Mung Beans with Mixed Vegetables


Visit the Indian Food Glossary for information on the ingredients in this recipe

Legumes are an essential component of a healthy vegetarian diet. Indeed, legumes are packed full of protein, fiber, minerals and vitamins, making them a positive benefit to any diet. Inexpensive, with a long shelf life, easily digestible if prepared properly, filling and simply delicious and inspiring, meat eaters and tofu addicts would do their body well with a little concentration and substitution.

One of my favorite beans is the versatile oval-shaped whole green mung bean. Particularly easy to digest, especially when soaked overnight, cooked along with some spices, this mildly sweet little legume can easily be transformed into an entrée that will quell thoughts of a decadent dessert.

I highly recommend using fresh peas for this recipe, but do take care to make sure the pods you purchase actually contain decent-size peas. I spent roughly fifteen minutes shelling a pound of pods that yielded a scant 1/4 cup. Usually my husband brings home a highly prized bounty for the larder, but even the most seasoned of shoppers can be distracted by appearances and the dictates of the grocery list.

Frozen peas can be substituted for the fresh ones. Add them near the end of the cooking time so they retain their plumpness.

Served with lemon brown rice.

Mung Beans with Mixed VegetablesMung Beans with Mixed Vegetables
Recipe by
Cuisine: Indian
Published on June 9, 2009

Simple, nourishing and easily digestible curried mung beans cooked with vegetables and spices

Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 to 45 minutes

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Ingredients:
  • 1 cup dried whole mung beans
  • 3 1/2 cups of water
  • 1 large carrot, chopped
  • 1 medium potato, diced
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • 1 tablespoon ghee or oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
  • 1-inch piece fresh ginger, shredded or minced
  • 2 to 3 fresh green chilies, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (methi)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon asafetida
  • juice of 1 lemon (3 tablespoons)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
Instructions:
  • Rinse the mung beans and soak in enough water to cover for 6 hours or overnight.

  • Drain the beans and transfer to a large saucepan. Pour in 3 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the carrot, potato and fresh peas if using, cover again. and continue to simmer until the vegetables are tender and the mung beans are soft — about 15 minutes.

  • Heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the fennel seeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Stir for 30 to 60 seconds or until the mustard seeds turn grey and begin to pop. Now add the ginger, chilies, fenugreek leaves, turmeric, coriander, cayenne and asafetida. Stir for another minute or two.

  • Transfer the contents of the frying pan to the mung beans and vegetables, pour in the lemon juice, and add the salt. If using frozen peas, add them now. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes to let the flavors blend.

  • Serve hot.

Makes 4 main servings or 6 side servings


More mung bean dishes from my vegetarian kitchen:
Moong Dal
Indian Sour Mung Bean Soup
Mung Bean and Coconut Soup
Mung Beans with Paneer Cheese

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Easy to make & tasty too, they are my anytime favorite. Your photo looks lovely.

Finla said...

This dish is bursting with flavours and looks really yumm.
Beautiful colour too.

Pooja said...

Lovely dish packed with nutrients! Never paired mung beans with veggies! Awesome! Bookmarked!

Suparna said...

hi lisa,
I love legumes too :)It never fails to impress the taste buds with the correct variety of spices.
Moong beans with other veggies make an intersting dish, I like the addition of fennel here. Then close up snap looks so attractive :)
Enjoy
TC

Parita said...

Healthy and nutritious dish...love it..nice click :)

Preeti Singh said...

Greeny, Healthy and easy dish, Lisa....clicks are tempting.

Uma said...

mmm. what a lovely dish!! Looks sooo tempting and yummy :)

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

What a healthy recipe. Looks really good.

Unknown said...

very healthy version of dal looks so yummmy I think perfect with steamed rice or roti.

Indian Khana said...

Nice colour and healthy....looks gud

Vrinda said...

Mung beans with veggies sounds so healthy..looks great

Deepthi Shankar said...

there is nothing like an assortment of veggies with moong .. looks yumm

Vaishali said...

I adore mung beans too-- they do stand apart from other legumes with their distinct flavor. And they cook up so fast, which is a huge blessing.
I also love the addition of fenugreek leaves-- did you use the dry leaves (kasoori) or fresh ones?

Usha said...

I second Vaishali on that, moong beans are one of my favorites among legumes too. And I love how flavorful and complete this dish sounds, look forward to trying it!

Lisa Turner said...

Hi Vaishali;

I used dried fenugreek leaves, but I bet it would be good with fresh ones too.

Yasmeen said...

Mung beans also my favorite kinda bean,I often make the South India crepes(Dosa) with these.I'd love it with vegetables too:)

eatme_delicious said...

Ooo delicious! I bought some mung beans a while ago but had no idea what to do with them. I was looking through the recipes you suggested to me but either didn't have the ingredients or didn't want a soup. So I ended up just eating them with whatever. This looks like a MUCH better way to eat them. Yum!

Catherine said...

Delicious. I doubled the recipe and two days later I'm still enjoying the leftovers. Thank you!

kathryn said...

Lisa, I made this last night and gosh it's a lovely dish, with a beautiful rich flavour. I made double your quantities so I now have leftovers for the freezer as well. Thanks for posting this.

basil said...

This is great. I doubled it, adding broccoli to the mix.

Ellen Lederman said...

Loved this! Didn't have peas---added arugula instead for added nutrition and greenery. Deep flavor. I loved that you used 1/2 t of hing/asfetida---all other recipes just call for a pinch. Easy to make too. And the mung beans are so creamy. I made it hours ahead and all the liquid got absorbed, so added some extra. So good!

Anonymous said...

This is my go-to mung bean stew recipe. Such a tasty spice mix!