Ginataang munggo

Ginataang munggo is a Filipino recipe made of toasted mung beans cooked with sticky rice on a sweet coconut milk and is often a snack or dessert best paired with pipping hot coffee. On some regions in the Philippines, this recipe is called "totong" or "sinugno". The smell while making this recipe brings back a lot of memories from home.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Mung beans
3 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup sticky rice
6 tablespoon granulated white sugar

Procedures:
1. In a pan over medium heat, put the mung beans and cook until it turns brown to dark brown. I'm using a green mung beans so it's easy to distinguish when it's cooked or toasted.
2.  Cool down the toasted beans and crack using mortar and pestle. If you do not have one, put the beans in a freezer bag, laid flat on your kitchen counter and run a bread roller over it to crack the beans. Once cracked, set aside.
3. On a pot, pour in coconut milk and let it boil over slow to medium heat
4. Wash the sticky rice in  running water over a sifter. Add the washed sticky rice together with the cracked mung beans on the boiling coconut milk. Ensure the fire is low this time. Stir occasionally.
5. Let the rice get cooked, usually, this is when the coconut milk is fully absorbed. If the rice is still uncooked and the mixture is dry already, you can add small amount of water to ensure the rice gets cooked completely
6. Add sugar and stir. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate. This can be served hot or cold. I prefer to have it hot with extra fresh milk along with my hot coffee