Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Moong Dal Thoran & An Award!



The past few days have been bit hectic with few household chores and shopping household items that I barely got enough time to post anything. But it couldn't keep me from visiting all your blogs and checking out your wonderful creations and I sincerely hope I haven't missed out any! I was glad that I could sneak some time to peek into all your blogs that finally ended up in increasing my bookmarked list which I hope to try out soon.


For the moment lets enjoy this simple dish-Moong Dal Thoran. Thoran is a traditional dish of Kerala cuisine and is an important side dish with rice, curries, papads and pickles. Made with ground coconut mixture along with few spices the dish is widely popular for its simplicity and taste. You may add your own choice of veggies, the basic preparation remaining the same, and the name of the dish changes accordingly.

Protein Packed Meal with Kadala(chickpea) curry & Cheese Omelette!

Moong dal thoran is a dish packed with nutrients and forms a great combo with rice, Parippu(dal) curry, pickles and papads. Though easy to make few steps have to be followed for making a perfect moong dal thoran. The right amount of water and preparation time are the two main factors that determine the final outcome. When I first started making this thoran, I wasn't aware of the right proportions and preparation time and I can still recall few occasions when I ended up in making either a sticky thoran or a totally dry thoran in which the beans kept rolling off the plate and refused to stay in one place! Well, my experiences and trials have finally taught me in making a perfect moong dal thoran which I would like to share with everyone here.

Ingredients:
Whole green moong dal - 1 cup
Water for cooking dal in cooker - 1 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Grind the following together:
Grated coconut - 1/3 cup
Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
Garlic cloves - 2
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
For tempering:
Black Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Dry red chillies - 4 broken
Coconut Oil - 1 tsp

Method:
  • Grind the ingredients to be ground adding enough water to make a coarse, yet well ground paste. Keep aside.
  • Add water to pressure cooker, enough salt and washed moong dal. Keep at high heat and when steams starts coming out of the nozzle put the weight on. On the first whistle, reduce heat to simmer and steam for additional 15 minutes. Open the cooker only after the pressure has been released.
  • Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and broken red chillies and saute till the leaves turn crisp and you get the aroma.
  • Add the ground paste, heat at low-medium and saute for few seconds till raw smell goes. Do not allow the colour of ground paste to change. You may have to adjust the heat accordingly.
  • Add the cooked dal, mix everything well and cook on low-medium heat for few minutes until the dal has fully absorbed the flavour of the added spices.
  • Turn off heat and serve with rice, ghee, parippu curry, pickles & papads!
I'm very happy to receive Lovely Blog Award for the second time, this time from Ms.Sailaja of Sailaja Kitchen and Pooja of Experients in my kitchen. Thanks a lot friends. This award means so much to me. You have made my day :)

Lovely Blog Award

I'm sending Moong Dal Thoran to My Legume Love Affair:Twelfth Helping hosted by Apu of Annarasa & started by Susan.


Pooja.

Other Side Dishes:

Beetroot MezhukkuBrinjal FryBroccoli ThoranPineapple PachadiCucumber Kichadi

55 comments:

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

I understand how it is to be held up with household chores and shopping!!! the moon dhal thooran looks yummy btw I love the thaali too!!! Can I have the thaali??? Congrats on your award dear!!!

Pooja said...

Oh that was really quick! Thanks Ramya! Of course you may! You are most welcome to take it :D

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Understand how hectic it would be dear..and by the way the thoran is looking perfect dear..platter itself looking so healthy yumm..

Pooja said...

Thanks Pavithra :) This is one of my favourites!

Sailaja Damodaran said...

perfect entry...

Gita Jaishankar said...

wow...can I come for lunch :) Love the thoran...it must taste so good even with rice and rasam!

Pooja said...

Hey pooja.. lovely recipe ! my mom used to make these .. ! congrats on ur award !

Padma said...

Congrats on your award Pooja :)... moong dhal thoran looks delicious ... good to have this type atleast once a week .. good coincidence as I too have posted a sundal today...

Ann said...

Oh! Yes I agree with you.. It's always hectic!
I love your presentation it tempts me so much and looks totally healthy.

Christo Gonzales said...

dont let reality get in the way of what you really want - and this dish looks very satisfying!

Unknown said...

That loks like a protein packed platter!

Pooja said...

Thanks Gita :) Sure you may drop in any time! Yes it forms a gr8 combo with rice n rasam too!

Pooja said...

