Or moth with pumpkin, spinach and ham
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against multi-course meals. I'm married to a Bengali, the only cuisine in India that has strict rules about the order in which things get eaten, and how many courses change an ordinary meal to a feast. But most of the time what I require is ONE dish, easy to cook, fulfilling all the nutritional requirements and goes well with rice or roti. I do like to make a lot of casserole style dishes, and keep trying new combinations of protien and veggies, all in one-pot. Beans are one of my favourite ingredient as they naturally go well with a lot of other things (spinach, root veggies, mince,...) and can be eaten with both rice and bread.
Moth bean (pronounced as in "moat") is not a bean that is used much outside of certain arid regions of the Northern states of India, and though a good source of protien, is not exactly associated with gourmet cooking. But it's a favourite in our household and I've never made it as a normal straightforward curry (though that tastes good too, especially with pooris). Today I took inspiration from the caribbean/south american style beans which are often cooked with rice, spices, herbs, pork and/or veggies, chilli con carne being one exmple (though whether or not beans belong in that dish is open to some debate). My Indian-style chilli had the regular onion-garlic-tomato fried paste at the core of a lot of gravy-based Indian curries. I added pumpkin for texture and sweetness, ham for flavour and spinach for added nutrition and taste. Tamarind, jaggery and chillies balance the sweet-sour chilli flavours.
For a Vegetarian version, leave out the ham. It will still taste good tho' ham does add to the flavour.
Soak about one katori (150-175 gms) moth in water overnight. Heat 2-3 tbsps of oil (in a pressure cooker or a heavy-bottomed saucepan) and fry 2 medium chopped onions, 8-9 cloves of garlic and 2"cube of ginger, chopped. When the onions start browning, add 2 tbsps of tomato puree (you can use chopped tomatoes instead, I had some left over puree that I needed to use) and fry till it all browns nicely and comes together as a thickish paste. Add salt and a pinch of turmeric and mix. Add 1 tsp tamarind concentrate and a pinch of jaggery or brown sugar. Fry till the raw tamarind smell has gone (2-3 mins). Add 2-3 black cardamom pods, 1" stick cinnamon, 3-4 cloves, and 10-12 black peppercorns. When the spices sputter, add 1/3 cup chopped spinach and stir till it is wilted and mixed well with the paste. Add 1 cup chopped pumpkin and fry with the mixture for a minute or so. Add 100 -150 gms ham, roughly chopped. Add a tsp of garam masala and chilli pwd to taste. Drain the water from the moth and rinse with fresh water. Add to the pot, stir well. Add 2 katori water and cook in a pressure cooker for 3 pressures on high. (or keep cooking covered in a pot till the beans are cooked, you might need more water and lots more time). Open and stir it well so that all the pumpkin is completely mashed into the gravy, thickening it nicely. In a separate pan or kadhai, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add 2 dried red chillies. When the chillies turn colour, add 2-3 chopped green chillies. Fry for 30 secs and add 1 tsp whole cumin seeds. When the seeds sputter, add the entire moth mix into it and mix well. Add 2 tbsps of chopped green coriander on top. Serve hot with rice or roti or bread rolls.
(For Vyom, I didn't add the chilli pwd and took out his share before the last bit with the chillies. He liked his non-chilli version just as well)
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