Soups are my favorite Dinner for cold winter evenings. This Moong bean soup recipe is generations old in my family. I learned it from my mom and I am sure she would have learned it from her mom.

This hot steaming mouth-watering soup is my comfort food and it is very light yet highly nutritious filled with protein, healthy fats and the right amount of spices.

(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked Moong beans ( cook them either in the pressure cooker or by boiling in a saucepan)

• 6 cups of water

• 1 teaspoon peanut oil or sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil

• 1 teaspoon cumin ( Jeera)

• 1-2 cloves

• small piece of cinnamon bark.

• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

• Salt to taste

• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder

• 1 small piece of ginger

• 1-2 green chillies

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 2 whole dried red chilli

• ¼ cup peanuts

• ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

• Juice of 1 lemon.

Steps:

1. In a medium to a large saucepan, take oil and put it on medium heat. Once the oil heats up a little bit, add cumin seeds.

2. Once the cumin seeds start to crackle, add whole dried red chilli, 1-2 cloves and a small piece of cinnamon bark.

3. After 30 seconds cloves and cinnamon will start to crackle. Then add cooked moong beans, water, salt, dried red chilli powder, turmeric powder, peanuts, and coconut flakes.

4. In a mortar, add ginger, garlic and green chilis. Make a fine paste and then it to the saucepan which has Moong beans and water.

5. Let this simmer on a medium flame for 30 minutes while stirring it when needed.

6. Once it is ready to add the juice of 1 lemon and serve hot in a bowl and you can garnish with coriander if you want.