Thanks Pooja :) At home my mom too prepares this whenever she needs to cook up something with less effort and this is one side dish that requires minimum effort as the cooker does most of the job!

Pooja said...

Thanks Padma :) You are right! At home too my mom made sure that we have it at least once a week! And a lovely coincidence..had seen the sundal in your blog :D

Pooja said...

Thanks Ann :) Yeah it happens everywhere, isnt it? And yes,when you have this as a side dish you need to worry less about nutritional info of the rest of your meal :D

Pooja said...

Thanks DB & for the advice too! Surely I'll keep that in mind :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Divya and indeed it does, isnt it? :)

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Congrats on the award - Pooja...
Lovely dish...

Nithya Praveen said...

Hey congrats on ur award.Moong Dal thoran looks wonderful...yummy ones!

Pooja said...

Thanks Nithya :)

VineelaSiva said...

Congrats on ur award Pooja.I too go with u abt the hectic in dng all the stuff.The moong dal looks yummy.

Anonymous said...

Seems like things always gets even more hectic in the summer. Moong Dal Thoran sounds wonderful!

Pooja said...

Thanks Vineela & Natasha :) Yes life seems to get lot more busier during summers. Lots of pending things which were put aside during winter! But I love the cheer n fun summer brings along :D

Preeti Singh said...

Moong dal thoran looks very tempting Pooja,,,, and protein stuffed plate is also looks wonderful....congrates for the award..

Varsha Vipins said...

wah...my fav n thali looks so yumm..u knw ma fav combo..rice,rasam,payar thoran n omlette..slurp slurp..:)

Indian Khana said...

That's yummy platter...looks nice ....your thoran is nice...I was trying to make the same the other day but the dal was over cooked :(...so endup making something else..

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a healthy and protein packed thoran, looks yummy..

COngrats on ur award Pooja!

Parita said...

i love moong dal thoran, i too make it in similar way but i also add in onions, i saw you have used coconut oil, never used coconut oil before, will try next time :) congo on the award dear :)

Kalaivani said...

Congrats on your award,One of my favorite sundal.Yummy and healthy one.

Vrinda said...

I lov anything made of cherupayar..these r myy fav,looks yum and perfectly cooked,nice click Pooja..And congrats on ur award..

Saritha said...

Congrats pooja and yummy recipe

Pooja said...

Thanks Preeti :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Varsha :) Yes my favourite combo too though sometimes I prefer theeyal as curry :D

Pooja said...

Thanks Priti :) It has happened me lots of times until I figured out the right proportions!

Pooja said...

Thanks Parita :) I would love to see your version. I love using coconut oil while making Kerala style dishes. It imparts a unique flavour :D

Pooja said...

Thanks Kalai :) Simple but tasty isnt it? :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Vrinda :) Me too!

ARUNA said...

that's a gorgeous spread Pooja....and congrats on ur award!!! I was not able to access ur blog for the past 4-5days!! Just now i'm able to!

Pooja said...

Thanks Aruna :) Oh I wonder what the problem could have been! Hope it doesnt happen again!

Poornima Nair said...

Thats mouthwatering n healthy too...great dish.

Lisa Turner said...

Gorgeous dish. I can't wait to try it. I love your recipes!

chef and her kitchen said...

That looks simple n perfect gal..

Pooja said...

Thanks Poornima :) I get tempted whenever I see this!

Pooja said...

Thanks Lisa :) Do give a try. Its very simple and effortless!

Pooja said...

Thanks Prathibha :)

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

Great thoran-and a great meal(only thing missing are the veggies-just kidding). Another way I love to eat thoran is to mix it with chopped(raw)onions,tomatoes, cilantro and lots of lime sprinkled on top!!I normally snack on it in the evenings :)

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Simple and yummy one. Congrats on ur award. Nice pics.

Shabs.. said...

Hmmm....yumyum....I love moong dal thoran....Its so so tasty,No one can ever hate it.And ur pic looks droolsome:)....
Congrats on ur award dear....You really deserve it...

suvi said...

what coincidence..I just made this yest, with potatoes, ...though I don't add garlic in mine. Must try it with garlic the next time

lubnakarim06 said...

Oh wow healthy and yum....Drool worthy pics...

Pooja said...

Thanks Sweta! Hehe right..there were no veggies that day! Wow that is a great option too :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Valar :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Shabs :) This is my favourite thoran with rice, esp with any non veg curry!

Pooja said...

Thanks Aqua :) Oh I never made with potatoes. Great idea :)

Pooja said...

Thanks Lubna :)