Creamy Millet, Mung Dhal & Veggies
A Great Gluten Free Breakfast Or Light Supper Recipe
Creamy Millet, Mung Dhal & Veggies: Mild spiced risotto-like recipe adapted from traditional South Indian Pongal.
Thanks to Chinmayie at LoveFoodEat for the millet inspiration and info.
This millet mung dhal recipe is easy to make, satisfying and comforting to eat, a great breakfast or light supper recipe, now a gluten free mainstay at our house.
Total prep & cook time: 45 min
8 Servings
Nutrition Data Per Serving, 110 g: 231 cal, 29 fat cal, 3g fat, 41g carbs, 200mg sodium, 8g fiber, 4g sugars, 11g protein, low Cholesterol, good source Copper, Manganese, Folate, Vit A. Estimated glycemic load: 20
Ingredients:
- 1 cup washed mung dhal (little yellow split mung beans)
- 1 cup raw millet
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 6 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh green peas
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil or ghee
- 1 tsp gr. fennel seed
- 1 tsp gr. coriander seed
- 1/2 tsp ground or whole cumin seed
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp gr. ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper or to taste
Directions:
- Toast mung dhal in a large cooking pot on medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown
- Meanwhile, rinse and drain millet, chop carrot and celery
- Add millet, carrot, celery, bay leaf, cardamom pods, 6 cups water to pot with mung dhal
- Bring to a boil, skim foam, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook until millet and dhal are tender (30 - 40 minutes)
- Pressure Cooker: Bring to a boil, skim the foam, fasten lid and cook under high pressure for 10 minutes, with 10 minutes natural pressure release
- Add enough hot water or stock to make a creamy mixture the consistency of risotto. The millet and dhal should be well cooked, soft and half broken down. If they still seem mostly intact and firm, cover and cook for a few more minutes
- Heat a small fry pan on low, add oil and spices and heat for several minutes until fragrant. Add oil and spices to pot
- Chop cilantro, and add to pot with salt, pepper, lime juice, and frozen peas
- Cook covered on low heat for 5 minutes, then serve
Recipe Tips:
Soaking the mung dhal first for several hours in hot water will greatly speed up cooking, but if you do that, skip toasting the dhal. If mung dhal isn't available, yellow split peas or Indian toor dhal will also work.
Chinmayie specified foxtail millet in her recipe, but I just used the millet available in stores where I live.
Mung dhal can be hard to find unless you live near an Indian grocery store. The pre-washed variety (without skins) works best. You can order it online for various prices. ShopIndian.com has 2 lb mung dhal for $3.99. Nuts.com sells 1 lb for $2.99 or 5 lb for $14.50. Natco in the UK has 500g bags of mung dhal for 1.60 pounds.
Everybody's Whole Foods sells organic mung dhal for $3.99 a lb. or a 25 lb bag for $74.09, but that has the disadvantage of having to be soaked and rinsed to get rid of the skins.
Shipping costs for online food shopping vary widely, so check the shipping before you commit!
Recipe Comments:
Sharon M: I believe you mean to toast the millet, not the mung dahl. The recipe sounds delicious; thanks!
Savvy Veg: You're welcome! Actually, the recipe is correct. The millet should cook up mushy, while the mung dhal cooks soft but mostly intact (so the whole thing isn't mush) and the toasting does that. But if you want to skip the toasting, or toast the millet instead, it will still be delicious.
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