Creamy coconut mung bean curry

I'm back after a very long time. i hope all is good with you all. If you are wondering about my disappearance, well, when work front is more demanding , it becomes hard to manage everything and  blogging takes a back seat.

To be honest with you all, it's not that hard to find time to come up with a recipe if you are cooking and serving your family 3  fresh meals a day. It's the rhythm that you miss to get back to the discipline of test cooking, shooting , pp and other related work to make it to blog is the big deal.
Couple times I tried to overcome that by randomly shooting some pics but whenever i arrange the set to shoot,there was a kind of unknown fear factor that would pop up from no where and occupy my mind that I will go blank in no time. After quite such panic attacks , I started thinking "what is making me nervous?" , the answer is definitely pictures as  I was quite ok with the rest of the elements to make it to the blog.Finally decided to attack the attack and shot this one for the blog post. Hope to get back to my rhythm soon.So lets get to the recipe now. 

I usually keep some sprouts and boiled beans ready in the refrigerator so that its easy to prepare something if you are running out of time.This gravy happened in one such time where I had only few basics in my pantry(almost end of the week) and good 45 minutes to prepare something for  an unplanned pot luck. It turned out so good that it's a staple item in our menu.

The fresh ground spice mix (masala) is the real trick and if you are a coconut lover this is just for you.

Ingredients:

Onion .............................................. 1 cup , finely chopped
Tomato .............................................1 cup , diced
Ginger............................................... 1 inch piece
Garlic ................................................ 6 cloves
Green chilli.......................................2
melon seeds .................................... 1 tsp
Cashews........................................... 1 tbsp
Coconut milk .................................. 1/4 cup
Oil ................................................... 2 tbsp
turmeric powder................................ 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder............................... 1 tsp
Salt .................................................... to taste
Garam masala.................................... 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf .............................................1
Boiled Mung bean ----------------------2 cups


Spice Mix

Cinnamon stick ............................... 1/2 inch
cardamom .....................................1 no
cloves ............................................2
coriander seeds.............................1/2 tsp
cumin............................................1/4 tsp
black pepper corns.......................4
shredded coconuts ...................... 1 tbsp( or unsweetened coconut flakes)

Method

1. Crush the ginger, garlic and green chilli using a mortar and pestle.
2. Heat a wok / pan , dry roast the spice mix ingredients in medium flame until nice and aromatic, pound and keep aside.
3. In the same wok, add  a tsp of oil and once hot, add bay leaves,and onions and saute well until the onions are translucent.
4. Add in the ginger+garlic+green chilli paste.
5. Saute until the raw smell is gone.
6. Stir in the tomatoes and some salt and keep sauteing until tomatoes turn mushy.
7. Now its the time for turmeric, chili powder, cashew nuts and melon seeds.
8. Saute until cooked (raw flavor of is gone).let cool.
9. Transfer to a blender and grind it to a smooth paste.
10. Wipe of the pan and add the remaining oil and heat in medium.
11. Add the ground smooth  paste and saute well for 10 minutes or until the oil oozes out .
12. Now add the mung beans with the cooked water, the ground spice mix and season with salt.Let the gravy simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
13. Turn off and add the garam masala, chopped cilantro.
14. Add the juice of half a lime and coconut milk, stir gently.
15. Cover and rest for 5 minutes.

Serve with roti/ nan or pulav or just as such as a filling soup.