Pulse soups and curries (Part III) is yet another section to show how important dal is to Konkani cuisine. I have already mentioned in my previous posts that pulses and lentils are consumed by Konkani’s to supplement the protein requirements in our diet. We prepare a variety of dishes out of these pulses and the ones I am and have been discussing are only the fundamental preparations with pulses. There are actually a variety of dishes like Ghassi, Elchakari etc made with a combination of either pulses alone or pulses and vegetables combined together. About these I will be discussing in my later posts. For now I in Pulse soups and curries (Part III) I will be discussing Mooga humman and Sukkae chavlae humman. ‘Moong’ is Konkani for green gram and ‘Sukki Chavli’ is for red lobia. Humman as I have already mentioned in my previous posts (Pulse soups and curries Part I) is a slightly watery dish with just a basic seasoning. It is less spicy and can be had as a fever diet along with ‘Kanji’ or rice porridge. I have not used any onions and garlic in my preparation.
Ingredients
You need
- ½ cup green gram/red lobia
- Water as required for cooking
- A pinch of asafoetida
- Salt to taste
For seasoning
- 1 tbspn Coconut oil
- A small spoon mustard
- 1 tspn red chilli powder (or as per your spiciness level)
- 1 Sprig curry leaves
For garnish 3 to 4 tbspns of coconut
Method
Wash and soak the green gram / red lobia for 1 to 2 hours. Drain away the water completely and pressure cook them till soft.
Now heat oil in a kadai and to the hot oil add mustard seeds. When they splutter add curry leaves and then add the red chilli powder. Sauté the red chilli powder for a second and add the cooked green gram/ red lobia to the seasoning. Add salt and water as required and mix well. Allow to cook for 1 minute and then switch off the flame. Add asafoetida and mix well.
Garnish with grated coconut.
Your green gram / red lobia humman is ready to be served.
Even though the preparation of green gram / red lobia humman is same we have difference in the serving pattern. Green gram humman is usually had with rice and ‘Kanji’ as well as with chapattis, poori, puttu etc. But red lobia humman is had with rice and ‘kanji’ only.
Variation in the preparation of the dish
Variation 1
Adding red chillies and green chillies
Ingredients
You need
- ½ cup green gram/red lobia
- Water as required for cooking
- A pinch of asafoetida
- Salt to taste
For seasoning
- 1 tbspn Coconut oil
- A small spoon mustard
- 2 to 3 green chillies (or as per your spiciness level)
- 2 to 3 red chillies (or as per your spiciness level)
- 1 Sprig curry leaves
For garnish
- 3 to 4 tbspns of coconut
The method of preparation remains the same only difference is in the seasoning. It is as follows: Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds when they begin to splutter add the green chillies and sauté till the raw smell goes off. Then add the red chillies sauté for a second and add the curry leaves. Now add the cooked green gram/red lobia
Variation 2
Adding pepper corns
Ingredients
You need
- ½ cup green gram/red lobia
- Water as required for cooking
- A pinch of asafoetida
- Salt to taste
For seasoning
- 1 tbspn Coconut oil
- A small spoon mustard
- 2 to 3 green chillies (or as per your spiciness level)
- 2 to 3 red chillies (or as per your spiciness level)
- 5 to 6 crushed pepper corns
- 1 Sprig curry leaves
For garnish
- 3 to 4 tbspns of coconut
In this preparation you have to cook the green chillies along with the green gram/red lobia in the pressure cooker. The next difference is in the seasoning. It is as follows: Heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds when they begin to splutter add red chillies. Sauté for a second and then add the curry leaves followed by addition of crushed pepper corns. As soon as you add crushed pepper corns to the seasoning add the cooked green gram/red lobia.
Tips
Add chilli powder after adding curry leaves so that chilli powder will not get burnt fast. Or else you can even switch off the flame and add the chilli powder.
Always do the seasoning on a low flame.
Since you are cooking the green gram and red lobia in water you need not have to throw away the cooked water (Stock). This is highly nutritious and you can add it along with the pulses while preparing the dish.
