Mung Bean and Rice

This is a really satisfying soup that I have been addicted to lately. I like to put a couple of hard boiled eggs in my bowl too.

Serves 6-8

1/4 cup olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil or ghee/clarified butter

1 onion

1/3 cup chopped ginger

5 cloves of garlic chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes (optional)

7 cups of water

2/3 cup mung beans (pick through beans for pebbles and wash well in strainer)

3 cardamom pods crushed (use the seeds inside)

2 teaspoons dried basil

2 Bay Leaves

2/3 cup rice (wash well in strainer, then let drain)

4 cups of vegetables (I like swiss chard, carrots and zucchini)

Bragg's liquid aminos or Soy Sauce or Salt (add to taste at the end)

Make sure there are no tiny pebbles in your mung beans, then wash them in a strainer. Soak them in a four quart soup pot with the 7 cups of water. Meanwhile, cut up your onion, ginger and garlic. Heat clarified butter or Olive Oil in 10" skillet. Saute' onion, ginger and garlic with one teaspoon of salt for 15 minutes.

Move the onion mixture around to the sides of the pan and put in your turmeric, garam masala, black pepper and optional chili flakes into the center of the pan (there should be some oil in there, if not, roll the pan a bit to get the oil to flow in the middle). When the spices start to sizzle, time 30 seconds. Then mix the spices in with the onion mixture thoroughly. Then add this onion/spice mixture to your soup pot of mung beans. Also add the cardamom pod seeds, dried basil and bay leaves

Bring to boil, turn down, cover with lid and boil for 30 minutes on low heat. Meanwhile, cut up your vegetables. Add veggies and washed rice to the soup pot. Bring back up to a boil and turn down low covering for 20 minutes. Be sure to stir half way through so rice does not stick. If it needs water, add 1/2 cup of water at time stirring and bringing back up to a boil each time. This can be a thick stew like soup or have a thinner consistency. It depends on how you like it.

At the end add Braggs or salt to taste.

You can find ghee, garam masala, turmeric, cardamom, mung beans and basmati rice all at your local Indian Grocery store. Braggs liquid aminos (found in health food stores) is similar to soy sauce, but is healthier and has a delicious brothy taste.