PEA SHOOTS GREEN MOONG DAL & COCONUT PEANUT RICE

I am getting more forgetful with each passing day, I think I need to talk to my friend Dr. Nishi Pulugurtha who had been dealing  with two dementia patients for long, her mother-in-law just passed away. She does write besides managing her students and friends, travelling.... want to read? I like them, specially the accounts of her short tours. Coming to the plating, it was last Saturday, I had the burden of cleaning after all the cooking. Forget about the stepwise pictures! If you call it lack of sincerity on my part, I accept... the reason why I or people like me never can excel. Life got laborious in Cristine's absence, but I got two part-time helps coming for me every alternate day... they are nice! I should thank two known women for helping me out in this matter.... its really tough to get real helps when you need it... they did it! Thishome believes in a different ideology and we are celebrating today a special occasion.... a non-vegetarian share had to go up... then I felt okay let it be on the next day! The son is having his periodic examinations, I am not the kind of a mother who will go out on a dinner date to celebrate leaving the son alone at home! There is a reason why my brother could not get out of his mother's lap till date! There is a reason why his wife runs to her parent's home six days a week.... they brought up their two girls amidst hardships and pretty well....! I am cooking today with whatever ingredients are available at home... non vegetarian off course! As of now, let us explore this wholesome, vegetarian meal option PEA SHOOTS GREEN MOONG DAL & COCONUT PEANUT RICE...

People around are also celebrating their special days... a big sister like's son in Kolkata has his birthday.... unfortunately I am unable to go Bengali today for another reason... I cannot get along with shallowness in people... I am an idiot but I love those who are classy as is defined in my dictionary! Leave that, it was an angel's birthday too, then two of my loving friends' too... a boy and a girl.... I know today is the marriage anniversary of a Punjabi sister like who shifted to Ontario some two years back... the son was a littler student, last met when her daughter was born... Rupinder Syan.... forgot our beautiful island and plays with snowballs these days.... forgot her small, cosy flat here and shows off their plush, spacious bungalow.... However, she had been a beautiful soul, a science teacher here.... so this healthy, vegetarian platter of PEA SHOOTS GREEN MOONG DAL & COCONUT PEANUT RICE do they deserve. 

We can eat anything and everything at home. Look at this lazy self... I am packing their lunch box with left over egg curry that Ipsita has sent and stale rice "bhaja", store bought parantha, this and that! All the big talks I give on health boils down to a big, round coconut cookie.... Curse me people, I got a big box of pea shoots to eat as a salad at my lunch! By the way, always cling wrap cut fruits.... stop eating Romaine Lettuce for a while.... according to a Tasty's Facebook post, there is again an "E-coli" outbreak! After my appendix was removed, the daddy was told to stop my meat intake and lessen the amount of green, leafy stuffs... I have a problem of colitis.... I am alive till 48.... I will go and have a "bak-kut-teh" for lunch because dinner will be rice with meat.

INGREDIENTS : [for the COCONUT PEANUT RICE]

FINE BASMATI : 1COFFEE MUG
SHREDDED COCONUT : 1MEDIUM CUP
ROASTED PEANUT : 2TBSP
SKINLESS BLACK GRAM DAL : 1TBSP
CURRY LEAF : 10-12
BLACK MUSTARD SEED : 1/4TSP
DRY RED CHILLI : 3-4 [HALVED]
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4TSP
TAMARIND JUICE : 2TBSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 4-5 TBSP

INGREDIENTS : [for the PEA SHOOTS GREEN MOONG DAL]

GREEN MOONG DAL : 1SMALL CUP
PEA SHOOT : 1MEDIUM BOWL
MINCED GARLIC : 1TBSP
MINCED GINGER : 1TSP
SLICED ONION : 1SMALL CUP
SLITTED GREEN CHILLIES : 3-4
CHOPPED TOMATO : 1MEDIUM CUP
CORIANDER POWDER : 1TSP
GARAM MASALA POWDER : 2TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2TSP +1/2TSP
CUMIN SEED : 1/4TSP
BAYLEAF : 1
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 2TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Let us do the PEANUT COCONUT RICE  at first!

Wash and soak the rice for 1/2 an hour. Cook it at low to medium heat until 70% done!

Transfer it to a strainer and let the water drain.

Heat the oil in a wok, add the skinless black gram dal, black mustard seeds, halved dry red chillies. As the dal turns little brown and the mustard seeds splutter, add the curry leaves.

Give a stir and add the shredded coconut. Stir at medium heat for 3-4 minutes. They will turn golden brown and ummm what an aroma.

Add the peanuts and stir for half a minute. Add the cooked rice, salt as required, tamarind juice and the turmeric powder. Stir gently for 2-3 minutes at medium heat.

We are done, transfer to a rice bowl, ready to be served.


Now, let us do the PEA SHOOTS GREEN MOONG DAL.

I washed and soaked the dal in hot water for 2-3 hours. Adding little more water, turmeric powder and salt, I boiled it at low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add more water if required. I love them little mushy.

Wash the pea shoots and add very little salt to them, rub well.

In a clean wok, I heated 2tbsp oil. I tempered it with cumin seeds and a bayleaf. I added minced garlic and ginger and stirred for 1/2 a minute. 

I added the sliced onion and stirred till it turned golden brown; then added the chopped tomatoes.

As the tomatoes melted, I added the turmeric and cumin powders, salt, slitted green chillies; then stirred for half a minute.

I then added the boiled dal, mixed well and cover cooked at low heat for 5-7 minutes. Thereafter, I removed the cover, added the pea shoots and garam masala powder. Then I stirred and simmered for another 4-5 minutes. We can add some warm water if required. We should be done! You can add some butter before serving!

We had a lamb curry alongside... oh! what a meal it was.