The sauteeing oil can be anything you like - and the amount you need
to use depends on your pan and stove and all kinds of things. Use the
amount you need. The olive oil is added later and is used mostly for
flavour and partly for thickening, so pick one that tastes good.

You can buy the split mung beans from Indian grocers, or larger Tescos.

Simple Mung Bean Soup
---------------------

1 small onion, finely chopped
1-3 tsp oil for sauteeing
1/2 Tbsp ground cumin, mixed with just enough water to form a stiff paste
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
150g split mung beans (use red lentils if you can't find these)
250ml passata
other spices to taste - bay leaf, curry leaves, whatever (optional)
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil for flavour
juice of about 1 lemon

Saute the onion in the oil over moderate heat until transparent. Let
it go a bit brown, or don't. Add the cumin paste and the garlic, and
cook, stirring, for another couple of minutes.

Add the mung beans and passata, and about 750ml of water. Bring to
the boil, then turn to low heat and leave to simmer. If using bay or
curry leaves, this is when you add them. Give it about an hour,
stirring occasionally. The split mung beans should start to break up.
Add more (boiling) water as necessary to keep it soup-like.

Stir in the olive oil and cook for maybe ten minutes longer. Remove
bay and curry leaves if you used any. Stir in lemon juice to taste,
and serve. Reheats well.


Kake