One Teaspoon Of Life: Crispy Moong Dal Recipe | Moong Dal Namkeen Recipe [Video]

Crispy Moong Dal or Moong Dal Namkeen recipe with step by step photo and video instructions. Crispy Moong Dal is a deep-fried lentil snack that is popular in India. Crispy moong dal is inspired from Haldiram's moong dal namkeen and is great as a tea time snack. Crispy Moong Dal is vegan, gluten free and fits a Jain diet.

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Ok, I'll be honest, I've been spending wayyy too much time on Twitter following #workingfromhome. And I'm jealous, of the lovely co-workers, read pet cats and dogs, that so many folks have. And here I am stuck with actual humans. But I guess that has some advantages too, at least I don't have to do the dishes. But I still feel, one look at that smushy puppy face and I would have forgotten all my stress and anxiety. This working from home thing has me discovering some new things about myself. One, I like hoarding vegetables. Yes, I'm less of a grocery or TP hoarder, but leave me with less than 3 types of veggies in the fridge, and I'm anxious. Two, I can live without chips, chocolate and ice cream. I know the rest of the world ran out of TP, but Bangalore ran out of chips. Apparently, that's what we need to fuel us down here. Three, I still am not a fan of exercise, well that's not a new one. Four, I love cooking more than I ever thought.

I've discovered in the absence of travel to work, I'm left with a lot more time, and I am investing that in cooking and prepping. We are eating more and more hot breakfasts that take a little longer to make, I've sundried two batches of potato chips, I've made 3 bottles of instant mango pickle, a few bottles of ice tea and pineapple squash, and I'm making a lot of snacks. Last week I posted the Paper Avalakki Mixture , which has been kind of a lifeline, because it also doubles up as breakfast when required. I've made loads of Churmuri Chiwda to much on along with tea. And this week I made this Crispy Moong Dal, in total Haldiram's style.

Crispy Moong Dal or Moong Dal Namkeen flooded the Indian market in the late 1990s and took the urban population by a storm. Everyone loved this simple salty snack. It became a family favorite, something to serve when your family and friends dropped in unannounced on the weekends. Kids loved it, double dipping their wet fingers into the bowl and amused when the dal stuck to their fingers, eh, just for this reason, always give kids their own bowl of moong dal. I've loved Moong Dal namkeen from the time I first ate it. But I never attempted to make it. Frankly I had no clue it was so easy to make it, until now.

Crispy Moong Dal requires just 3 ingredients in reality - the moong dal, salt and oil to fry it in. While the time taken to make the crispy moong dal is long, it is mostly effortless. The moong dal needs to soak for a good 3 to 4 hours and dry for nearly 1 hour before you can start frying it. This soak and dry time makes up for most of the time taken. Once the moong dal is dry, we fry it using a mesh strainer. The reason for this is simply because the dal is too small and if directly dumped in the oil, will spread all throughout and it will take a lot of effort to fish out every grain from the oil. A mesh strainer makes it much easier to fry. The temperature of the oil matters a lot here. If the oil is not hot enough, you will end up with a box of moong dal that is hard and not crispy. Very unpleasant. To test the temperature of the oil, drop in 1 or 2 grains, if they immediately rise to the top, the oil is hot enough.

Once you have fried the moong dal, use a clean paper napkin to remove the excess oil and immediately add seasoning. If you allow the dal to cool, the salt will not stick to the moong dal. I only added salt, you can add spices if you want.

Crispy Moong Dal stayed crisp and fresh for about a week in an airtight box. It didn't last beyond it for me to determine the shelf life.

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Video Recipe

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Crispy Moong Dal Recipe | Moong Dal Namkeen Recipe

Crispy Moong Dal or Moong Dal Namkeen is a deep-fried lentil snack that is popular in India. Crispy moong dal is great as a tea time snack. Crispy Moong Dal is vegan, gluten free and fits a Jain diet.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:   Indian
Prep Time: 5 Hours
Cook time: 20 Minutes
Total time: 5 Hours 20 Minutes
Yield:   200 gms or 1 cup

Ingredients:

1 cup or 200gms Moong Dal
Salt to taste
Oil to fry
Water as required

Method:

1. Wash the moong dal twice in tap water and drain out the water.
2. Soak the moong dal in water for 3-4 hours.
3. Drain out the water and spread the moong dal on a kitchen towel for 1 hour, allowing it to dry.
4. Heat oil in a kadhai. Allow the oil to become very hot, if oil it not hot enough the moong dal will turn hard instead of crispy.
5. Take a little of the moong dal in a net strainer and place in the oil.
6. Stir the moong dal with a spoon frequently.
7. Fry for 1 to 3 minutes until the moong dal is crispy. The moong dal will shrink and color will change slightly.
8. Pour the moong dal onto a bowl lined with a paper napkins.
9. With another paper napkin, wipe off the excess oil from the moong dal.
10. While the moong dal is still hot, add salt and mix well.
11. Once cooled, store in an air tight container at room temperature.