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After a couple of years of pretty severe drought in the Bay, the wet weather for the past few weeks is a welcome change.  I definitely am happy to hear the pitter-patter of the rain and rumble of the leaves. The deep brown soil turning brown and the dry brown grass on the mountains turning green are some very pretty sights.
Waking up to dark gray clouds, the sounds of rain, the trembling trees all makes us want to snuggle a bit more. Â Turning and struggling to wake up, going down for a hot cup of coffee and to a silent almost ‘pin drop silence’ except for the rain was an ideal start to my perfect day.
All I wanted last Saturday was to stay out of the kitchen, cook nothing much…..just something to keep me away from the freezer for ice-cream and the pantry for chips. The kids were away, so I wanted to binge-watch Downton Abbey, all 2 seasons…which I just did.
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I made a lot of my mom’s cooked salad that she made all the time.  With a bowl in one hand, green tea steeping, and pj’s on, I was all set for my all day marathon of Downton Abbey.  It was fun for sure.
My love for salads is not that strong.  Still, a few salads are habitual for me when I want to feel a bit healthier. This is one of them and I’m so happy to share it with you. This is almost exactly the same, except for the pomegranate which I don’t think she added often.Â
There are a few versions of this salad.  Sometimes they add ginger garlic paste, and sometime not.  They use chickpeas and peanuts for a different variation. During festival season, onion is avoided and a lot of coconut is added.
Cooking the Moong daal is key for this, it has to be cooked enough to not be mushy or under-cooked. The dill is a perfect addition, and tastes so amazing.
Leaving you today with the salad I am so used to and love. Â Have a wonderful week my friend.
Luv
Asha
- 2 cups moong beans/mung beans/green gram
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp raw urad daal
- 3-4 green chillies sliced small
- 1 large onion diced
- 10-12 cloves garlic sliced
- 2 carrots diced small
- ½ cup chopped dill
- 1 large English cucumber/cucumber with less seeds diced
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- Salt
- Lemon wedges to squeeze on the salad
- Wash and soak the mung beans overnight or even for 12-14 hours. You can even drain after 12 hours and let it sprout for 2 days.
- In a large pot add water and cook the mung beans for about 15 minutes, then add a tsp of salt and cook completely until it is cooked, not very soft. It needs to hold the shape. Drain and set aside.
- In a saute pan, add 2 tsp of olive oil and let it get hot. Add the cumin and urad daal and let it get brown, a minute. Then add the onion and green chillies, sliced garlic and saute on medium heat for a minute or 2 until it smells sweet and the garlic loses it's raw flavor. Make sure not to burn the garlic.
- Add the carrot and a bit of salt saute for a minute or two. Then add the chopped dill, saute again for a minute. Add the cooked mung bean, check for salt. Turn off the heat and toss very well.
- Once it cools down a bit, add the cucumber and garnish with pomegranate.
- Serve warm with some lemon juice.
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Looks so good, Asha! Makes me want to soak some moong dal right away 🙂 Lovely pictures and styling!
It’s such a vibrant salad, my mom used to make something very similar and add in chopped up raw mango along with the cucumber. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Lovely pictures and salad.
Moong Dal salad is loved here and I usually sprout them. Love the idea of serving it warm.
Hi Asha, lovely food, lovely pics too:). I have been following you on IG. Great work. I will be in Bangalore from 1st to 6th February and would love to meet my IG friend. Let me know if you are free, we can catch up.
Looking forward to meeting you :).
My IG account is @jagskitchen.
