Moong Daal Pakoda Kadi / Miloni ki kadi /Jhor

A split mungo bean and gram flour based dish, a speciality dish of the Chaturvedi community in India.

INGREDIENTS- (For a preparation for 5 people)

• Moong Daal (Yellow Lentils / Split Mungo Beans) - 3/4 cup
• Yogurt - 1 cup
• Gram flour (Besan) - 2 tbls
• Green Chilies - 4
• Chopped Ginger - 1.5 tsp
• Black Salt - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Turmeric - 1/2 ts
• Chili Powder - 1.5 ts
• Lemon Juice-2 tbls 
• Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

For the Tempering-

• Cumin Seeds-1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Cloves - 3
• Whole Red Chilies - 4
• Kashmiri Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ghee or Oil - 2 tblsp

PROCEDURE-

To make the Pakoras (Lentil Nuggets) -

1. Wash and soak the moong daal for 3 hours and then wash and grind with 3 green chillies and asafoetida.
2. Take this paste  in a bowl, and take 3 tblsp of the daal paste from this mixture and keep aside(A)
3. Add salt and 1/2 t.s chilli powder and whisk the daal mixture well, till it become light and fluffy.
4. Take approx 2.5 tbls of mixture with the side of a rice spoon and drop in hot oil and make long and thin pakora's(these pakoras are called -miloni)make approx15 pakoras.if you find it difficult to make pakora this way,then make round pakoras and then slice from the centre.
5. Traditionally this is done by taking the mixture with the sides of your palm and then dropping in hot oil,but I tried doing this way and find it more cleaner and easier:).
6. Fry the pakoras on medium flame till golden in colour,don't over cook them otherwise they may become hard.
7. Drain and keep aside to cool down a bit .
8. Then slice in medium size pieces,approx 3-4 pieces from a pakora.

Kadi (The Sauce)-

1. Take a big pan and add curd, daal paste(A), 2 tbls of gram flour, mix well.
2. Add 1.5 litre water, salt, black salt, turmeric, chilli powder, chopped green chilli and ginger.
3. Mix well and boil for 5 minute on high flame, keep stirring, otherwise it will spill out from the pan.
4. Lower the flame and cook for 15 minutes.the kadi may look thinner now, but after adding the pakora it will become thicker.
5. Then add the pakora slices,cover and simmer for 20 minutes,keep stirring in between.
6. When pakora become soft make the tempering-heat oil or ghee in a small pan, add cumin and asafoetida, when cumin start crackling add whole red chillies and cloves, switch off the flame and add kashmiri chilli powder and pour it over the boiling kadi.
7. Remove the kadi from fire and add lemon juice and fresh coriander.

serving suggestion-best with steamed rice and roti.