A stranger for so long and now turned into an intimate…
A new leafy vegetable visited my kitchen a few weeks ago, after a few rounds of tasting, it got two thumps up from me. Red swiss chard, with green ribbed leaves and red stems often used to flirt with me when I walked past it in the produce aisle. Here is exactly how it used to flirt with me: Hey sexy! wanna try me?? LOL. I tried so hard to not to fall for its flirt, but I terribly failed. This flirty veggie has been a frequent visitor ever since I tried it and have already made few dishes with it. It makes a great stir fry, in fact you could throw this veggie to almost any dish you make. I loved the combination of swiss chard and moong dal the most.
If you haven’t yet fallen for this veggie, you should consider falling for it the next time you are at the produce aisle as it’s totally worth trying this dish.
Red Swiss Chard and Moong Dal
Ingredients:
To cook:
- Red swiss chard, chopped- 1/2 of the bunch (chop and use the stems too)
- Moong dal- 1 cup
- Red chili powder- 1/2 tsp
- Salt- to taste
- Water- 1/2 cup
To grind:
- Coconut, grated- 1/2 cup
- Cumin seeds- 1tsp
- Garlic, minced- 1 clove
- Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
To season:
- Oil- 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1tsp
- Dry red chili whole-3
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Small onions, chopped- 3
Instruction:
- Thoroughly wash the red swiss chard under running water; coarsely chop the leaves and cut the stems small.
- Wash the moong dal taken in a strainer under running water as well.
- In a pressure cooker, cook the moong dal, red swiss chard along with red chili powder, salt and water until 2 whistles.
- Grind the above mentioned ingredients “to grind” into a coarse paste and keep aside.
- When the dal has cooked well, add the ground coconut mixture, combine and cook for few minutes at low heat.
To prepare the seasoning:
- Heat a small pan over medium flame, add oil.
- When the oil gets hot, add mustard seeds, dry red whole chili, small onions and curry leaves, saute till the onions turn light brown.
- Remove from the flame and pour the seasoning into the cooked dal and red swiss chard mixture.
- Combine well and immediately cover it so that the aroma of the seasoning will get into the curry.
- Serve warm with rice, roti or you could even have this just like that as a thick soup.
- Red swiss chard, chopped- ½ of the bunch (chop and use the stems too)
- Moong dal- 1 cup
- Red chili powder- ½ tsp
- Salt- to taste
- Water- ½ cup
- Coconut, grated- ½ cup
- Cumin seeds- 1tsp
- Garlic, minced- 1 clove
- Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
- Oil- 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1tsp
- Dry red chili whole-3
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Small onions, chopped- 3
- Thoroughly wash the red swiss chard under running water; coarsely chop the leaves and cut the stems small.
- Wash the moong dal taken in a strainer under running water as well.
- In a pressure cooker, cook the moong dal, red swiss chard along with red chili powder, salt and water until 2 whistles.
- Grind the above mentioned ingredients "to grind" into a coarse paste and keep aside.
- When the dal has cooked well, add the ground coconut mixture, combine and cook for few minutes at low heat.
- Heat a small pan over medium flame, add oil.
- When the oil gets hot, add mustard seeds, dry red whole chili, small onions and curry leaves, saute till the onions turn light brown.
- Remove from the flame and pour the seasoning into the cooked dal and red swiss chard mixture.
- Combine well and immediately cover it so that the aroma of the seasoning will get into the curry.
- Serve warm with rice, roti or you could even have this just like that as a thick soup.
