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    Home » Main Meals

    Easy Curried Mung Beans

    Published: Aug 30, 2022 · Modified: Jun 29, 2023 by Janelle Hama

    Jump to Recipe

    Healthy, low fat, satiating and easy, curried mung beans without oil. Simmered in a spiced tomato and onion sauce. Naturally vegan and gluten-free. 

    a white bowl of cooked curried mung beans with green chili and lemon wedges
    Freshly cooked green gram curry

    This website receives a commission/fee for each purchase bought through the affiliate links on this website.

    Jump to:
    • What are curried mung beans?
    • 😋Why You’ll Love This Recipe
    • ✔️Ingredients You’ll Need
    • 🍛How To Make Curried Mung Beans
    • ⭐ Pro Tips 
    • 🍛Serving Suggestions
    • ❓FAQ
    • 🍲Related Recipes
    • Curried Mung Beans

    What are curried mung beans?

    Curried mung beans, or green gram curry, are small rounded green legumes, that have been simmered in a curried sauce.

    This recipe is made with a base of freshly chopped tomatoes and onions. 

    The flavoring comes from spices including curry powder, cumin and turmeric, chili with the addition of ginger, onion and garlic powders.

    😋Why You’ll Love This Recipe

    • One pot, chop and drop type of meal
    • Big batch and left-over approved (by my family)
    • Dietary friendly - suitable for vegans, gluten free, dairy free, oil free (WFPB), corn free, low fat and soy free.
    • A great source of starch to keep you satiated

    ✔️Ingredients You’ll Need

    vegetable stock, parsley, tomato, onion, mung beans, garlic, tomato paste, lime and various spices laid out on a white tabletop

    Notes on some of the ingredients, the full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

    Dry mung beans (aka dry green gram) can be found at your local oriental grocer, some supermarkets, fruit market and Costco. Otherwise you can purchase them here online (affiliate link).

    Soak the beans (after cleaning/sorting out any unwanted pieces) for at least two hours prior to cooking in warm water. 

    Fresh onion and tomato should be chopped small and are part of the sauce.

    Tomato paste adds richness to the sauce in this curry recipe.

    Curry powder you can use your preferred brand, or try this one (affiliate link).

    Onion and garlic powder also adds flavor and enhances the fresh crushed garlic and onion.

    Cumin an integral part of any curry flavoring. You can adjust this to suit your taste, however, note that cumin can be bitter if too much is added.

    Vegetable stock - use your preferred brand or a homemade version. Vegetable stock creates a really rich flavoring, you can opt-out of this ingredient and replace it with Himalayan salt to suit your taste. The reason why you can do this is due to all the spices and aromatics added. I alternate between the two versions.

    Fresh lime or lemon juice to squeeze on top of the green gram curry, the amount added is per personal preference. 

    Fresh parsley will need to be finely chopped. The stalks are great to stir through during cooking and the parsley leaves are added fresh on top.

    🍛How To Make Curried Mung Beans

    Step 1 - In a nonstick pan, add 3 tablespoons of vegetable stock and fry onion and tomato until wilted. Stir through fresh garlic and ginger for a minute, then stir through all the spices, including the onion and garlic powders.

    Step 2 - Stir through the beans, finely chopped parsley stalks and add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil with the lid on and then turn down the heat to low-medium and simmer for 30 minutes or until the beans have completely softened. Turn off heat and stir through lime juice. Serve warm topped with the finely chopped parsley.

    softened diced tomatoes and onions in a saucepan
    red water with mung beans and a red silicone spoon in a black sauce pan
    cooked mung beans in a red sauce in a black sauce pan

    ⭐ Pro Tips 

    Green gram soaks up a lot of water so the result will be thick, creamy and soft beans. 

    Feel free to adjust the measurements of the spices to suit your taste. You can also up the amount of garlic and ginger used.

    You can water down your meal if you’d like it runnier, you will need to adjust the salt and perhaps some of the spices.

    Pan Frying Without Oil

    It is important to use a good quality nonstick pan (I love using my Scanpan (affiliate link) as it heats up evenly and is easy to work with)

    Use a couple of spoonfuls of water when frying without oil to start with and then add a spoonful at time as needed.

    Rapid stirring is needed unless there are ample amounts of fluid, otherwise, the food will stick to the pan.

    a spoon in a half eaten from bowl of cooked beans

    🍛Serving Suggestions

    My family loves eating curried mung bean with either boiled or steamed potatoes and an equal amount fresh side of salad, such as cabbage salad called Malfouf salad.

    You can also try it with oven-baked sweet potatoes, a side of rice such as vermicelli rice or Instant Pot basmati rice or flatbread (plain or garlic), along with some steamed vegetables such as broccoli.

    We also love to top it with some fresh chili and a side of pickles.

    ❓FAQ

    Should I soak mung beans before cooking?

