Moong Dal Wadi with Spinach

Sun dried dumplings of yellow lentils that's the best English translation I can do for wadi(sun dried dumplings) made with moong Dal(yellow lentils). Usually when someone talk about wadi the first thing or I should say the first place associated with wadi that comes into mind is Amritsar(Punjab). Famous for the most sacred Sikh Shrine "Golden Temple" and at the same time famous for it's delicious, rich food and Amritsari papad and wadiyan. Wadis that come from Amritsar are mainly made with urad dal & whole spices, very spicy and they are big in size also(about the size of fist). But the wadis I used here in this recipe are from Rajasthan, not at all spicy small in size, looks very much like nutrella nuggets also known as mangodis. I ate them first time only after my marriage when my MIL prepared it with some different combo, I loved it form the day one.

Amritsari wadis are usually fried first in little oil though you can do same with these also but if I'm using these in some sort of gravy dish I don't feel any need of frying, but to keep it little crunchy one can surely fry it first. Also as they are not spicy, you can control the level of heat. Amritsari wadis are usually cooked with something else like chana dal or potato, to balance the heat. Where as moong dal wadis because of there mild flavor, can be cooked in large quantity without adding any other veggie or lentils to it. Now for the recipe :

What U need :

• 1 pound of frozen spinach defrosted OR fresh spinach cleaned & chopped
• around 1 cup of dried moong dal wadi
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 Tblsp. of chopped garlic
• 1 Tblsp. of chopped ginger
• 2-3 green chillies chopped
• 2-3 whole dried red chillies
• pinch of hing(asafoetida)
• salt as per taste
• 1 tsp. whole cumin(jeera)
• 1 tsp. turmeric(haldi)
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. coriander(dhania) powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• little oil

What to do :

1. Heat oil(around 2 spoon) in a big pan or karahi(wok). Add hing to it after few seconds add cumin & dry red chillies.
2. When cumin starts to splutter, add garlic followed by ginger, sprinkle some salt so that ginger release it's juices which will prevent ginger from sticking to the pan. Add onions & let them cook till they become translucent.
3. Add all the dry spices, saute for a minute or so than add tomatoes.
4. After around 5 minute or so add wadis to the pan. Mix them so all the wadis get coated with the onion tomato mixture.
5. After 5 minute or so add 1 cup of water. Cover it & let it cook for around 10 minute or so. These wadis absorb a lot of water as they are not fried. So keep an eye just in case if it gets too dry add some more liquid.
6. Add chopped up spinach, green chillies & let the whole thing cook on med. heat for about another 10 minute or so. It's a thick kind of gravy dish, adjust the amount of liquid as per your taste.
7. Serve it with roti/phulka/prantha, it's one wholesome dish with protein pack wadis & healthy greens cooked together.

Note : Sometime these wadis can be really tough & can take little longer to cook. My MIL prefer to cook them in pressure cooker while making it in gravies. I sometime when in hurry, cook them halfway in microwave, covered in water in big bowl for roughly 5-7 minute & finish cooking them with rest of the gravy & spinach for around 10 min. or so. But again timings are only guidelines as sometime two packets bought together can also consume different time to cook.

Another important thing to remember is to keep these wadis in the fridge, in fact I keep all type of wadis in fridge. Specially moong dal wadis go stale easily, keeping them in fridge assure freshness for long time.