Green mung bean curry (Green moong dal)

Green mung bean curry, also known as Green moong dal or Sabut moong dal is a vegan and gluten-free recipe from India. This light and simple dish is made using whole mung bean (green gram) which has a very high significance in the ayurvedic diet.

After every festival season or a trip that involves a lot of unhealthy eating, we prefer having simple Indian home-cooked meals like dal chawal (rice with lentils), khichdi, or sabzi roti (a vegetable dish with whole wheat Indian bread).

The dal recipe which I am sharing today is one such dish that we eat during healthy eating days. The dish is called- sabut moong ki dal which is basically mung bean curry.

It is also called green moong dal or green gram curry.

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What is sabut moong ki dal?

Sabut moong ki dal is Indian style mung bean curry that is made with whole mung beans.

In Indian cooking, mung beans are used in 3 different forms:

1. Sabut moong (Whole mung bean with skin) – Green
2. Dali/ chilka moong ( split mung bean with skin)- Green and yellow mixed
3. Dhooli moong (split mung bean without skin)- Yellow

They all are used to make lentil curries but with a slight difference in their stages of processing, their taste changes completely.

For this recipe, we need whole mung beans.

What goes in this mung bean curry?

Ingredient notes

• Mung beans: To make this curried mung beans, use whole mung bean which is also called sabut moong or green gram. You can easily find it in an Indian grocery store or online.
• Tomato: Use a juicy red variety.
• Cooking oil: Use any cooking oil of your choice. Non-vegans may also use ghee (clarified butter)

How to make (step by step instructions)?

Steps 1 and 2: Wash mung beans and soak in water for at least an hour.

Step 3: After an hour, put the soaked beans in a pressure cooker.

Step 4: Add water, a dash of salt, and turmeric powder.

Steps 5 and 6: Put on the lid of the pressure cooker and cook on a medium flame till around 4 whistles. Switch off the stove and allow the pressure to get released naturally before opening the lid which will take around 10 minutes.

Step 7: Heat oil in a cooking pot and add cumin seeds. Let the seeds splutter.

Step 8: Add chopped garlic and cook until its raw smell goes away.

Step 9: Add chopped onion. Cook until the onion turns brown.

Step 10: Add coriander powder and red chili powder. Mix and saute for around 30 seconds.

Step 11: Add chopped tomatoes, green chili peppers, and some salt (remember that we have also added some salt while cooking mung beans, so add in this step carefully).

Step 12: Cook until the tomatoes turn mushy.

Step 13: Add cooked beans.

Step 14: Add chopped ginger and cilantro.

Step 15: If the curry is too thick, add more boiling water. Cook for around 2 minutes and then switch off the stove.

Step 16: Add fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro.

Your Indian mung bean curry is ready to be served!

How to serve?

Curried mung beans can be enjoyed in a lot of different ways. I am sharing some of the ideas below:

• Serve it with steamed rice, jeera rice, or any other rice dish of choice. For a complete Indian meal, also serve a vegetable dish like bhindi masala, or aloo baingan, and a salad like kachumber salad, on the side.
• You can also have it with roti or any other Indian bread.
• It can also be enjoyed as a hearty mung bean soup. If you wish, you can blend it to serve as a soup.
• The leftover moong dal can be kneaded with some whole wheat flour to make dal paratha (a type of Indian flat bread).

How to store?

To store, allow reaching room temperature and then shift it to an air-tight container. Refrigerate for 3-4 days.

Freezing tips

This dal freezes well. Freeze in a freezer-safe container or zip lock bag and freeze for up to 4 months.

You can also freeze the plain cooked beans without onion and tomato mix. Before serving make a fresh onion-tomato masala (curry base) and then add thawed beans to it.

Reheating tips

To re-heat either microwave for around a minute, stir, and then microwave again until evenly heated. If required add some hot water before putting it in the microwave.

To reheat on the stovetop, transfer to a cooking pot, add boiling water, cover the pot and cook for a few minutes.

For a fresher taste, heat around a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and chopped garlic. Saute until they turn brown and then pour the oil over re-heated bean curry. Mix. Garnish with chopped cilantro and ginger.

Recipe tips and tricks

• Sometimes, you may find debris in packed lentils and beans. Before washing, spread the beans on a plate, quickly check and remove the debris, if any.
• The number of whistles required to cook beans in a pressure cooker may vary depending upon a lot of factors like the capacity of the pressure cooker you are using, the quality of beans, how long have you soaked them, and even the altitude of the place you are cooking. Start with 4 whistles on medium flame, if they are not cooked, cook for another 1-2 whistles.
• If you don’t have time to soak mung beans, you can cook them directly but increase the no. of whistles to around 6.
• If adding more water to adjust the consistency of cooked beans, add hot water.

​Health benefits of mung beans

• Moong dal has a very high significance in Ayurveda. It’s considered the easiest legume to digest.
• As per Ayurveda, this lentil cleanses the body by removing the deepest toxins, manages the water retention of the body, and helps in weight loss too.
• Mung bean has a high protein content, so if you are looking for plant-based sources of protein, you must include it in your diet.
• It’s also considered a rich source of potassium, magnesium, and fibers.

Frequently asked question

More easy Indian dal recipes

If you are looking for ideas to add legumes to your diet, don’t miss checking the following Indian curry recipes:

1. Chana Dal
2. Sabut Masoor ki dal (Brown lentil-Indian style)
3. Dal Makhani
4. Urad chana dal
5. Dal palak

More mung bean recipes

If you are looking for ideas to add mung bean to your diet in different forms, the following easy mung bean recipes are worth checking:

1. Banh bot loc chay- yellow mung beans
2. Moong dal khichdi- yellow mung beans
3. Bread upma- mung bean sprouts
4. Avocado and mung bean sprouts sandwich-mung bean sprouts
5. Mung bean sprouts raita- mung bean sprouts

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