Regards
Jagruti
I would be so unhappy in any city going through a drought! I love the rain so much. Thankfully I landed in a country abundant with it. 🙂 I love this salad Asha even though I’m not a regular salad eating girl myself. Some warm ingredient in it makes it so very attractive. Lovely! Have a great weekend babe. xoxo
Asha, I simply adore cooked salads and this one sounds amazing – and looks so colorfully delicious! Staying in PJs all day with this salad, tea or coffee and a favorite show on is my idea of bliss! Hope you have a wonderful Saturday this weekend too! xoxo
This salad is fabulous, Asha! I love salads with a mix of warm and cold components and this one is gorgeous on top of that! Your show binge watching in pj’s with this salad sounds perfect! Today is a snow day here and I can’t leave my house (due to steep icy drive way), but I wish I had this salad! I’d have a repeat of your day! Hope you have a fabulous weekend, my dear! Xo
I share very similar feelings towards salads Asha. I always have an inclination towards cooked/boiled beans or veggies rather than raw, and mostly the onion and tomatoes are the ones I use along with the beans. Loved the addition of pomegranate and dill leaves.Have a great weekend !
So happy the rain is back.. for us too and I just want to curl up and hibernate! I bought some mung beans for sprouting and loved them.. but I’ve never cooked with them! Now I know what to do! This is such a sweet salad on so many levels, your mom’s favorite salad and how you’re not much of a salad eater. This would coax anyone into enjoying a salad! It’s packed with so many good things.. nourishing and filling. Thank you for another inspiring and delicious post.
This weekend we are getting a Winter snowy storm so I’m excited to stay in my pajamas, catch up on some reading and watch the snowflakes float by the window. What I need is this warm salad to keep me company!
That looks might delicious 🙂
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Ah, I love quiet, rainy mornings like that. Such a pleasant way to wake up. It’s been very cold and dreary here lately too, which makes poor conditions for taking photos, but nice for lounging. This salad looks simple and delicious. The perfect recipe to whip up on a lazy Saturday. Enjoy your weekend, sweet friend! 🙂
This is my kind of food..healthy, filling and delicious! Have a great weekend, Asha.
Gorgeous salad, Asha! I love salads of all kinds, cooked or uncooked, and they are a staple in my diet. I must try your tasty recipe soon, my friend. Your photography and styling is just beautiful here, Ash! So pretty. 🙂 Glad you are catching up with Downton Abbey and enjoying it. Thanks for sharing and have a fabulous weekend! xo
Never heard of a salad displaying ‘Mung bean’ and all those jewels and gems! Beautiful, healthful, blissful indeed. Make me a bowl full of this salad and I’ll sell my soul to ya 🙂
I agree with you. I don’t get excited about eating salads as they don’t usually fill me up and I’m left craving more. But I love that this salad has a hearty helping of lentils. I’m not that into lettuce frankly so I like making salads with a lot of other vegetables. Things like lentils/chickpeas/beans are a great way to make the salad more filling, but still healthy. And those pomegranate seeds make it so pretty.
xx Yasmin
http://banglesandbungalows.com
It’s so nice to be having so much rain — seeing green hills and grass and that fresh smell just can’t be beat. 🙂 This salad looks delicious and I love those pops of color! This would be an amazing lunch.
This salad looks to die for!! I have been drooling since the day I saw this but totally forgot to comment!! Girl I need to make this like now!!
What a vibrant, healthy, anti-oxidants-packed salad! Super nutritious, healthy and delicious! We have to check for mung beans though, we never seen them sold anywhere here. If we can’t find them we may use some black eyed peas instead, does that sound like something that could work?:)
Sounds like you had a wonderful, tranquil weekend dear Ash! We had some snow this weekend ourselves, and did the same, watching true crime shows on youtube and drinking lots of good red wine with our food:)
Thank you for the delicious idea!
Lots of hugs!
xoxoxo
Your description of having a hot cup of coffee to ‘pin drop silence’ set such a beautiful stage for this post… I love how visual your writing is, my friend. This salad is a keeper. Vibrant, nutritious and delicious! Everything I want and need right now! Thank you for sharing! xoxo
Love a good, flavorful salad like this. We’re eating soup for dinner a lot at the moment (it’s cold here!), but pretty soon we’ll be craving salads again. This is perfect for us — a one-dish meal. Thanks.