbsp. Oil
• 1 tsp. Ghee ~ Clarified Butter (I used unsalted butter)
• ¼ tsp. Mustard Seeds
• 1 – 2 Clove
• ½” Cinnamon Stick
• 4 – 5 small Green Chilies (I used 5 and adjust to heat tolerance level)
• ½” Ginger, chopped or 1 tsp chopped Ginger
• ⅛ – ¼ tsp. Hing ~ Asafetida
• ½ tsp. Coriander Powder
• ¼ – ½ tsp. Rajwadi Garam Masala (I used Rajah brand garam masala and used ½ tsp. It was spicy to my liking and adjust to taste)
• ½ – ¾ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 1-2 tsp. Lime Juice
• Small piece of Jaggery (I did not use and left it spicy)

Preparation:

• Soak moong for 2-3 hours.
• Wash the moong and cook in fresh water until soft. I pressure cooked for 5 whistles with 1 cup of water. Let the pressure release naturally.
• Heat butter and oil in a pan.
• When oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let the seeds crack.
• Add clove, cinnamon and asafetida.
• Immediate add green chilies and chopped ginger. Let ginger roast until raw smell is gone.
• Add cooked moong, coriander powder, garam masala and about 1 cup water or as required.
• Stir, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes until spices blend in and reaches desired consistency. Mind you, mag thickens as it cools. It should not have too much gravy and at the same time, it should not be very dry either.
• Add jaggery if using and lime juice. Stir and turn off the heat.
• Serve with rice or roti or any Indian flat bread.

Suggestions:

• I followed source recipe to almost dot and only changes I made was spice up the mag with more green chilies and garam masala, and skipped the tempering. If you do not like too much heat, cut down on green chilies or garam masala or both.
• For more flavor, temper 1 red chili and few curry leaves in little oil and pour over moong mag. I did this when I made moong mag for the thali, the third picture from top. I didn’t do it today.
• I came across few moong mag recipes online which used tomatoes. The recipe is similar to what I posted but tomatoes are added before adding cooked moong. Once tomatoes are soft, add cooked moong and follow rest of the recipe. Addition of tomatoes will give the mag a tangy flavor and that is something I want to try next time.
• I used chopped ginger here and ginger paste or ginger garlic paste can also be used.

This day in 2014: Shrimp Ham Fried Rice

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