Mung Dal is a delicious healing dish. It can be adapted to any season and to every constitution.

Mung Dal is great for nourishing and easy digestible lunch or dinner. It is a great dish if you are not feeling well, too.

In this blog post, I’ll provide a step-by-step guide on how to prepare this wonderful dish easily.

What Is Mung Dal And Why Is It So Good For You?

Mung dal is made from mung beans, which are tiny little green beans. When the green skin is removed, the yellowish bean breaks in half. This split version is used in this recipe.

The green mung beans can be made into a delicious hearty stew, a great nourishing dish for the autumn and winter. Due to its digestibility, mung beans are the number one beans/lentils in Ayurveda. Any constitution can eat any form of mung beans (whole green, split with husk or yellow split) at any season. It is one of the stable foods and a must-have in the kitchen pantry.

Mung dal is nourishing, strengthening and easy to digest. It cooks fast and tastes absolutely delish 💗

I was introduced to mung dal by Veenaji Tambe, wife of my late teacher, Shriguruji Balaji Tambe, over 20 years ago, and it has been a staple in my kitchen since.

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Here is a super easy Preparation

Sometimes, people don’t cook these beautiful dishes, such as mung dal, because they assume that the process is complicated. But it isn’t. Here is this easy-to-follow step-by-step recipe.

Step 1: Ingredients

You need:

2 cups moong dal
8 cups water
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
Pinch of ground black pepper
Lemon juice
½ tsp Salt
any vegetables of your liking
Fresh coriander, if available

For the Masala:

1 tbsp ghee or sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds (ground might be best)
½ tsp fennel seeds
hing (if available)
5-6 curry leaves
½ tsp turmeric powder

Step 2: Preparation

● Soak 2 cups of yellow split mung dal for at least 2 hrs.

Ayurveda recommends for all beans to be soaked before preparation. This balances the naturally drying qualities of beans, which leads to bloating. Although mung beans are the easiest to digest, it is also best to soak them.

The soaking time is excellent for preparing everything else. Cut the vegetables. Use any seasonal vegetables:

in the summer use for example:

leafy green vegetables like spinach/chard/kale,
asparagus,
zucchinis,
sweet potatoes.

in the autumn/winter:

leafy greens as above.
sweet potatoes,
pumpkins,
carrots,
parsnips.

in the spring:

leafy greens as above.
asparagus,
fennel.

Or any other seasonal vegetables of your liking.

Step 3: How to cook the Dal

Wash and rinse the dal about 3 times until the water runs nearly clear.
Put the dal in a big pot, add the water, and boil it.

(Be mindful that white foam forms when the dal starts to boil, which can boil over easily. The best is to skim the foam off as it contributes to bloating).
When the dal starts to boil, turn it down to cook gently; don’t cover it, as it boils over when covered.
At this stage, you can add the grated ginger.
All the summer vegetables cook fast, so you can add them when the dal is halfway cooked.

Time to prepare the masala:

heat up the ghee/oil in a small saucepan
when the ghee/oil is hot, add the seeds and sauté until you can smell their aroma. Sautéing them in hot oil releases the volatile oils of the seeds and, with that, their power.
Add the seeds in the above order (if you use ground coriander, then add them at the end)
If you use hing, add a tiny little bit now.
Then add the turmeric.
Add the curry leaves (If available, they are great to use. Their fragrance stimulates appetite, and with that digestion, they lower blood sugar and have protective qualities for the liver.)
Keep sauteing for another couple of moments,

Pour the masala into the dal, stir everything well and boil it up again.
When the vegetables and the dal are cooked, add salt, lemon juice and black pepper.
When serving, you can sprinkle chopped coriander on top.
The dal should be soupy. If it gets a little too thick, add some boiling water.

As an alternative, steam the vegetables and add them afterwards.

Serve the dal with rice or chapatis. You can also eat it with a slice of toasted sourdough bread with butter.

Yummy.

Bringing it all together

Yellow split mung dal is easy to cook, nourishing and healing. It can be eaten at any time of the day and by everyone.

Its tridoshic qualities mean that it is suitable for all constitutional types.

Seasonal spices

The spices and vegetables change throughout the seasons in order to adapt accordingly. Cumin, coriander, and fennel are cooling and aid digestion, which makes them excellent for the summer to balance Pitta dosha.
During the autumn and winter, use black mustard seeds, cinnamon, cloves, and whole black pepper in the masala, which helps to balance the cold Vata dosha.
In spring, use black mustard seeds, fresh green chillies or red chilli powder, and more lemon juice to heat up the slow Kapha dosha.

Try it out and see how easy it is to make this dish. I eat as often as I can and love it for its grounding and balancing effect. My digestive system is rather delicate and is not very forgiving, but always rebalances with a couple of mung dal dishes. It is not only balancing the physical level but equally the mental level by bringing calm and clarity.

So is so unassuming and has so much to go for.

Bon appetite!

Here is a Tip:
If you are a busy bee, plan your meals out for the whole week. If you need to soak something, do it the night before, then you can cook, mostly the lentils and beans, whenever you have time on the next day.
Cut vegetables like carrots, beetroot, pumpkin, etc., ahead of time, and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge until you use them.
This saves valuable time during the busy working week.

Try this delicious mung dal soup and tell me how you like it. If you have any questions, head down to the comments :)

Katja x