Spicy Mung Bean Soup with Coconut Milk

Spring tempts and tickles with rather frosty tendrils, but the tease is not enough to resist the lure of a warming bowl of nourishing soup. Craving mung beans, I came up with this creamy soup that includes a good little handful of hot peppers, but the coconut milk tempers the chilies and the spice resulting in a flavourful, but somewhat subdued dish that goes well with some nutty brown basmati rice. An added bonus is it tastes even better the next day. Next time I make this, I'm going to increase the spices a wee tad and add dried red chilies for a slightly fiery undertone.

Spicy Mung Bean Soup with Coconut Milk

1 cup of mung beans, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon of ghee, or a mixture of butter and oil
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
4-5 hot green chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida
handful of curry leaves (I used dried)
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
1 tomato, finely chopped
3 cups of water
1 can of coconut milk
juice from one small lemon
1 teaspoon of jaggery or rapadura sugar
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt

Drain and rinse the soaked beans and set aside.

Heat the ghee (or butter and oil) in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to sputter and pop. Immediately add the garlic, hot peppers and ginger and stir and fry for a minute or two. Toss in the asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne, stir and then add the tomato. Cook for a minute or two and then add the water and the mung beans. Simmer over medium heat for roughly 15 minutes, and then add the coconut milk. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the lemon juice, salt, sugar and garam masala. Cook for another few minutes and serve hot.

Serves 6

This is my humble entry to Running With Tweezers Souper Soup Challenge.

You might also want to try:
Mung Tamarind Dal
Indian Sour Mung Bean Soup
Mung Beans with Cottage Cheese