broccoli mung and barley ...making a nice one pot meal...

Barley is the grain for summers as it is supposed to be cooing to the system . In my multigrain khichdi recipes the barley provides nice glutinous texture to chew on . Almost like pasta as i have mentioned many times. I keep experimenting with this favorite grain of mine and a khichdi/tahiri fit for a detox regime is very convenient to rustle up when i have some boiled grain already in the fridge . As i mentioned in the pasta style barley with mushrooms posted earlier , the barley used in the recipe is pre-boiled . I usually boil barley in large quantity and keep it in the fridge to make a quick meal . Here in this recipe i use a mixture of barley and mung daal and that can also be boiled and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for a longer duration . See how it looks...

To boil this mix , soak the pearl barley and mung daal in water for half an hour and then boil in the microwave for 15 minutes ( 3 cups of water for 2 cups of mung barley mix) with salt to taste . This can be done in pressure cooker too , boiling till the first whistle blows up....

Now that we have this pre-boiled mix of mung and barley , the cooking procedure will take just about 10 minutes including chopping and cleaning .

ingredients...
for one large detox serving 
boiled mung barley mix 1 cup
broccoli florets 2 cups ( 250 gm)
chopped tomatoes 1 cup
chopped garlic 1 tsp
chopped green chillies or red chilly powder to taste
turmeric powder 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1 tsp
whole cumin seeds 1 tsp
lemon juice 1 tsp or to taste
ghee or olive oil 1 tsp

preparation....
Heat the ghee in a pan and throw in the cumin seeds , wait till they splutter .

Add the chopped garlic and stir to let them browned a bit .

Add the green chillies or red chilly powder (i like red chilly powder more) , add the turmeric powder , stir and wait for a couple of seconds before adding the chopped tomatoes.

Add salt to taste and let the tomatoes cook to pulp .

Add the broccoli florets mix well and cook covered for 2-3 minutes . The broccoli is supposed to be a bit crunchy and semi cooked . Add black pepper powder . Freshly crushed pepper corns make a lot of difference.

Add the boiled mung barley mixture and stir well to mix everything up together nicely . Let everything soak in for a few seconds , add lemon juice and serve hot.

Served hot or warm this dish makes a nice refreshing yet hearty meal . The best part is , it tastes good at room temperature too as the texture of the barley and broccoli both remain very good at room temperature too . Lemon juice complements the dish so well...garlicky , mildly hot and subtly tangy ...

A tall glass of buttermilk makes a nice accompaniment .Or think about a refreshing raita ...i like some bharta ( mashed vegetables) too to add to the detox functioning of this meal... 

Enjoy...