Friday, January 6, 2012

mungodi waala matar ka nimona | green peas nimona recipe with mung dumplings




A soup like thin gravy made with a paste of fresh green peas, spiced delicately with a few mung dumplings to bite into. It is basically a curried soup made using a coarse paste of green peas. The mung dumplings are made freshly for the nimona but the recipes is not as complicated as it sounds. Just to make 2 different pastes in the grinder and it takes about 30 minutes to cook. Some rice or chapati cooked on the side and a salad or a stir fry can make the meal really special. I made a quick begun bhaja with it, fried slices of brinjal with a melt in the mouth texture. The roti for me was a hearty jowar roti while the husband enjoyed it with plain boiled rice.

I have posted details about Matar ka nimona here and here and this nimona with mung dumplings is another version. A tasty curry with tastier dumplings, soaked with the spiciness from the gravy.

The mung dumplings can be fried in a batch and can be frozen for later use. I make them more easy by frying large sized mungodis (fried mung dumplings), and cutting them in to 3-4 pieces when cooking them in the nimona. This way they are bite sized and soak the juices well.

ingredients and procedure for the mung dumplings....

split mung beans 1 cup soaked for 2 hours
cumin seeds 2 tsp
green chillies 2 or to taste
salt to taste
mustard oil or ghee to deep fry

 Drain the soaked mung and make a paste of all the ingredients together without using any water. A coarse paste with specks of green chillies and cumin seeds is expected, so do not make a smooth buttery paste.


Traditionally , this paste is scooped between the fingers and small amounts are dropped in hot oil to make small fried dumplings of a size exactly similar to soaked garbanzo beans. But that is a time consuming process to make that tiny dumplings . I just scoop out spoonfuls and drop them gently into hot oil , these make irregular shaped dumplings but can be chopped to size when being cooked in the curry. My ways to cut short the cooking time so I can enjoy all these traditional fare more frequently. The fried dumplings look like this.


I used only 5-6 of these dumplings and the rest of them were frozen for later use. Makes a lot of sense for me...

ingredients and procedure for the green peas gravy...
green peas 1.5 cups
chopped ginger 1 tbsp
green chillies 1-2
every day curry powder 1 tbsp
garam masala 1/4 tsp Or to taste
whole cumin seeds 1 tsp
asafoetida a pinch
ghee 2 tbsp
1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves to finish




Make a paste with the first three ingredients , the paste should be coarse and not very smooth and no water should be added while pulsing it.








Heat the ghee in a pan and tip in the cumin seeds and the asafoetida powder. Wait till the cumin crackles and then add the every day curry powder with a sprinkling of water along with it. Pour in the paste immediately and stir fry, the paste becomes lumpy first and then starts getting crumbly and sticks to the base. Cook on low flame till now.





Add the garam masala powder and mix well, stir and cook for a minute before adding about 4 cups of water. Mix well and let it come to boil.






Tip in the cut pieces of the fried mung dumplings, add salt to taste and simmer for about half an hour on very low heat. Add chopped coriander leaves to finish in the last few minutes of cooking and serve hot when the dumplings turn spongy and curry thickens to your desired level. You might like to add some water if you want it thinner. The mungodis absorb a a lot of water making the curry thicker.



Serve with chapatis or rice as I said. Hot curry like this can be nice warming winter meal any time of the day...I served it with a few slices of Begun bhaja, a bengali specialty that goes with any spicy meal. The eggplant slices turn buttery from inside when fried like this , with just a little crispness which dampens within minutes of frying it. Almost sweet and caremalised while frying and balances the meal well.

Egg plants are sliced and marinated with salt , turmeric powder and red chilly powder for about half an hour and then fried in hot oil or shallow fried on a hot griddle.


A warming hearty meal not too high on fat even when it has some fried components. A Jowar roti balances it well. I love such meals and can have loads of vegetables if served like this .... reminds me that I still have those frozen mungodis and might cook it tomorrow for lunch...


Who wants to join me for this ?

17 comments:

  1. I do! That looks delicious! I made nimona a few days back for a party--with potatoes, my mother in law's recipe. I can just imagine how good it will taste with a little baingan bhaja on the side. Yummmmm.

    Hope you have a wonderful 2012, Sangeeta!

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow, that looks like a treat. Very traditional and tempting thali :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks awesome...Yummy one..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very nice , what kind of roti is on the plate

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank everybody for the lovely words...

    @ Nisha...the roti is a Jowar millet roti cut into four quarters.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @ GB...you are most welcome dahling....wishing you and all my readers a happy new year...though I am late and .....you might like to read my other blog 'Homealone' for special wishes coming straight from the heart :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. What an awesome spread Sangeeta !!! Its tempting me to come over for dinner right away...Wishing you a happy 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Somthing new to learn today. Yumm!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey sangeeta! didnt know you had another wonderful blog on Banaras ka khaana! Totally looking forward to browsing these authentic regional dishes. I love exploring local cuisine in various indian cities. Its a pity that most restaurants follow north-indian, chinese or udupi path... we are losing out on wonderful regional food. its blogs like yours that keep traditions alive :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. when i came across this recipe i wondered whether you would have any idea about the recipe for a dish by the name rikvaj,i think which is also of up origin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes anonymous , the Rikvaj you are talking about is a recipe called patode or patra in some parts of UP. The recipe has been posted on this blog too by the name of Patode, or Girmachh..http://banaraskakhana.blogspot.com/2010/08/patoda-patra-or-girmachh-colocacia.html

      Delete