Green Moong Daal - Stovetop or Instant Pot

Green Moong Daal - Stovetop or Instant Pot - Delicious, Warming, Comforting, Nourishing and Nutritious Moong Daal is our go to Autumn/Winter meal and many an indian household. In this North Indian recipe by my Mother in Law, Mung Daal is boiled and then cooked with Spices before a tempering of whole Spices and Yoghurt is mixed in. To make it in the Instant Pot - you simply add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot but make the tempering seperately and mix in the Yoghurt at the end. This consistency of the Dal is thick and creamy.

Green Whole Moong Dal Recipe

Some recipes should be kept simple and I think that is the case with Daal. Although Daal recipes can be time consuming, as far as indian cuisine goes they are pretty simple to make.

To overcome the time it takes to cook Daal, some people cook moong daal at high pressure in a pressure cooker and I have recently tried this with my electric pressure cooker, which is the best thing since sliced bread. My mother in law prefers to make it in the pressure cooker too because it is so hands off.

I tend to cook it on the stove. I love this recipe because the earthy flavour of Mung Daal pairs perfectly with aromatic indian spices.

The beauty of this dish is that you can have it as a soup. You can have it with Indian flatbread such as chappati/naan, you could even have it with Rice or Quinoa.

To me, Mung Daal is a powerhouse of a recipe. As some of you are aware, I study Naturopathy and in Ayurveda specifically there is a saying that goes 'Mug Chalawey Pug', which roughly translates to Mung gets your legs moving. Mung is food for the soul. Food that gives you vitality and vigour.

It is easy to digest too (when soaked beforehand) and alongside other daals is amongst the first dishes a weaning baby is given.
Often alongside a rice dish like Kitchari.

Mung Daal and other types of Daal

Mung Daal, Green Moong Dal or Green Gram as it is also known, lend an earthy taste to dishes which is unmatched by other daals.

There are 3 varieties of Mung Beans:

• The whole Mung bean which has to be soaked.
• The split mung bean with skins attached.
• Split mung beans without skins aka yellow mung.

Ways to use different types of Daal

Split Mung Daal - The split Mung daal can be used in making many rice and daal dishes.

Indian Brown Lentils - These are sometimes added to rice dishes as with yellow split peas.

Black Gram Beans, Split Black Gram, Split and skinned black Gram (Urad Daal) - Earthy an often used to make the infamous dish Daal Makhani, these lentils are widely used in India. They are also used to make Papadums, Dosa, Idli and Dahi Vada.

Split Pigeon Peas - These are often used in a similar way to split red lentils, where they are simmered and completely melted down or pureed into a thick soup like consistency. I use them in Daal Chawal. (Lamb and Daal with Rice).

Whole Green Mung - Can be used in Daal. It can also be sprouted and used in curries, soups and salads.

Ingredients in Green Moong Dal Curry

Full recipe with ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page. Here is what you will need to make this comforting meal:

Whole green moong dal/Whole mung Beans - These can be found in indian grocery stores and most major supermarkets. Soak for 1 hour beforehand.

Oil - A neutral Oil such as Vegetable OIl or Avocado Oil.

Ghee - This adds flavour ans is added to the Moong and Tempering. Contrary to popular belief Ghee is actually good for you!

Onions - Diced White or Red Onions.

Ginger Garlic Paste - You can use a combination of store brought Ginger-Garlic paste, or you can puree them or crush them yourself.

Dry Spices - Garam Masala Powder, Curry Powder - I like Madras, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Turmeric Powder, Red Chilli Powder, Salt

Fresh Coriander - The Daal is garnished with coriander leaves.

Green Chillies - Chopped Finely or crushed Green Chilli Paste

Plum Tomatoes, Pureed - You can use fresh chopped Tomatoes or Passata.

Natural Plain Yoghurt - Or Greek Yoghurt.

For Tempering, you will need

1 tablespoon Ghee, 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds, 2 Dry Red Chillies, 6 Garlic Cloves, finely Sliced and Small Handful Fresh Curry Leaves

How to make green moong dal recipe - Stovetop

Rinse the whole green moong beans until the water runs clear. Soak them in water for an hour. Discard the water and add the beans to a pan with 6 cups of boiling water. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and cover the pan. Simmer for 30 - 45 minutes. (Check every ten minutes and add more water if necessary).

 

In a separate pan, heat the oil and ghee over medium heat. Add the onions and allow to cook until golden brown. Around 10 minutes.

 

Add the Garlic, Ginger and chopped green chilli and saute for a further 2 minutes.

Pour in the Tomatoes and mix well. Simmer on low until the tomato and oil seperate. Around 10 minutes. 

Stir in the turmeric, salt, red chilli, coriander and cumin powders. Cook for 4 - 5 minutes over a low heat.

Add the Curry Powder and Garam Masala Powder and simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the cooked Mung Daal to the Curry.

How to make it - Instant Pot

To make it in the instant pot, simply add all the ingredients that are used before tempering to the instant pot and cook on manual high pressure.

Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 15 minutes at high pressure and then do a natural pressure release.

Top Tips

Because this is a simple dish, there are a few steps that take it from average to divine. These are:

Build Flavour - Making sure that the flavour layers are cooked out properly so that the ingredients natural flavour is released as they should be.
Tomato - Taste your tomato. Many companies add a lot of citric acid to tomato tins/cartons. This can make the Daal extra sour. If the tomatoes are sour, add a pinch of sugar in with the tomato.
Curry Leaves - Use fresh curry leaves if possible. There is nothing that they can be replaced with. They add alot of fragrance and flavour.
Yoghurt and Tempering - The yoghurt in this recipe adds richness, depth and loads of flavour.
After adding the tempered spices to the yoghurt, you then need to add the yoghurt to the Daal and because the yoghurt is so cold and the Daal so hot, the Daal can split and you will see loads of little dots of yoghurt in the Daal.
If you instead add a couple of ladles of the Daal into the yoghurt mix before stirring the whole bowl back into the Daal, this won't happen.
Soaking the Mung Beans - Doing so just makes the cooking of the Mung Beans quicker and aids in digestion.

Variations

Yoghurt - Use Coconut Milk in place of Yoghurt for an earthy taste.

Serving Suggestions

With Flatbread or Rice

Serve with Chappatti or Rice like Jeera Rice or Ghee Rice.

With Ghee

A dollop of ghee/butter is ALWAYS a good idea on any Moong Daal recipe.

With Lemon

A squeeze of Lemon Juice works well too. I prefer not to add lemon but others love it. This is down to personal preference.

With Onion

Like many others, I usually serve mine with half an onion diced finely, steeped in 2 tablespoon of malt vinegar.

As a Quesadilla

The  leftovers can be turned it into a quesadilla. If you haven't had it before it sounds strange but please do try it if you do have leftovers.So you reduce the daal down to dry it out a bit and spoon it onto half of a wrap or chappati. Then fold it over and dry fry in a pan flipping once in between. Simple and delicious!

With Salad

Kachumber Salad
Onion Raita

Leftovers

Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
You can also freeze it for 2 months. Make sure it is piping hot before serving.

More Easy Recipes you will love:

Vegan/Vegetarian Healthy Manchow Soup – Indo Chinese

Red lentil and bulgar wheat soup

Masoor Dal Tadka

Chana Dal with Chicken

Dal tadka dhaba style (toor dal)

did you make this recipe? i'd love to hear about it! did you try any variations? if you loved this recipe/tried any variations/have some top tips, please comment below. please leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. you can also follow us on instagram and subscribe to our newsletter to get our latest recipes.