Sounds like a lovely Sunday, doesn't it? Well, it started well until I managed to really, really wind my husband up so that he was SO mad that he had to walk out of the house and take really, really deep breaths and not come near me for about half an hour. It's okay though, because apparently, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so I can fix it, it's all good. Well, at least I hope I can...

'What did you do?' I hear you asking. Well, it's nothing really (really!) but it started with lighting the woodburner. This is the first day we've had it going for the year, as we FINALLY have some rain and it's got cold quite suddenly. We knew we'd suffer as the weather has been so gorgeously warm of late that the contrast is quite shocking. As much as I love summer, I was pretty excited to have a rainy Sunday in the kitchen, and thought I'd put on a moong dahl soup for the week. In my last post I talked about vatta pacifying and this soup is perfect for it, as well as just being bloody lovely.

The awesome thing about our woodburner is that you can cook on top of it, so I happily put the prepared soup on top of the burner to simmer away. I then thought I'd put the pumpkin on to roast, but I'd run out of wood so I innocently threw a couple of pieces in, chopped the pumpkin and put it in the oven ready to add to the soup. I then got on with my other fun kitchen projects (making some vegan cashew cheese, a lentil bolognese for later in the week and a raw slice - damn, what a domestic goddess am I - sometimes!).



And then, Jamie came to check on the woodburner. That's when Sunday got decidedly more heated. Oops.

I'd put on his tinder wood - the lovely internal bark from the pine tree he'd chopped down last week and that HE HAD SAVED FOR WINTER TINDER.

To me, it just looked like wood. I didn't realise it was a mortal sin because the pine resins were the best fire lighter IN THE WORLD! Honestly, if I had slaughtered a baby bird he wouldn't have been more upset (well, he would divorce me over that, but you get the point) - and then I made things worse by saying that maybe he should watch his reactions? Now, if you really want to wind someone up, just tell them to calm down and see what happens. Ouch. Anyway, he made the right choice by disappearing outside for a while until he calmed down.

I thought I'd also share with you some pretty cool things about moong soup from an Ayurvedic perspective, and if you've got the patience, you can keep reading and see if he forgave me or not.

They are Super Good for You

According to Dr Axe and his research, moong beans can

• help lower high cholesterol levels and protect against heart disease
• help lower high blood pressure
• contains antioxidants that fight cancer development
• help prevent and treat Type 2 diabetes
• provide high sources of protein
• boost immunity and protect against infections and viruses
• contain a high source of vitamins and minerals like folate and magnesium
• fight obesity and help with weight loss
• decrease PMS symptoms
• be more digestible than other beans or legumes (this is true for Jamie, who can ONLY eat moong)

# This is all great, you might think, but does moong stop husbands being really mad at you?

Moong Soup is Tri-Doshic

That means that it doesn't matter if you are Vatta, Pitta or Kapha - you can eat this dahl. You can find more about the doshas here - they are your basic 'type' according to Ayurveda. Check what vegetables you can/can't eat according to your type though, and the season as it will influence what other vegetables you add to the soup.

They are great for fasting

This is perfect to do at the changing of the seasons. As it's so easily digestible it can help:

• rid the body of toxins and residues (even heavy metals) as it clears the body's subtle pathways or channels
• Corrects digestion (a really important focus of Ayurveda)
• Provides peace, energy and vitality
• Aids weight loss, reduces swelling/water retention - see above

You should pick a time when you're not too busy as it can be a powerful detox and you can do it for between 1 and 7 days. I find a day of moong soup is like a re-set.

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I never have a problem with a day or two of this diet but if you have a lot of sugar, coffee, alcohol, wheat and so on you'll probably get cravings in the first few days of a moong fast. The sensations should calm down as the toxins get flushed out, so try to just observe it rather than react. It can actually be a good way to quit sugar and there's the natural sweetness of cinnamon and pumpkin which helps too. You can feel a bit off while you de-tox but you'll feel awesome afterwards.

You can spend a day or two eating this and nothing else. You can eat as much as you like to satisfy your appetite. Make up a fresh batch every day and re-heat gently for each meal so the meal is as full of vital energy (prana) as possible. I must admit I can be a bit lazy on this step and know I'll be eating today's soup tomorrow, because I dont have time to wake up in the morning and do it all again.

The reason I added pumpkin was because pumpkin is also vatta pacifying - remember, Autumn INCREASES vatta so it will throw vatta people out of balance (I wrote about this yesterday if you'd like to know more).

(https://www.rawayurveda.com/6526/vegetables-for-vata/)

Moong Dahl with Roast Pumpkin

1 cup green mung beans
1 litre water (add more as needed)
2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 pinch asafoetida OR 1 onion
3 slices of fresh root ginger
1 tsp each of cumin seeds, ground coriander, garam masala, ground fennel
Lemon juice
Coconut oil or ghee
Salt and pepper or vegetable stock to taste
Fresh coriander (optional)

Wash the mung beans and soak overnight or for around four hours. Simmer with turmeric until soft (around half an hour). Then, heat the ghee or coconut oil and fry the spices until aromatic. Add to the mung beans with the slices of ginger and the cinnamon stick. Add salt to taste (or you can add stock if you like) and simmer until very soft and clearly 'soupy'. Add water if you feel it's getting too thick. Some people like to blend it to make a really creamy consistency, or add more ghee toward the end. Today we ate it nice and chunky, like a stew (mainly because I couldn't be bothered washing the blender)

I add roasted pumpkin to mine in the last ten minutes or so, as the sweetness really tempers the soup. You can choose to blend this too or have it in chunks.

I love to blend in some fresh coriander for a green zing (I didn't have any today sadly!)

Serve warm with a squeeze of lemon - to me this is a MUST as it really brings out the flavour.

Did he forgive me? Why yes, yes he did. As soon as he took one spoonful of my creamy dahl, he was all mine again.

Do you make moong dahl? What's your recipe? Would love to hear how others do it!