Moong bean guggullu or salad was our after-school snack at least once a week when we were children. One cup of this guggullu (salad) and one cup of tea, we would be set until dinnertime 8pm.
And now, I often prepare them at home for light lunch. This traditional Indian salad is filling, nutritious (good protein and Folate content), and can be prepared within 10 minutes, with some preplanning.
1 cup of moong beans
(Soaked in water for 2 hours and simmered in salted water until tender)
1 onion and 2 green chillies – finely chopped
1 tablespoon of freshly grated coconut
1 teaspoon of ghee or peanut oil
Salt, turmeric and cilantro to taste
Saut? finely chopped onions and green chillies for few minutes, stir in simmered moong beans and seasoning- fresh grated coconut, salt and turmeric. Mix and cook covered for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle some fresh cilantro and serve.
Indira: Glad about the publishing of your spice box and it is indeed a acknowledgement you deserve for the great work you been doing. Congrats Indira!
Nostalgic memories right! My mom used to make it with green moong dal, whole chenna dal and split chenna dal..with/without onions and we make it in most festive days too. Tastes yummy!
Comment by Karthi Kannan — June 8, 2006 @ 9:40 am
Congrats indira,
When any job is done with passion it is rewarded some way or the other. I feel that any job for that matter trivial or important must be done with love and passion, it must reflect divinity. My mother used to tell me that eating is a divine act where you offer your food to agni(fire – digestion) and it in return will nourish and sustain you. When i see your posts i feel that touch and it shows your love for food not just in a material way but in a holistic way. Great work and hope you have more such success ahead of you.
Comment by shayna — June 8, 2006 @ 10:02 am
Indira,
Trust you to make something so plain and simple look so delicious! Lovely picture.
‘Guggullu’ – its been such a long time since I heard soemone use that word. We speak the same kind of Telugu (as in these words) at home. All my friends here are either from Hyderabad or Telangana side and they hardly know these words. Makes me nostalgic!
Thanks,
Latha
Comment by Latha — June 8, 2006 @ 10:04 am
Thanks Karthi, Shayna and Latha. I really appreciate your kind words!
Many photos from my blog were published in several Indian(local languages) newspapers, but they never gave me or my blog any credit. They just lift and publish. Finally, a decent one, all thanks to Vijaysree, I have to say.
Guggullu or sundals are quite popular snacks, aren’t they? I’d eat cups and cups if I am not careful. I like them that much.:)
Comment by Indira — June 8, 2006 @ 10:12 am
I love this. We make it without onion.
I am really not surprised about your photo being published. You deserve every bit of recognition. You make simple food look classy. That’s an art. Congratulations !!
Indira replies:
Thanks Krithika!
Temples in our town usually serve this type of sundal without onions. They also taste super good.
Comment by Krithika Ramachandran — June 8, 2006 @ 10:14 am
Congratulations and Best Wishes! you richly deserve the honor.
Indira replies:
Thanks ISG!
Comment by indosungod — June 8, 2006 @ 10:27 am
Indira, firs of al Congratulations :). You have such amazing photos here.
I love the moong bean salad(we call it mooga usli). Thanks for sharing.
Indira replies:
Thanks Shilpa!
I have prepared usli to celebrate the happy occasion.:)
Comment by shilpa — June 8, 2006 @ 11:34 am
Hi Indira,
“guggulu” is delicious.
Nice combo for chapathis.
Vineela
Indira replies:
Guggullu andaraki chaala istamu kada.:)
Yes, along with dal and curry, they make a perfect meal together.
Comment by vineela krishna — June 8, 2006 @ 12:50 pm
Hi Indira- Congrats! You deserve it.
We call this sundal and make it on festival days. We make it without onion.
Indira replies:
Thanks Mika!
I remember the sundal you’ve posted for Dasara festival. Exactly like temple prasadam.
We have two versions, for home with onions, for temple and for pujas at home – without onions. But one must thing is adding the fresh grated coconut.
Comment by mika — June 8, 2006 @ 3:25 pm
My hearty congratulations Indira!It really feels nice to be recognised for the good work one does. So sorry to hear about other newspapers lifting your photos.Why dont you take some action against such incidents happening,shouldnt let this happen to you!
We too make this sundal at home and have it as an evening snack or as a side dish along with kanji (rice gruel).
Indira replies:
Thanks Sumitha.
I am planning on to do just that. The local newspapers (like Telugu etc.,) think, nobody is reading them, they feel free to lift photos without permission. Same thing with photos of other food bloggers also.
