Whole mung dal with coconut- vegan

This needs to be served with something colourful as it doesn't have much colour of its own!

This dal can be served with salad and chapattis as a light lunch, or as part of a larger meal with sabji and rice. As you can see from the above picture, I had it at lunchtime with some salted tortilla (corn) chips and salad. It gave me all the energy I needed for an afternoon's housework! This is not just because of the protein and carbs, but also because mung beans are an extremely nutritious food: they are  low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol. They are also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Potassium, and a very good source of Dietary Fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Folate, Copper and Manganese. For 2 more of my mung bean recipes, look here and here. This recipe serves 4-5 people.


250g (dry weight) whole green mung beans
1 litre of water
3 tabs desiccated coconut
2 tsps ground cardamom
1/2 tsp hing
1 tab peanut oil
1 tab grated fresh ginger
1 minced small red chilli (optional)
seasalt and black pepper to taste

• Cook the mung beans in the water until very soft and mushy. I used a pressure cooker for speed. Mung beans do not need pre-soaking. (Another reason why they're a favourite of mine!)
• Stir in the coconut, salt and pepper.
• In a small pan, make the chaunce: heat the peanut oil and lightly fry the ginger (and the chilli if using). Remove from the heat and stir in the hing and the cardamom.
• Add to the dal and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Voila! So quick and easy...