Mugache Birde/Bhirde or Muga Gathi ~ Maharashtrian Style Sprouted & Peeled Moong/Green Gram Curry

Mugache Birde or Muga Gathi is the one of delicacy of our Konkani cooking. Sprouted green grams are full of protein and are good to include it in our daily diet.

This curry specially is made on Monday in Shravan month. We do not eat onion-garlic on Shravani Somvar, so we make this curry without onion-garlic but you may use. Trust me...without using onion-garlic, this curry is also extremely delicious.

Ingredients:

• Whole moong beans (Green gram)- 1 cup 
• Oil- 2 to 3 tbsp 
• Mustard seeds- 1 ½ tsp 
• Asafoetida (Hing)- ½ tsp 
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp 
• Curry leaves- 5 (optional- I don't use.) 
• Homemade mix masala or malwani masala- 3 tsp (or 2 tsp chili powder + 2 tsp goda masala) 
• Goda masala- 1 tsp (I use goda masala with our homemade masala for this curry.) 
• Salt- to taste 
• Fresh coconut, scrapped or grated- ½ cup 
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp 
• Kokum/ aamsul- 4 (if not available, use tamarind pulp) 
• Coriander leaves, finely chopped- 2 tbsp 

If you want to use:- Onion, chopped- ½ cup and Garlic- 4 cloves

How to sprout the Moong/Green Gram?

• Wash and soak moong overnight or for at least 6 to 8 hours in double quantity of water. 
• They would soak water and would swell. Drain the water in the morning. Wash again in the running water and drain again. Thus they they don't become sticky. 
• Wrap in a thin cotton cloth or muslin cloth and keep them in a large bowl and cover it with lid. 
• Place it in a warm place to sprout. It would take around 16 hours depends upon weather. If there is cold weather, then would take more time and there is hot weather, then would take less time. Due to the warming the sprouts come out nicely. The moong have bigger sprouts now. 
• Once moong have sprouted, transfer the sprouts to a larger vessel/patela and fill the vessel with water almost up to the brim. This would get moisturize to the beans and peeling off the skin would be easy. 
• Keep aside for minimum 3-4 hours. Rub moong gently with palms. Several green peels (70-80 % of it) will float on the surface of water. 
• Remove the floated green peels and rub again moong. 
• The remaining peels remove manually. After removing the skin, moong are ready to be used for cooking. 

Means if you want to make "Mugache Birde" for Monday lunch, then you have to soak moong at Saturday night.
Peeling of moong beans is really time spending and patiently work but the taste of curry is always well worth....

Method:

• Grind together fresh coconut, cumin seeds and garlic (if you are using) with some water. (Add hot water if you are using frozen coconut.) Grind into fine paste. 
• Wash these sprouted & peeled moong and drain. 
• Heat oil in a kadai or pan. Add mustered seeds for tempering. When mustered seeds are popping, add onion (if you are using. Sauté till turns pinkish.) 
• Add hing, turmeric powder and masala or chilli powder. Sauté for a second. 
• Add moong and saute for a while and add water. Mix well and cover the wok with s.s. plate. Pour some water on a plate. Cook for 2-3 minutes on low heat. 
• Add coconut paste and salt. Add some water (adjust consistency of curry as per personal choice). 
• Mix well and cook for 15-20 on low heat or till the beans become tender (not too soft). Stir occasionally with soft hand. Check in between by pressing one with fingers. 
• Add goda masala, kokam petals, jaggery and water if needed. Cook another 2 minutes on low heat. 
• Garnish with coriander. Serve hot with chapatti or bhakari or rice. 

Tips:

• Due to over cooking of moong, the taste would ruin and partially cooked moong tastes not good. Experience gives you perfection. 
• Moong are very delicate so handle and mix it with soft hand otherwise kernels breaks. Do not overcook. Remember that do not cook soft like smashed dal, moong kernels should stay whole.