With kanji, sounds wonderful!
Comment by Sumitha — June 8, 2006 @ 4:09 pm
My hearty congratulations Indira!
Your work is very inspiring.You really earned it.
Nice photos and recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Indira replies:
Thanks Nila!
Comment by Nila — June 8, 2006 @ 5:55 pm
Please activate the feeds for this webpage. It is quite a chore to have to visit the website regularly and fish for updates.
Thanks.
Indira replies:
I have decided to remove feeds for now.
The feed for comments is still active, you could get updates with that feed, if you want to.
Thanks.
Comment by Bhojanarasika — June 8, 2006 @ 5:57 pm
Indira,
This is one of those foods that I loved as a kid and forgot when I grew up. We made it for dinner tonight (added some garlic and lime to suit dear husband’s taste buds) and now it’s back to stay in our family. Thanks to you!
Aparna
PS: I am not surprised that your picture made it to that article. I left a comment for the editor of csmonitor and it should be printed in tomorrow’s edition.
Indira replies:
You are welcome, Aparna.
Yay, I have read your published letter to the editor, on todays CS Monitor. Thank you very much for taking time to contact the editor, Aparna. You made me happy all over again! 🙂
Comment by Aparna T — June 8, 2006 @ 8:44 pm
(Indira, Please feel free to delete this comment. So very sorry if I am tainting your blog with this comment but I am unable to resist)
Bhojanarasika, honey, this is a blog – one individual’s hobby, hardwork and dedication. If it is “quite a chore”, please do not visit the blog. Show some respect! I am so tongue-tied and shocked I don’t even know what else to say.
Comment by Aparna T — June 8, 2006 @ 10:04 pm
Indira:
Hearty congratulations to you on the CS Monitor photo publish :). You completely deserve it. It is sad that other newspapers just lift and publish and don’t really acknowledge.
Guggillu is a word we use in our home too and I am NOT from Rayalaseema but Telangana. I dont know where my family picked up the Rayalaseema words from hehe…
Indira replies:
Thanks LC!
Though, we all speak the same language, we use different words for the same thing, in different regions. ‘Guggillu’ is not one of them, glad to know. Blank stares, that’s what I get, for using this type of local words sometimes. Very funny. 🙂
Comment by Luv2cook — June 9, 2006 @ 9:06 am
Indira,
My heart felt congrats to you! Your write-up and pics are very professional and who knows maybe you can publish all as a book later?
Congrats once again!
L.G
Indira replies:
Hey, thanks so much LG. The whole thing was unexpected and happened within a month, I am happy.:)
I will mail first copy of printed edition to you, if that ever happens. :).
Thanks LG!
Comment by L.G — June 9, 2006 @ 11:38 am
Hello Indira,
I make it a point to prepare this more than 2-3 times a week. When we were younger, all of us brothers used to “finish off” the guggillu/sundalu (with generous doses of leftover karivepaku/curry leaf), sometimes by adding a bit of curd. Hehe. It used to come home from the temple where my grandfather was a priest.
This is almost like my staple, nevertheless it is always a treat!
And just for information, guggillu/sundalu are very much in use in Hyderabad/Telangana heartland.
Indira replies:
We too, both Vijay and I like them verymuch. They are often our weekend timepass snacks.:)
aa… you are the luckiest person. Temple prasadam guggillu are the best.
Comment by Vidyanath Tirumala Penugonda — June 9, 2006 @ 7:58 pm
Hey Indira, more interesting names unearthed! This is also known by the name “bebbarlu”. Sounds so funny isnt it?
Indira replies:
Really, I didn’t know that before. I think, alasandalu(blackeye peas) are called Bobbarlu in Telengana and Kosta regions.
Comment by Vidyanath Tirumala Penugonda — June 10, 2006 @ 6:20 am
Hi Indira,
The photos on your blog makes me feel like eating all those delicious food items..!
i’m from tamilnadu, and my mother makes sundal very often. infact, this is another preparation of hers: she soaks the moong beans overnight and let them sprout for a day or two, and then makes sundal out of them in a method like you’ve described. sprouts are so nutritious and tasty too…you might want to try that out sometime 🙂
Indira replies:
Thanks Ranjani!
Thanks for sharing your mothers idea.
I often prepare this same sundal with sprouted moong dal and I agree they taste even better.
Comment by Ranjani — June 11, 2006 @ 9:12 pm
a sprinkle of lime juice adds greatly to the taste!
Comment by nikhil — August 30, 2006 @ 11:25 pm