Snack time!
Fried spicy moong daal (alternate spelling: mung dal, मुग डाळ) is one of the favorite snacks that Indians love to munch as a pastime while doing nothing. It is often used to accompany alcohol drinking sessions although I don’t prefer it that way. Moong Daal is grown in tropical Asian countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Southern China and Indochina. Germinated moong daal (bean sprouts) are used a lot in Asian cooking. But in this recipe, we will simply fry it the grain.
Fried Moong Daal – I love this snack
Ingredients:
Split (‘yellow’) Moong Daal, Cooking/Baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate), Oil, Water, Salt (black salt preferred), Lemon juice, Chaat Masala (optional).
Recipe:
First, soak the moong daal for 8 hours in water and add soda bicarb to it. I kept it overnight. Dry it when done. Next, heat oil in a frying pan until it is close to smoking. Deep fry dried moong daal until the color changes and the beans look crisp. Remove the fried mung dal and spread it over a napkin to soak excess oil. If you are paranoid about too much greasiness (like me), multiple oil soaking rounds will be required.
Mix the crispy daal with salt (to taste), lemon juice and chaat masala (चाट मसाला) – if you are a fan of spiciness. Note: My mom-made-spice-mix is the best in the world, but unfortunately you cannot have it! 
That’s it. Enjoy your snack – its great when you are hungry for ‘something’ but not ready for a meal yet.
Fried Moong beans – i am salivating already!
Further experimentation: Since I like roasted peanuts, I’m going to try roasting moong daal too (instead of frying it). You can try broiling it in the oven. If you do it, please let me know how it worked.
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The moment I read this… all I was thinking was how do I do this in a microwave!
And, here is what I tried:
Place a deep bowl with soaked&dried moong dal with 1tbsp/2tbsp of oil till all of them gets coated with oil for 10-12 mins. Stir in between to avoid burning.
↵Ah does that work? Cool, it looks easier! I will try it too!! Thanks so much Aathira!
↵Oh, mung beans! I am more used to seeing them green. We call them munggo (like “mango” but change the vowel to rhyme with “moo”). It can be stewed, or sweetened to be mixed with desserts.
↵Ah, similarity in names and similarity in cooking
↵Hey Priyank what’s with the food recipes, lol, are you going to be chef….lol. BTW sound yammy, and may try it one day. I like the close up photo too, since I am into photography. Anna
↵Thanks Anna, I don’t think that’s something they make in Canada/East Europe traditionally so it will be interesting for you to try, hehe!
↵Crispy! Okay with wait for some barish and then eat it
I think if you just brush the moong dal with oil and then roast in a microwave/oven, it would still turn crispy without excess oil. I do that with homemade papads/fryms and it works!
↵oh really? I must give it a try then!
↵nice recipe but you didn’t mention the quantity of soda bicarb. i have used 1 tsp for 1 cup.
↵Whats the function of the bicarb ?
↵Makes it fluffier, easier to cook.
↵… and how does it achieve this function … chemically speaking ?
↵oh man I wish I knew the chemical reaction… I tried this with and without soda. The soda tends to lighten the daal during its soaking stage and as a result its easier for oil to penetrate it when frying. But if you find out more, I am all ears!
↵Priyank, what do you mean by the word “lighten” ? please try to be precise about the effects of soda. Thx
↵Lighten = it makes the food glow. You know, if you use it at night, you don’t need a lightbulb. Specifically, since you’ve asked and I have replied several times, the soda will make colourful lights – blue, green and purple. Although my favorite is orange since it is also a citrus fruit.
↵hai priyanka, thanx for the nice moong fry, I and my daughter love it. will try to do it in microwave oven. You are going to be a nice chef.
↵You are welcome!
↵Guess what , i had worked at a professional mithai shop who is amongst the largest in ghatkopar
What they do generally is take all their fried stuff and put it in a spinning centrifuge to remove all the excess oil …
microwave recipee might be more effective
↵