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Home » Recipes » Lentil & Beans

Green Moong Dal / Mung Beans - Instant Pot & Stovetop

Mar 1, 2023. by Bhavana Patil. 8 Comments | This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Whole Green Moong Dal (Hesarukalu Palya in Kannada) is a simple high protein, delicious curry recipe made with green lentils (mung beans) in an Instant Pot or a Stovetop pressure cooker that can be served along with roti's, chapatis, or even rice.

whole green moong dal made in the instant pot served in a white bowl and cilantro on side

This is a North Karnataka style recipe for green moong dal, also known as Hesarukalu Palya (Hesarukalu means moong bean and palya means subji/curry). Mung Bean Curry can be prepared dry or as a gravy dish.

Moong bean being protein-rich, this Hesarukalu Palya is one of the perfect dishes to add more protein to your vegetarian diet.

I have made this recipe by soaking moong beans overnight but If you don't have time to soak lentils, You can still make this dish by setting the timer to 15 minutes on the INSTANT POT with (Quick Pressure Release) and for ¾ cup of dry green lentils add 3 cups of water.

Have this as a green moong dal soup with a piece of bread or baguette. You can also add veggies like carrot, broccoli, squash along with lentils before you pressure cook, and instead of water use vegetable stock or broth.

Stir spinach or kale at the end to make this a healthy vegetable lentil soup. 

If you are looking for more Lentil (dal) recipes check Dal tadka, Spinach Dal / Palak Dal, Panchmel dal from my blog.

If you love Lentils & Beans and looking for more Instant Pot Indian Recipes? Here are my 22+ Instant Pot lentils & Beans Recipes you must try.

Ingredients for Green Moong Lentils

  • Whole Green Moong Dal: Have soaked dried Green moong dal (mung beans) overnight and used in the recipe. You can easily find whole green mung dal in Indian grocery stores or on Amazon.
  • Onion, green chili, garlic, and ginger: I have used finely chopped onions, green chilies, and garlic-ginger paste.
  • Tomato: Used 2 medium finely chopped Roma tomatoes. You can also use canned tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes.
  • Oil: use any cooking oil of your choice.
  • Spices: I have used turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, and garam masala as dry spices. Used cumin seeds for whole spices.

How to Make Green Moong Dal in Instant Pot

Firstly, wash and soak moong dal overnight (or about 6-7 hours).

step to soak the whole green mung dal in water overnight collage

Press Saute on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it's hot add cumin seeds. Let them crackle.

Add ginger-garlic paste, saute till the ginger-garlic turns golden brown.

step to saute cumin seeds and ginger garlic paste in a tablespoon of oil collage

Next add onions, green chili and allow to saute for 2-3 minutes until translucent - stir regularly.

Then add tomatoes, dry spices like turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and cook for 1-2 minutes, till tomato turns soft.

step to saute onions and tomato and add dry spices collage

Now add soaked moong dal, water, and salt give a stir.

step to add soaked mung beans,water and salt to instant pot insert and pressure cook collage

Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to manual (High Pressure) and set the timer to 3 minutes (for firmer moong beans) or 5 minutes(for softer, broken up moong beans).

Once the pot beeps, manually do a quick pressure release (QR).

Lastly, remove the lid away from you, add cilantro and lemon juice. Also, adjust the consistency of the dal at this point.

Mung Bean Curry in instant pot insert garnished with cilantro

Serve Instant Pot whole green moong da hot with any flatbread, steamed rice, roti, quinoa, or eat as a soup.

Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method

Follow the same steps as above. Just cook the green lentils on a stovetop pressure cooker for 2 whistles on high heat, then set the heat to medium-low and cook for another 5-8 minutes. Pressure cooker green moong dal is ready.

Stovetop Pot/Pan Method:

Use a thick-bottomed deep pot or pan. Follow the same steps as above. Add the soaked green moong dal, 3-3.5 cups of water. Cover the pan with a lid and cook the green lentils on medium-high flame till done (appx takes 15-20 minutes).

whole green moong dal/Mung Bean Curry served in a bowl garnished with cilantro

Serving Suggestions

Serve Green Moong Dal hot with roti, paratha, steamed rice, quinoa.

Tips & Variations for Mung Bean Curry

  • If you don't have time to soak lentils. You can still make this dish by setting the timer to 15 minutes on the INSTANT POT with (Quick Pressure Release) and for ¾ cup of dry green lentils add 3 cups of water.
  • If you don't have garam masala, add half a teaspoon each of cumin powder and coriander powder.
  • If your green moong dal is watery, you can turn on the saute and cook for another 2-3 minutes in the end.
  • No onion/no garlic variation: You can take out the onion and can replace garlic with a pinch of asafetida/hing.

