When we arrived in Chennai to spend New Year 2004 with our daughter, a wee bit of the monsoon, which hadn't fallen when it was supposed to, was about halfway through discharging and turning the city into the Venice of Tamil Nadu. We exited the train station and got instantly soaked through, our one umbrella being at the bottom of Sveta's rucksack, having been packed with a view to avoiding sunstroke rather than unseasonal rain. Luckily there were plenty of auto-rickshaws around, and the driver of the nearest one pulled over and shouted, 'Gondola, Sir?' Well, he didn't, but he might have.
It took us an hour and a half to find an open route to the southern edge of the city, but when we arrived, Oxana already had a welcome lunch waiting, which included this mung bean salad.
Ingredients
1 and a half mugs of dried mung beans (soaked for 4 or 5 hours)
3 large tomatoes
1 onion
1 lime or half lemon
Salt
A couple of teaspoons of sugar
A third of a teaspoon of cumin powder
Rinse the soaked beans and boil in fresh water for ten or fifteen minutes (Any longer and they'll turn to soup). Drain the beans and rinse in cold water. Chop the tomatoes and onion and mix with the beans. Squeeze the lime/lemon into the mixture and add the salt, sugar and cumin. Stir well and serve immediately, or stash in the fridge until required.