Simple Mung Bean Recipe: How to Cook Mung Beans

Mung beans (Vigna radiata) are small green beans in the legume family, alongside lentils and chickpeas. Also known as the green gram, mung beans are a common sight throughout the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, eastern Asia, and the greater Middle East.

There are a few types of mung beans: whole, split, and sprouted. Whole mung beans have tough, green shells, while split mung beans, or moong dal, have a pale orange or yellow interior and are available hulled and unhulled. Mung bean sprouts, edible after germination, are a popular addition to deli salads and sandwiches.

Diners across the globe enjoy mung beans in various applications. In Indian cuisine, moong dal often accompanies rice, or cooks may incorporate it into a pancake-style batter, such as in moong dal ka cheela/chilla. In Korea, a similar dish that incorporates meat is bindae-tteok, or mung bean pancakes. In China, some enjoy tángshuǐ, a warm, sweet soup, at the end of a meal.

The nutritional value and possible health benefits of mung beans are some of their biggest draws. High in protein and dietary fiber, mung beans are also a good source of antioxidants, essential amino acids, vitamin C, B vitamins like folate, and minerals like phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

However, sprouted mung beans have fewer carbohydrates and calories than whole mung beans. According to nutritionists, sprouting changes how the bean absorbs certain nutrients, so sprouted options contain less folate, protein, and magnesium.

You can find mung beans in most Asian markets, health food stores, or specialty grocery stores. The legume is easy to cook and use in various preparations and dishes. If it’s your first time, here are some tips to consider:

1. 1. Soak mung beans: It’s not necessary to soak whole mung beans before cooking them. However, if you’re preparing moong dal cheela—flourless savory crepes made with mung bean paste—you’ll need to soak the beans to soften them so you can grind them into a thick paste using a blender or food processor. (Rinsing mung beans, on the other hand, is always a good idea.) To soak mung beans, place them in a medium bowl with a few inches of water. Let the beans sit overnight, then drain them into a colander before cooking.
2. 2. Use a pressure cooker: Whole mung beans can take anywhere from thirty to forty minutes when cooked on the stovetop, but using a pressure cooker reduces the cooking time slightly, to about twenty minutes. To avoid overly mushy mung beans, cook them on high pressure at zero minutes, with a ten-minute natural pressure release.
3. 3. Incorporate mung beans: Add mung beans to coconut milk curries, stir-fries, and rice dishes like biryani or pulao for extra texture and protein. You can also combine them with black beans and corn to make veggie burgers or add them to a bean salad. Mung bean soup is a popular dish in both Chinese and Filipino cuisine.