More Curry Recipes

  • Lauki (Bottle gourd) Sabji
  • Black Eye Pea Curry (Lobia curry)
  • Zucchini Besan Sabzi
  • Potato Peas Curry
  • Mushroom Masala
Tried this recipe?Don’t forget to give a ★ rating below
Whole Green Moong Dal served in a white bowl garnished with cilantro

Whole Green Moong Dal

Bhavana Patil
Whole Green Moong Dal is a simple high protein, delicious curry made with green lentils and spices in an Instant Pot or a stovetop pressure cooker.
5 from 8 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings: 2
Calories : 156
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian, North Karnataka
Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Method: Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker, Stovetop
Prep Time : 6 hours
Cook Time : 10 minutes
Total Time : 6 hours 10 minutes

Equipment

  • Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker
  • Stovetop Pressure Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • Measuring cup used 1 cup = 250 ml
  • ¾ cup dry Green gram/dry whole green mung lentil/moong dal
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 2 medium tomato chopped
  • 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
  • 3 green chilies split in half
  • 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
  • 2-2.5 cups water
  • 2 tablespoon coconut oil
  • coriander leaves for garnish
  • juice of ½ lemon

Spices

  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne or red chili powder (adjust to your preference)
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala/curry powder

Instructions
 

Instant Pot Method:

  • Firstly, wash and soak moong dal overnight (or about 6-7 hours).
    step to soak the whole green mung dal in water overnight collage
  • Press Saute on Instant Pot. Add oil and once it's hot add cumin seeds. Let them crackle.
  • Add ginger-garlic paste, saute till the ginger-garlic turns golden brown.
    step to saute cumin seeds and ginger garlic paste in a tablespoon of oil collage
  • Next add onions, green chili and allow to saute for 2-3 minutes until translucent - stir regularly.
  • Then add tomatoes, dry spices like turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and cook for 1-2 minutes, till tomato turns soft.
    step to saute onions and tomato and add dry spices collage
  • Now add soaked moong dal, water, and salt give a stir.
    step to add soaked mung beans,water and salt to instant pot insert and pressure cook collage
  • Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to manual (High Pressure) and set the timer to 3 minutes (for firmer moong beans) or 5 minutes(for softer, broken up moong beans).
  • Once the pot beeps, manually do a quick pressure release (QR).
  • Lastly, remove the lid away from you, add cilantro and lemon juice. Also, adjust the consistency of the dal at this point.
    Mung Bean Curry in instant pot insert garnished with cilantro
  • Whole green moong dal is ready and serve hot with any flatbread, boiled rice, roti, quinoa or eat as a soup.
    Whole Green Moong Dal served in a white bowl garnished with cilantro

Stovetop Pressure Cooker:

  • Follow the same steps as above. Just cook the green lentils on a stovetop pressure cooker for 2 whistles on high heat, then set the heat to medium-low and cook for another 5-8 minutes.

Stovetop Pot/Pan Method:

  • Use a thick bottomed deep pot or pan. Follow the same steps as above. Add the soaked green moong dal, 3-3.5 cups of water. Cover the pan with a lid and cook the green lentils on medium-high flame till done (appx takes 15-20 minutes).

Notes

I have prepared this dish in my electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot DUO60 6 QT
  1. If you don't have time to soak lentils. You can still make this dish by setting the timer to 15 minutes on the INSTANT POT with (Quick Pressure Release) and for ¾ cup of dry green lentils add 3 cups of water.
  2. If you don't have garam masala, add half a teaspoon each of cumin powder and coriander powder.
  3. If your green moong dal is watery, you can turn on the saute and cook for another 2-3 minutes in the end.
  4. No onion/no garlic variation: You can take out the onion and can replace garlic with a pinch of asafetida/hing.
 
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition

Calories: 156kcalCarbohydrates: 28.97gProtein: 7.65gFat: 1.84gSaturated Fat: 0.235gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.578gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.88gSodium: 380mgPotassium: 554mgFiber: 4.1gSugar: 4.49gVitamin A: 1900IUVitamin C: 64.4mgCalcium: 210mgIron: 10.1mg
Keyword green lentil recipes, green moong dal, hesarukalu palya, karnataka style
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. babloo says

    August 30, 2017 at 5:51 am

    seems a perfect dish, healthy and tasty. cheers!

    Reply
    • bhavana says

      May 27, 2019 at 10:19 pm

      Thank you ! Hope you tried this recipe.

      Reply
  2. Kathy says

    July 26, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    When you say “3 split green chilies,” what kind of chilies do you mean? What size? Could I use jalapeños, or were you thinking of something hotter?

    Reply
    • bhavana says

      May 27, 2019 at 10:22 pm

      I have used 3 thai chillies here for the recipe.But you can add jalapenos according to your spice intake level.

      Reply
  3. Christine Dycio says

    November 17, 2019 at 1:43 am

    QUESTION:
    Do you use the water that you soaked the lentils in for the water used in the recipe? I am increasing the recipe to 4 servings. In the original amount recipe (3 servings) it looks like you use 1/4 water to every 1/4 cup of lentils. Is that a good ratio? Thanks

    Reply
    • bhavana says

      November 17, 2019 at 11:43 am

      Hi Christine ,in the recipe i have used 3/4 cup of dried mung beans and soaked for atleast 4-5 hours (fyi I dint used soaked water)..and added 2.5 cups of water while pressure cooking.
      For 4 servings use 1 cup dry moong beans and 3 cups of water.Even if you add extra water no worries,you can press saute after pressure cooking and dry up a bit to get your consistency.Let me know if you have more questions.

      Another Method:
      If you dont have time to soak lentils,You can still make this dish by setting timer to 15 minutes on the INSTANTPOT with (Quick Pressure Release) and for 3/4 cup of dry green lentils add 3 cups of water.

      Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    January 07, 2020 at 3:31 pm

    5 stars
    Tried it came perfect!

    Reply
    • bhavana says

      January 07, 2020 at 3:31 pm

      thankyou!

      Reply

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