    It is not mandatory, but soaking does help mung beans absorb flavours better. Soaking the beans can be anywhere from two hours through to overnight. As these beans are small beans, they cook quite quickly in comparison to other beans.  If you do not pre-soak the beans, simmer them for at least 50-60 minutes.

    What do mung beans taste like?

    Mung beans have a lightly nutty, slightly sweet taste, similar to other pulses (beans) but milder in flavor. They take on added flavors really well when cooked, they have a slight buttery flavor.

    How to store curried mung beans?

    Allow the curried mung beans to completely cool down to room temperature, then place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to five days. Take out the required portion and reheat as needed. Alternatively, seal in an air-tight container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.

    two white bowls of cooked mung beans and lemon and green chili

    🍲Related Recipes

    If you are a fan of simple curry recipes, try out my vegetable curry puffs or the most satisyfingly creamy chickpea and lentil curry!

    • Sweet Potato Spinach and Chickpea Curry
    • Vegan Barley Porridge
      Curried Barley Porridge (Easy & Vegan)
    • a plate of yellow dal with cilantro and red chili on top
      Yellow Split Pea Dal
    • Lebanese Lentil Porridge
      Lentil Porridge (Mujadara Makhbousa)

    Looking for more bean recipes? Try this vegetarian cassoulet by Keeping It Simple or this black bean soup by Veggie Inspired.

    Otherwise check out this mouthwatering chayote curry by Plant Food at Home.

    Did you make this? I'd love to know! Leave me a comment below with a ★★★★★ rating or tag @plantbasedfolk on social media.

    a white bowl of cooked curried mung beans with green chili and lemon wedges

    Curried Mung Beans

    Healthy, low fat, satiating and easy, curried mung beans without oil. Simmered in a spiced tomato and onion sauce. Naturally vegan and gluten-free.
    Print Pin Rate Save Recipe Saved Recipe
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Indian
    Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
    Servings: 6 servings
    Author: Janelle Hama

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups Mung beans wash and soaked in warm water for 2 hours
    • 2 medium Tomatoes diced
    • 1 medium Onion diced
    • 1 small Lime juiced. Or lemon
    • 1 tablespoon Tomato paste
    • 2½ cm Ginger finely chopped
    • 3 cloves Garlic crushed
    • 1 tablespoon Curry powder
    • 1 tablespoon Garlic powder
    • 1 tablespoon Onion powder
    • 1 teaspoon Cumin powder
    • ¼ teaspoon Hot chili powder
    • 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
    • ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
    • 5 cups Vegetable stock can be replaced with water and salt. See notes
    • 1 large handful Parsley separate the stalks and the leaves and finely chop both
    Metric - US Customary
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • In a nonstick pan, add 3 tablespoons of vegetable stock and fry onion and tomato until wilted. Stir through fresh garlic and ginger for a minute then stir through all the spices, including the onion and garlic powders.
      2 medium Tomatoes, 1 medium Onion, 1 tablespoon Tomato paste, 2½ cm Ginger, 3 cloves Garlic, 1 tablespoon Garlic powder, 1 tablespoon Onion powder, 1 teaspoon Cumin powder, ¼ teaspoon Hot chili powder, 1 teaspoon Coriander powder, ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon Curry powder
    • Stir through the mung beans, parsley stalks and add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil with the lid on and then turn down the heat to low-medium and simmer for 30 minutes or until theb beans have completely softened. Turn off heat and stir through lime juice. Serve warm topped with the finely chopped parsley.
      2 cups Mung beans, 1 small Lime, 5 cups Vegetable stock, 1 large handful Parsley

    Video


    Notes

    Vegetable stock can be replaced with water and salt to taste, as there are a lot of spice and aromatics in this dish there will be lots of flavor.
    Feel free to adjust the measurements of the spices to suit your taste. You can also up the amount of garlic and ginger used.
    Forgot to pre-soak your beans? No worries, just cooked them for at least 50-60 minutes until they have completely softened.
    Enjoy with a side of cabbage salad such as this kupus salata.
    If you love this type of recipe, you will also love my yellow split pea dal or my sweet potato spinach and chickpea curry. Otherwise, try my easy curried barley porridge.

    Equipment

    1 pot

    Nutrition

    Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 814mg | Potassium: 412mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 917IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 2mg

    N.B., nutrition info is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. This will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.


    Tried this recipe?Mention @Plantbasedfolk or tag #plantbasedfolk

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Bianca

      September 12, 2022 at 12:31 pm

      5 stars
      Found a big pack of mung beans at Costco, found this recipe, had all the ingredients. I’ve never had beans like this, they were creamy. I’m new to cooking without oil too, doing it for my health, I’m excited to have found your website, I think I will try your other curry recipes next

      Reply

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    Hello, I'm Janelle, a culinary enthusiast with over two decades of cooking experience and a keen interest in creating delicious vegan Lebanese recipes.

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