Since last week's experiment with mung beans went really well with the soup, I wanted to try the Uzbek mung bean stew which is called "Mashkitchiri." I found this recipe adapted from Lynn Visson's The Art of Uzbek Cooking. The recipe for mashkitchiri asked for a cup of rice in the stew, so it wouldn't be a stew but rice with mung beans and vegetables. Since I like to have my stew on rice, I just ignored the rice and cilantro! part, and added a couple of extra ingredients of my choice like stew beef, tiny mushrooms, garlic, and pepper paste.
1/2 cup mung beans
1/2 pound stew beef
1 big onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
4 medium size carrots, cut in rounds
6 organic mini red potatoes, coarsley diced (if you'll use regular size potatoes 2 will be good)
1 box (6 oz) petite size mushrooms (petite mushrooms are very cute; you don't need to cut them)
1/2 tbsp pepper or tomato paste
1 can of diced tomato or 2-3 diced fresh tomatoes
3 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 black pepper
salt
2 cups of water
-Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a big pot and add stew beef. Stir on low heat. Beef will first turn color, then release some juice, and finally soak the juice. When it soaks its juice, add rest of the butter/oil, onions, garlic cloves, and petite mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat
-Add carrots + potatoes and stir for 5 minutes. Add the paste and stir for another 5 minutes
-Add team spice (paprika, cumin, pepper flakes, black pepper, salt) and diced tomatoes. Stir for a minute or two
-Stir in mung beans and water. First bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for 40 minutes to an hour, until the beans are soft and cooked.
PS: You can definitely make this a vegeterian stew by skipping the first beefy step of cooking.
