Khattu Mag (Moong bean cooked in spicy sour yoghurt)

Now before introducing this dish to all of you, I must admit, I had no idea that such a dish exists. Until I tried "Khattu Mag" in two of my Gujrati Thali sessions. For those of you who are not familiar of what a THALI is, it is a selection of various dishes (number goes from 4- 12) of a particular region served in small steel bowls on a big round steel plate. So if you are visiting India for the first time, I suggest you to try out Thalis of different regions in order to get familiarized with the native delicacies. :)





So "Khattu Mag" was one of the veggie dishes which I very much relished in my Gujrathi Thali. It was a combination of a dal & kadhi gravy. I usually had them both as two different dishes. Ths was two in one. I immediately thought of making this at home and post it in my blog for my vegetarian friends. "Khattu" means Sour & "Mag" means Moong beans. So as the name suggests, it is a simple gravy but a lot of flavours will play in your palate. Absolutely easy to make with no extra effort and yeah very very healthy too!! :) 


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sabut moong (whole mung bean/green gram)
• 1 & 1/2 cup sour yoghurt 
• 2 tbsp besan (chickpea/gorgonzola/gram flour)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp green chilli paste (grind 2-3 chillies)
• 1 tsp sugar or jaggery
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 2-3 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• pinch of heeng (asafoetida)
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the sabut moong an soak it for a minimum of 2 hours. Drain it & boil them in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles or a maximum of 15 minutes, whichever is the longest. Switch off the heat. 
2. Meanwhile, take a large bowl & mix the yoghurt, besan, turmeric powder, ginger paste, chilli paste, pinch of salt & whisk them to a smooth mixture. No lumps should be seen. 
3. Add sugar or jaggery at this stage along with a cup of water & whisk again. 
4. Heat oil in a non stick kadai or a saucepan. Now add a pinch of heeng, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, cloves, cinnamon, fenugreek seeds & allow it to splutter for a minute. This is what you call the tadka or the tempering to the gravy.
5. Pour the whisked yoghurt mixture to the tempering and cook for 5-8 minutes over a low-medium heat until the  gravy thickens or the raw smell of the besan & yoghurt has fully gone. 
6. Open the pressure cooker & add the cooked moong bean to the yoghurt mixture and cook in a low heat for another 3-4 minutes. 
7. Switch off the heat & serve hot with plain rice and rotis. :)