Moong and Paneer Soup

It’s been raining non-stop since the last week with very few dry spells in between. I remember how crazy it was when I landed on 3^rd and while it takes only about 10-15 minutes from airport to our home, that day it took me nearly 3 hours. The weather has been humid and cold and damp; perfect for a sore throat and cold. While rains bring on the mood for chai and pakoras; this non-stop spell necessitated something warm. And what better than a nice bowl of hot soup. I didn’t want to make my usual tomato or bottle gourd soup so I browsed through my Tarla Dalal ‘Soups and Salads’ book to find the one recipe for which I had all the ingredients. This soup particularly interested me because, one) obviously I had all the ingredients and two) I wanted to see how paneer goes with dal. I had never tried the combination before; but paneer cubes really enhanced the texture of the soup giving it a surprise element! 🙂

The original recipe is available here at Tarla Dalal’s site. This is what I followed:

Moong Soup with Paneer

Preparation Time: 5 mins| Cooking time: 25 mins| Serves 2

½ cup moong (whole green gram) dal, soaked in hot water for a couple of hours

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

A pinch of asafetida

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

¼ tsp turmeric

Salt & pepper to taste

8-10 paneer cubes (1”)

2 tbsp chopped coriander

• Pressure cook moong dal with 3 cups of water, salt and turmeric for 3-4 whistles
• Allow the steam to escape before opening the lid
• Blend the cooked moong in a mixer. Strain using a strainer and keep aside. I like the soup to be very thin, so I strained the mixer 4 times. Heat ghee in a small pan, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
• When they crackle, add asafoetida and moong mixture and mix well
• Add the lemon juice, sugar, salt (if more is required) and pepper, mix well and bring to boil.
• Add paneer and coriander; mix well and cook on medium flame for 2 mins.
• Ladle it into soup bowls, piping hot

Tip: Don’t throw the residue after straining the moong mixture. I kneaded the residue with flour to make moong dal paranthas today!

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