1teaspoontamarind paste or 2 hog plumsambade or 4-5 pieces of sol
salt to taste
For seasoning/fon:
1/2teaspoonmustard
3-4flakes of garliccrushed
6-7curry leaves
1medium sizeonion finely sliced
2tablespoonscoconut oil
Instructions
In a pot, place the mung sprouts and enough water to cover it. Add a sprinkling of salt and cook till tender but firm (if you press each grain between your thumb & index finger it should not turn to a paste but retain its shape). Alternately you can pressure cook it. Just add a sprinkling of water (about 1/2-3/4th cup, salt and cook for 1 whistle. Allow the cooker to cool down a bit before loosening the weight (whistle). Retain the cooking stock. Transfer the cooked sprouts into another bowl.
Heat oil in a heavy wok or pan and add the mustard, when it splutters add the garlic flakes and fry till golden, toss in the curry leaves and finally the sliced onion. Fry until the onion turns golden in colour.
Add grated coconut and fry on a slow flame till you get a nice aroma. Toss in the vegetable masala powder and quickly stir it, you can turn off the flame if you see it getting burnt. Once it has blended well with the rest of the ingredients, add the minced bamboo shoots, hog plums or tamarind and the water from the pre-cooked sprouts. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and then add the sprouts. Check salt to taste & add as required.
Cover and cook on sim for about 4-5 minutes stirring once in a way.
Turn off the flame & serve hot with rice
Notes
a) Treating the Bamboo shoots: If you are using readily available canned bamboo shoots you can drain the water & use them as required. If you are using fresh shoots, you will need to slice them and soak them in a bowl of water. Place the bowl in a refrigerator for 2-3 days. Change the water daily - this is done to remove the acrid (bitter) taste & smell. To store fresh shoots for a longer period of time you can either store in a container with salt water or store in an airtight container & deep freeze it for upto 1-2 monthsb) Sprouting the green gram (whole mung bean) if you are using whole green gram/mung bean Soak whole green gram in plenty of water for about 12 hours. Discard the water and transfer the gram into a thin muslin cloth, tie into a bundle and leave in a bowl or hang the bundle from a hook - leave it undisturbed for another 14-16 hours. You can check in between to see the length of the sprouts/roots desiredc) Vegetable masala powder is a blend of long dry red chillies, coriander & cumin seeds, peppercorns, fenugreek (methi), turmeric, bengal gram (chana dal), green gram (moong dal), boiled rice & gingelly (til). This powder is readily available in many stores in Mangalore especially Don Stores & Konkan Traders near Milagres Church. You may even find it in 'Mangalore Stores' which is a chain of stores having its presence across cities in India. Instead of the above mentioned veg powder you can use any mildly spiced vegetable powder or even Bafat powder