I am a working wife who loves to cook! But we all have those days when you are physically exhausted and do not wish to spend your time in the kitchen. That is why I love the Goan way of preparing vegetables! It is a one pot method in which the vegetable you want to cook is thrown into a cooking vessel with onion, green chilies, coconut, salt, jaggery and spices of your choice. It is a healthy method of cooking since it does not use any oil! Even though most Goans do not eat chapati (why eat chapati when you can get fresh warm bread!), most of my dinners growing up consisted of chapati with bhaji. I absolutely love lentils! The masoor bhaji that Mummy makes with chapatis was one of my favorite dinners growing up! It reflects the beauty of cooking with simple ingredients to get a nutritious, yet delicious, meal! Here is my Mom’s recipe for you!
What you will need:
| Ingredients | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Masoor | 1 cup |
| Water | 1 3/4 cup |
| Coconut | 3 tablespoons |
| Onion | 1 large |
| Green Chilies | 2 large |
| Tomato | 1 large |
| Turmeric Powder | 1/2 teaspoon |
| Salt | 3/4 tablespoon |
| Coriander leaves | 3 tablespoons |
How to make it:
- Soak the masoor in water for 2 hours. You can skip this step. However, it hastens the cooking process and also brings out the nutrition in the lentils! Thus, I highly recommend it!
- In a vessel, add the soaked masoor along with finely chopped onion, tomato, green chilies and coconut. Add 1 3/4 cup of water, cover and cook till the lentils are half done.
- When the lentils are half done, add salt and turmeric powder, and stir well. Cover again and cook till the lentils are done. Most of the water will evaporate in the process.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with warm chapatis.