Been making a lot of Indian food lately, inspired by an awesome cookbook I picked up: The Indian Vegan Kitchen. There’s a ton of vegetable and bean dishes that, so far,  (I’ve tried 4) are great and healthy if you omit the oil and steam saute in water instead.

Neither of the following recipes are from the above book, just accompaniments. The soup is exceptionally good and is a meal in itself if you add some brown basmati rice. And I’m very excited about this one: mung bean flour pancakes! If you like Indian food, you probably like to scoop it up with naan which is delicious but not very nutritious, being made with white flour and coated in ghee (unless you ask for them to leave it off). These panckakes are filled with onion, cilantro, and green chiles (optional) and contain only ground beans, no grains!!

Red Lentil (Dal) Soup

makes 4 small bowls

• • 1.5 cups dried red lentils
  • 1 tsp crushed or minced garlic
  • 4.5 cups water
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1/4 cup umeboshi (plum) vinegar, can be found in “Asian” or “International” aisle
  • 1 Tbsp ginger paste or minced ginger
    
  • cilantro for garnish (optional)

In a pot, bring lentils, garlic, and water to a boil, then turn down to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in curry powder, vinegar, and ginger and simmer 5 minutes.

Serve garnished with cilantro if you like, and with brown basmati rice if making a meal of it. I guarantee this will become a favorite quick Indian dish!

Mung Bean (Moong) Pancakes

makes 6 approx. 5 inch pancakes

• • mung bean flour (can be found at Indian/Asian grocery stores or see note below on using mung beans which are more commonly available)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 2 Tbsp minced cilantro
  • 2 serrano peppers (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp ginger paste or minced ginger
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder

In a mixing bowl, combine mung bean flour, salt, and cumin and mix well.

Add water and mix to remove most lumps.

Add remaining ingredients, mix, and let stand for 30 minutes.

Use a nonstick pan (I use an electric skillet) to cook without oil (I find a sprinkling of salt helps keep things from sticking) or, if you must, spray a pan with cooking spray. Heat to medium-high. For 5 inch pancakes, I measured out 1/3 cupfuls of batter into the center of the pan, spreading into a rough circle.

Cook until top is opaque, flip, and cook another minute. Keep warm between some paper towels or a dishtowel and two plates while cooking the rest.

Mung Bean Note: Mung beans are pretty commonly stocked in bulk sections of grocery stores and in health food stores. You can substitute 1 cup of split and hulled mug beans for the flour and water as follows: Rinse the mung beans, then soak for 2 hours or more. Drain and, in a food processor, grind them up with 3/4 cups water. Then proceed as per the recipe.