Methi bhaji with moong sprouts
Fenugreek leaves sabzi with sprouted mung beans, a delicious side for rice and rotis!
Equipment
- Measuring cups used, 1 cup - 240 ml
- Heavy bottomed pan
Ingredients
- ¼ cup dry mung bean/green gram 65 grams
- 1 cup onions chopped
- ¾ cup tomato chopped
- 2 cups fresh methi/fenugreek leaves 125 grams
- ⅓ cup water
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp red chilli powder or to taste
- 1 green chilli like Thai, Indian, Serrano
- ½ tsp grated ginger
- 1 tbsp jaggery
- 1 tbsp oil
- ¾ tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds/jeera
- 2 tsp split black gram/urad dal optional
- 1 dry red chilli
- ¾ tsp salt or to taste
Instructions
Growing mung bean sprouts
- Two days in advance, begin the process of sprouting mung beans/moong. For a detailed sprouting 101, check this link.
- Wash mung beans a few times. Drain and soak in plenty of water for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight.
- The mung beans should have absorbed water by now and plumped up. Drain the water and rinse with fresh water. Drain water completely.
- Cover the bowl with a lid and rest it in a warm spot for 12 hours. We only need the sprouts to grow half an inch long. If the sprouts are still very tiny after 12 hours, rinse the beans with fresh water, drain completely and cover and let it rest again in a warm spot for another 8-12 hours. Tip: In very cold climates, turn on the oven for 2 minutes. Turn off the oven and place the beans inside the warm oven to sprout.
Preparing methi bhaji
- Heat a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add in 1 tbsp oil.
- Add mustard seeds, urad dal and dry red chilli. When urad dal starts to turn golden, add in the cumin seeds.
- When mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped onions and fry until translucent.
- Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and fry for another minute.
- Add green chilli, finely chopped methi leaves and fry for about 3-4 minutes.
- Next, add the moong sprouts, grated ginger, water and salt. Cover and cook until the sprouts are cooked to your liking. NOTE: This takes me about 4-5 minutes on my cast iron pan, on medium heat. Time required may vary. After 4 minutes taste test to see if the sprouts are cooked.. I like them to be just cooked and not mushy.
- Add chopped tomatoes and jaggery. Cover and cook for another two minutes or until tomatoes are cooked and turn off the heat.
- Serve hot/warm with rice or chapati/roti.