KAANCHA MOOGER DAL( UNROASTED MOONG DAL)

Let's begin with dal. Although bengalis are not as passionate about dal as other Indian communities like Punjabis or south indians (with their daily dose of Sambar) are, we do have our own share of variety in cooking dal. Now, bengalis eat mainly yellow moong dal which can be cooked either first dry roasting the dal(BHAJA MOOGER DAL),or without roasting the same(KAANCHA MOOGER DAL).
KAANCHA MOOGER DAL.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup yellow moong dal
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tsp of ghee/mustard oil
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds(methi)
1 dried red chilli
2 green chillis
1 tsp of ginger paste
1 tsp sugar(optional)
NOTE A: In most of the bengali vegetarian dishes including some of the dal preparations a little sugar is added to balance the saltiness of the dish( sugar should be added carefully and according to individual taste so that the dish does not become sweet.)
NOTE B:Authentic bengali home cooking is essentially done with mustard oil for most of the dishes as it brings out the right flavor of the recipe.I prefer to use little ghee for tempering dal,specially moong dal as it adds to the aroma of the dish without adding too much calories.Mustard oil is healthier option simply because you need to use lesser amount of it compared to other varieties of oil. That is because it does'nt evaporate so much while heating like other types of cooking oil do.However a very important thing to remember is that mustard oil needs to be heated thoroughly( color would lighten slightly when properly heated.) to avoid raw smell of the oil which might spoil the flavor of tempering.
If you can not tolerate the smell of mustard oil at all and also do not like to use ghee you may use any other oil you prefer.)
Method:
1.Boil the moong dal with just sufficient water( dal cooks faster with just about enough water. You can add water later when doing the tempering.)along with the turmeric powder,salt and one whole green chilli.
2. Heat ghee in a Kadai. Add mustard seeds,fenugreek seeds and the dried red chilli(broken into two pieces)and the green chilli (chopped).When the spices are nicely roasted in ghee to bring out the aroma, add the boiled dal and let it simmer for a few minutes.
3. Check the seasoning after adding the sugar. The dal should neither be sweet or salty.
4. Add the ginger paste. Simmer it for half a minute and voila! Yellow moong dal (unroasted) bengali style is ready.Serve it with rice.
Now I'll tell you how to make dry roasted Moong dal.