This time our India trip wasn’t exactly a vacation. Our to do list was a long one but at the end of it, we could scratch off most of the items in the list. That meant our days would be spent outside going from one place to another, ticking off things from our list once they get done. 

One of the things was to sort out our personal things left behind in Chennai. We had rented out our house with one bedroom used as our storage. It was a huge task going through each and every thing, give off whatever we didn’t need and bringing back everything else to my in laws place. It sounds simple but it honestly was time and effort consuming. It took more than 2 complete days to get the stuff back to my in laws place and even more to sort it out.  I got a lot of stuff back to US including cooking books, food props and even my favorite wooden board. 

This recipe is from a bunch of print outs that I brought back from there. I just couldn’t throw it out even though it’s ten plus years old. So that makes the recipe a perfect candidate for Cooking from Cookbook challenge. It’s protein rich so that makes it good for Blogging Marathon #80 as well. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup moong dal
• 1/2 a medium tomato, chopped
• a pinch of turmeric powder
• 1 bunch of spinach, about 250 gms
• 3 green chillies
• 1/2″ piece ginger
• 1 garlic clove 
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 1 teaspoon each jeera seeds and mustard seeds
• salt and lemon juice per taste 

Method:

1. Wash and clean the dal.  Pressure cook along with the chopped tomato, a pinch of turmeric powder and enough water to cover everything completely.
2.  Grind half of the spinach bunch with green chillies and ginger. Chop the rest of the spinach and keep aside.
3. Once the dal is cooked and the pressure is released naturally, heat ghee or oil in a pan. Add the jeera seeds and mustard seeds. Let it splutter.
4. Add the garlic and once it’s brown slightly, add the chopped spinach. Sauté for a few minutes. 
5. Add ground spinach and cook for a few minutes. Add in the dal and salt as needed. Add water to bring it to the consistency you prefer and bring everything to a boil. Taste test and adjust the seasonings. Take off the heat and add lemon juice if preferred. 
6. Serve with hot rice, a spoonful of ghee and a papad on the side.

This goes for the September Week 4, Cooking from Cookbook Challenge Group.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 80