Indian Vegetable Sides: Beans with Moong Dal

I often get asked how Indians cook their vegetables for sides. Do we add them to the spicy tomato-onion gravy served at restaurants? Do we roast them? Blanch them? Steam them? Saute them? Stir-fry them? What spices and ingredients go into them? etc.

So, I am going to be posting some basic recipes on the different ways we prepare vegetable sides. Since, I am most familiar with South-Indian cuisine, most of my vegetable sides are derived/based on that cuisine. 

Here's a very common and simple vegetable side that we prepare with minimal spices/seasonings. In this version, green beans are cooked with some moong dal (mung beans) for a tasty and healthy vegetable side that truly showcases the inherent flavor of the vegetable without the distraction of strong spices and smells.

You can use the same procedure to cook other vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, beetroot, cauliflower etc. (basically any non-starchy vegetable that doesn't have too much water content in it so that it can withstand its texture while being cooked with the dal).

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 2 cups chopped green beans
2. 1/4 cup, uncooked moong dal / payatham paruppu / mung beans
3. 2 tablespoons olive oil / vegetable oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
5. 1 tablespoon split, skinned urad dal / black gram / ulutham paruppu
6. 1-2 dry red chillies
7. 1/4 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
8. 1/4 cup grated coconut
9. salt, as needed

Preparation:

1. Soak the moong dal in some water for 20-30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a wide and deep skillet. When hot, splutter mustard seeds. Then, add black gram, hing, and red chillies and fry until the gram begins to change color. 
3. Add the beans and stir. Add 1/2 cup of water, close the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Drain the moong dal and add it to the beans and mix. Season with salt, add 1/4 cup of water, close the pan, reduce the heat to low-medium and cook until the beans and dal are cooked, but not mushy. Check periodically to stir and avoid burning
5. When done, remove from heat and add coconut and mix. 

Serve alongside rice, quinoa, or rotis.