Brown Rice Mung Dal Kitcheree

Comfort food that actually is full of vegetables and is so healthy! My enthusiastic hubby bought 25 pounds of brown rice, and then decided he didnt like the taste of brown rice... he found it too chewy! With a pantry full of brown rice as my main motivation, I tried a variety of recipes, till I hit on this one. Not only does this disappear as soon as it is cooked, it's almost impossible to detect the chopped broccoli. I usually add as many vegetables as I have on hand. Feel free to experiment with as many vegetables as you want with this dish!

Ingredients:
Makes 6 servings

Brown rice: 1.5 cups
Whole Green Mung dal: 1.5 cups
Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1tbsp
Grated ginger: 1 tbsp
Cloves: 2
Turmeric: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 sprig
Asafoetida: 1 pinch (also called hing or ingua)
Peppercorns: 1 tbsp
Dried Red chilies: 5 (broken to pieces)
Water: 8 cups (Add half cup more if you like rice softer)
Carrots: 1 cup, cubed
Baby Lima beans: 1/2 cup (can be substituted by regular beans, or double beans)
Spinach: 1 cup, chopped or use baby spinach whole leaves
Broccoli: 1/2 cup, chopped
Peas: 1 cup (frozen)
Tomatoes: 2 chopped
Salt: approx 3.5 tsp
Cilantro: To garnish

Method:
Wash the mung daal (or moong dal) and rice in running water till the water runs clear. Soak and keep aside for 10 minutes.
To a large skillet, add 2 tbsp olive oil, and add cumin, mustard, red chilies, ginger, curry leaves, turmeric, peppercorns and cloves. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the rice and mung daal. Mix well.
Add the carrots, lima beans, broccoli and mix well.
Add the water. Cover partially and cook on medium flame for around 40 minutes.
Add peas, tomatoes, spinach, salt. Mix well. Cover and let all the water be absorbed by the rice and mung.
Serve hot garnished with cilantro and yogurt.

For those who find whole peppercorns too spicy, add freshly ground pepper after adding salt.

Nutritional Information:
Per serving:
207 calories, out of which 46 calories are from fat
7 grams of fat, out of which 1 gram is saturated fat
33 grams of carbohydrates, out of which 9 grams are dietary fiber
8 grams of proteins