Split Mung Bean Dal

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Mung bean dal is a great easy to digest pulse.  Packed with protein and fiber, serve mung bean dal plain or with rice or roti for a healthy vegan and gluten free meal.

Bianca and I met by chance. My originally scheduled City Surf Class got cancelled so I took the one that she was the instructor for. Even though I would have liked to hate her for making me completely out of breath and almost feel like dying, I immediately liked her for her energy. We got talking after the class and I learned about her blog TooBu. We exchanged our numbers and met over coffee. That’s when I met the second TooBu girl, Lita. We spoke a lot over coffee and worked over a collaboration.
The TooBu girls wanted to come and see me cook two recipes, one Indian and one anything else I felt like. Since both Lita and Bianca are fitness enthusiasts, and their blog revolves around holistic living, I thought of sharing this Split Mung Bean Dal recipe with their blog followers. I also shared the coconut lime zucchini bread with them.
Split Mung Bean Dal

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Chickpea and Walnut Masala Veggie Burgers

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Chickpea Walnut Masala Burger Chickpea Walnut Masala Burger

I love a good veggie burger. With V vegetarian on two days of the week, one of them being a  Saturday, veggie burgers are a great option for me to take to a potluck or get together so that he has something to eat and I don’t have to spend too much time making them. Since veggie burgers are so easy to put together these also make a great weeknight meal and can be perfect to pack in the lunchbox. I love the black bean burger recipe that I have posted in the past but for a while I had been thinking of doing a chickpea burger. After looking at different recipes online, I combined elements of a few of them and came up with the recipe for these vegan Chickpea and Walnut Masala Burgers that I am posting today.

While most veggie burgers are crumbly, these chickpea burgers benefit with the moisture that grated carrots lend to the patty. Prompted by the #iheartwalnutcontest I decided to add toasted walnuts to the burgers and they do make a great addition to these meatless burger patties. A little roasted cumin, garam masala and chillies make these burgers flavorful and my new favorite recipe.

For convenience I used canned chickpeas, but you could soak and boil the chickpeas.Instead of regular burger buns I like serving these with whole wheat english muffins or sandwich bread because I like the bread to patty ratio. I serve it with some garlic tahini sauce, but tzatziki dip would also taste great.While I don’t have a gluten intolerance, for people who prefer gluten free you can use gluten free bread to make the bread crumbs. You could also add cheese to the patty mix, but I wanted to keep them vegan so that they cater to a wider range of people with different dietary restrictions. Cheese lovers can just add a slice of cheese on top!

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GMT: Methi Parantha/Paratha (Fenugreek Flatbread)

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Methi Parantha/paratha or whole flatbread made with fenugreek leaves, garlic and carrom seeds

Methi Parnatha/ Wholewheat Fenugreek Flatbread

Living in Dallas has its perks. One of them is that we don’t have to drive 4 hours to get indian groceries and indian produce. Even though we still have to drive 30 minutes for indian groceries (since all the stores are in the suburbs and we stay close to downtown Dallas), it still beats a 4 hour drive.

On our recent trip to the indian store I picked up some fresh fenugreek leaves. I use dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) all the time in my cooking.  A tbsp of dried leaves, briefly rubbed between palms and then tossed into a curry gives a lovely flavor to gravies- and that’s why I always use them in my butter chicken and dal makhani recipe.

Fenugreek seeds are another way to get that sweet yet slightly bitter flavor to a dish. When adding seeds to a dish, add them in the beginning and use them sparingly and also make sure not to burn them as then they become very bitter and might spoil the taste of your dish. Using a combination of both- seeds and kasoori methi will give you the best results, especially when making butter chicken.

methi parathas

While I love cooking with fenugreek seeds and dried leaves, when I get my hands on fresh leaves, methi parantha is my favorite way to enjoy this herb. And I found out from my facebook post, a favorite of many others. Its popularity is completely deserved.

Parantha/Paratha is an unleavened indian flatbread made with whole wheat flour. They are not as thick as a naan, but not as thin as a roti- with their thickness lying somewhere in between. There are many variations of parantha. It could be stuffed with vegetables, aloo parantha being a popular stuffed variation  or it could be plain. If there is one meal I could eat morning evening and night- it would be paranthas. After all, I am from Punjab, and our paranthas are very dear to us.

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