Green Mung Bean Chilla with Carrots and Radish Ribbons and Peas Tossed with Simple Lemon Dressing.

How colorful is your meal today?

While I was going through my pictures, I found this long pending picture of bright colors. I enjoyed preparing this meal as much as I enjoyed eating. The Green Mung Bean Chilla is my all time favorite. I always add different vegetables to the chilla batter like spinach, fenugreek leaves(methi), carrots, shredded cabbage, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, thinly sliced green beans and such. In this preparation I tried to balance the colors of the dish by mixing spinach in the batter and bright white and orange salad on the side.

Nutritional Benefits-:

Green Mung Beans- 

• They are also know as green gram. They are famous for the protein that they have in them, but apart from that, green mung beans are also awesome source of iron. 
• They are also high in folate, which is water soluble vitamin-B necessary in production of new cells, DNA and RNA. 
• It's even better to sprout and then use them, as vitamin C which is found in sprouts is missing in the beans.

Carrots-

• This crunchy and deliciously sweet root vegetable has ample amounts of  beta-carotene, vitamin -A, Vitamin K, minerals and anti- oxidants.
• Carrots have tons of nutritional value attached to it. Vision health, anti- cancer benefits, cardiovascular benefits to name a few.

Radish-:

• Another root vegetable high in Vitamin C.
• Radish is excellent for digestion as it stimulates digestive juices.
• They are beneficial for symptoms of flu, cold, cough, respiratory problem.
• Radishes can dissolve phlegm, reinforce energy as well as clear a stuffy nose.
• White radishes (the root and the leaves) work as natural antibiotics against some bacteria.
• Radish is a good mouth and breath freshener, laxative, regulates metabolism, improves blood circulation.

There is an old saying about radishes - "When radishes come to market, nobody will go to pharmacies."

Chilla is traditionally made up of besan (gram flour) and spices. In this recipe, I haven't added besan at all. The batter is made up of sprouted green mung daal and soaked rice ground together with some chopped spinach thrown in it.

I have also added some ginger and garlic paste along with cumin and coriander powder. 

Soaking time-:Overnight/ 5-6 hours at least

Sprouting time-8-10 hours, depending on the weather.

Preparation time-:15 minutes.

Cooking time-:15 minutes

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients-:

For chilla-

1. Soaked sprouted green mung daal-1 cup
2. Soaked rice- 1/2 cup or more if you want your chilla to be crispy.
3. Ginger- 1/2 inch piece
4. Garlic-1/2 inch piece
5. Chilies-1small
6. Chopped spinach-3/4th cup
7. Cumin and coriander powder-1/2 tbsp each
8. Salt to taste
9. Oil for spraying 

For the salad-:

1. Carrots- 1 medium
2. White Radish-1 medium
3. Peas- a handful
4. Lemon juice-juice of half a lemon
5. Salt and black pepper to taste.

Procedure-:

• Add the soaked rice and sprouted mung beans to the blender. Add ginger, garlic, salt, chilies and blend everything well.
• Pour in to a pot and add cumin and coriander powder, chopped spinach to the batter and mix well.
• Heat a griddle / tawa over medium heat and once it is hot, with the help of a ladle start spreading a the batter on the tawa.
• Let it cook on one side for about 3 minutes and then flip and cook the other side.

Putting the salad together-:

• Peel the carrots and radish from all sides and make the ribbons out of them.
• Toss them together along with peas
• Mix some lemon juice with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour it on top of mixed radish, carrots and peas.

This is a perfect meal to eat with your eyes first!!!

The eye pleasing meal is headed to 2 events.

1. Dish it out- Lentils/legumes and vegetables
   
2. Breakfast recipes- from My Culinary Creations.

Nutritional Benefits Source-:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_Benefits_of_white_radish
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=21