Soft food required... Mung with Aloo and Tamatar

This weekend I've had a bit of a tongue incident. I bent down to pick up Coco's bone and she jumped up at the same time...You can see it can't you - a chain reaction; I bend down as doggie jumps up; hard dog skull (I'm sure it's steel plated) makes contact with soft chin and jaw; teeth clamp shut on soft, pink tongue; I yell in agony and doggie looks at me like I'm mad and goes back to chewing her bone as I hold my head in my hands until I can see straight again.

Today it feels like I've gone several rounds with a heavy-weight boxer; The right side of my face aches. My shoulder and neck ache. I've got a bruised jaw and a chipped tooth, but the thing that hurts the most is the HUGE gash across my tongue - it's practically hanging off!

Ok, ok, I'm being a little melodramatic here. It's really a teeny cut on the side of my tongue but it really, really hurts. I can't keep my mouth shut coz it hurts. I can't keep my mouth open coz it hurts. I can't eat coz it hurts. I can't have a glass of cold water coz it hurts. I can't have a cup of hot coffee coz it hurts. It hurts.

So as I drink my luke-warm cup of coffee (it hurts), I've decided to write today about a great dish - Mung with Aloo and Tamatar. I'm looking forward to eating this later... I'll make it extra soft coz of my tongue. Plus, even though it's got a few chillies in, it's not spicy at all. In fact the reason I like it so much is that it's actually quite sweet due to the fantastic mung beans (and the pich of sugar I add). I often eat this by itself, but you can eat with chapatti or rice.

Mung with Aloo and Tamatar

1/2 cup mung beans (can be soaked for a couple of hours to reduce cooking time)
2 medium potatoes, cut into small chunks
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
1 green chilli, slit and deseeded
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1/4 teaspoon haldi (turmeric powder)
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
A few curry leaves
3-4 tomatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (if you prefer, you can leave a few tomatoes out and add some tomato puree)

1. Cook the mung beans in plenty of fresh water, until soft (30 mins). Keep aside. If you prefer, you can cook them in a pressure cooker - If your beans are soaked, it'll take just a few whistles, plus let the pressure go down naturally.
2. Cook the potato chunks in plenty of boiling water. When just cooked, drain and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large pan, over a low heat. Add the jeera.
4. Once seeds start to pop, add chilli, garlic and ginger. Stir for a few mins.
5. Add the haldi, chilli powder, salt, sugar and curry leaves and stir for a min more.
6. Add the tomatoes (and/or tomato puree) and cook until soft. This takes about 5 minutes.
7. Stir in the cooked mung and aloo and simmer for a few minutes until everything is hot. You may want to add a splash of water at this stage to keep everything from sticking.
8. Eat.

Tonight I'll cook the mung and potatoes till they're mushy so I can eat this more easily!

What about you? What's your favourite beany dish?