Sago Pearl with Mug and Rice -- Raw Vegan Lunch

 

 We decided to have a no-cook meal today. 

And to prepare this meal we need a special type of all the ingredients. Simply any rice or any Mug (a type of yellow lentil) or any type of sago pearl won't do. Here are a few words about the main ingredients:

Gobindobhog rice or গোবিন্দভোগ চাল is a small grain, aromatic rice,a indigenous produce of certain districts of West Bengal. West Bengal has the geographical indication tag for it. 

Sona mug or সোনা মুগ is a very small and bright yellow type of the mung bean (Vigna radiata) or green gram. I had difficulty to find this in the cities of Western India where I lived for years and I used to pack some to take with me each time I visited my Mom in West Bengal. সোনা মুগ gets this name because of its bright golden yellow colour. It's also very tiny. 

The sago pearls or সাবুদানা we, Bengali people, traditionally consume has very tiny particles. It is usually a baby food or used in diets for elderly or sick people. Tapioca pearls are an alternative which produced in large scale industrially and is cheaper. 

দানা in Bengali means "grain" or "particle". 

We soaked Gobindobhog rice, sonamug Dal and the smallest type of tapioca pearl for about five hours. Then all these are very soft. I mashed two small ripe bananas with these ingredients and took one date with it. But I suggest you add sugar also. And you can add more bananas and jaggery. The quantity of rice was much less than the lentil. I guess I took about two tablespoons of mug and one tablespoon of rice. I always take according to my guess, experience and choice. My Mom took more rice. But I liked it this way. There's no hard and fast rule. But rice should be taken just a little since it is uncooked. 

Before soaking, please rinse thoroughly. Washing the ingredients with drinking water is important. Soak the three ingredients in separate containers.

This meal was totally without oil. 

This is not a diet for small children.

Mixed Vegetable Curry Without a Single Drop of Oil

A Successful Experiment

Anyhow I must keep the oil intake within the maximum quantity recommended by health and nutrition professionals that is no more than 20 grams per day. If I cook vegetables in our traditional method, I definitely add a lot more oil. So I decided to try making a vegetable curry without compromising the taste.

I simply boiled these vegetables and with mug (yellow) and musur (red) dal and then, just after serving added some salt and pepper. It was bland but not bad.

The quantity was enough for more than one meal. I had it for dinner. Next morning I mixed some semolina into it because I want my breakfast heavy. I also added a little more salt, just a little turmeric powder and some pepper and goda masala. Then it looked like this:

My Oil-free Upma

It was tasty and filling but no too heavy.

Garbanzo Beans and Kidney Beans with Vegetables

Delighted by this success, I decided to try oil free dishes every day.
So, yesterday I prepared another oil-free dish of garbanzo beans and kidney beans with carrot, fresh french beans, a little potato and cauliflower.
I soaked garbanzo- and kidney beans overnight. During this time I changed the water once. In the morning, I cooked these beans first in the pressure cooker for eight whistles. I cookef them simply in water. Then I waited for some time so that the air pressure inside the cooker reduces. Then I added all the vegetables and added salt, garam masala, a little coriander powder and black pepper, mixed everything well and closed the lid. I let it cook once again for eight whistles. Later I boiled this for a few minutes to make the gavy thicker. I mashed the garbanzo beans and the potatoes a little bit. So, you cannot see the beans a lot but you can see the kidney beans here:

I had it with roti today. It will taste good with steamed rice, too.