Green Moong Dal Recipe (Instant Pot & Stove Top) (2024)

By: Author Anvita

Posted on Published: February 17, 2020- Last updated: April 6, 2022

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Green Moong Dal - This mung bean dal hits every note for a perfect meal. It is warming and filling, creamy and chunky, spiced but not spicy. Serve it with rice, fresh naan or toasted bread for an easy weeknight meal! Or enjoy it as a soup. In either ways it's sure to nourish your body and soothe your soul. Instant Pot Video Recipe and Pressure Cooker Stove Top recipe. Gluten-Free. Vegan option included.

What is Green Moong Dal?

Wondering what is the Green Moong Dal? You've probably relished the yellow lentil dal (Dal Tadka) or the black lentil dal (Dal Makhani) at the restaurants, but never come across this before? The Green Moong Dal is one of the many Dal variations in the Indian cuisine, however it's not something that you can typically find at an Indian restaurant. It's something we enjoy when we want to enjoy a simple dal preparation which is different from the restaurant style yellow dal.

Made with whole green mung beans, tomatoes and flavored with spices, this dal will soon become your goto bowl of comfort food.

Why you will love this Moong Dal Recipe

It's a warm comforting bowl of dal packed with the goodness of whole green mung beans.
It's quick and easy to prepare.
Perfect for a weeknight meal, when paired with rice or flatbread like roti or naan.
Or just simply enjoy it as a bowl of soul soothing soup.
It's packed with flavors and textures.
Made with easily available ingredients.
A great way to get your dose of some plant based based protein.
It's freezer friendly.
Gluten-Free.
Can be made Vegan.

Ingredients for Green Moong Dal Instant Pot Recipe

Although the list might seem long but most ingredients are pantry staples in an Indian household. Sharing our trick below incase you don't have all the spices handy.

Whole Green Mung Beans - We like to soak the green mung beans when I have time, but if time is crunched then I skip the soaking and adjust the cooking time.
Tomatoes - Use fresh tomatoes if you can. If you don't have fresh tomatoes handy, then you can use a table spoon of tomato sauce instead.
Ginger - Try not to skip this ingredient as it helps avoid bloating.
Spices - Try to use whatever you have handy from this list - peppercorns, cloves, whole red chillie, green chillie, cumin seeds, paprika, coriander powder & turmeric. Incase you don;t have a few ingredients you could always throw in garam masala to get the flavors. Mind you adding whole spices will definitely enhance the flavors.
Ghee or Oil - We like to use ghee when cooking dal, simply because it adds a rich flavor and aroma. However you are free to butter or oil if you like.
Water
Salt to taste
Lemon juice
Cilantro to garnish

How to Make Green Moong Dal Instant Pot Recipe

Here is a just a gist of the recipe, you can find the full recipe with ingredient measurements in the recipe card below.

Step 1 : Prepare ingredients

Rinse and soak the green mung beans for atleast 20 minutes if you have the time. If you don't have time to soak you could always use unsoaked beans. I have shared the adjusted time in Step 3 below.
Chop the tomatoes, grate the ginger, get the spices and other ingredients ready.

Step 2 : Saute

Using the saute function, heat ghee or oil in the inner pot. I prefer to use ghee when making dal for it's rich taste and aroma, however you are free to use oil as well.
Once the oil is hot, temper it with dry spices like cumin seeds, cloves, black peppercorns, whole red chilly, turmeric & coriander power.
Throw in the tomatoes, ginger and green chili and saute for about 5 minutes.
Add the green mung beans, salt and water. Thoroughly scrape off the bottom or any food particles stuck.

Step 3 : Pressure Cook

Cover the lid, seal the vent and pressure cook for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release. It will take about 10 minutes for the pressure to build.
If using unsoaked green mung beans then pressure cook for 20 minutes, allowing the pressure to naturally release.
Carefully open the lid and don't worry if the dal looks dry at first glance. When you stir the pot, it will get creamy as the water settled at the bottom.

Step 4 : Garnish and Serve

Add the fresh lemon juice and garnish with cilantro. Could could also sprinkle some garam masala but this is optional.
Serve with rice, flatbreads or toasted breads.

New to Instant Pot?

Check out oureasy Instant Pot Recipes for Beginnersplus15+ of our favorite tips and tricksto making Instant Pot cooking easy for you. Worried about Burn, read our post onInstant Pot says Burn Message. What is it, what it means, why you get it and how to avoid it?

If you don't have an Instant Pot or an electric pressure cooker yet, we highly encourage you to read our post 'Is the Instant Pot worth it?' and decide of yourself if you should get one.

How to make Green Moong Dal on Stove Top Pressure Cooker

Follow the same steps as listed for an electric pressure cooker.

For unsoaked mung beans, pressure cook for upto 4 whistles
For soaked mung beans, pressure cook for upto 2 whistles.

Does moong dal need soaking?

It's always a good idea to soak the beans as soaked beans are easier to digest. However sometimes you might not have the time to soak them. We have listed pressure cooking times using both soaked and unsoaked mung beans.

How to make this Instant Pot Green Mung Dal Vegan

Feel free to use oil instead of ghee.

How to serve Moong Dal

We love to pair it with our No-Burn Instant Pot Basmati Rice, however it goes really well with Indian flatbreads like Roti or Naan. Pair it with a salad on the side
If you are serving is as soup pair it with from garlic toast or toasted breads.
If you want to make a power bowl using this dal, some quinoa, rice or falafel with some cucumbers, onions or tomatoes and mint leaves and this dal goes really well.

Is this Moong Dal Recipe freezer friendly?

Yes, you can transfer it in a freezer safe containers and it will stay good got upto 3 months in the freezer.

Other recipes you will love

If you love this recipe, then you should check out some of our other favorites. Here are some of our favorite recipes you should try this week:

Sprouted Mung Beans Stir Fry
Dal Makhani
Chana Dal
Dal tadka
GreenMoong Dal
Dal Palak

If you try this recipe, don’t forget to come back and leave us comment and rate this recipe. Or tag us on Instagram @dbellyrulesdmind. For more easy recipes to make in the Instant Pot stop by ourInstant Pot easy recipes for Beginners.

Green Moong Dal (Instant Pot and Stove Top)

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Green Moong Dal - This mung bean dal hits every note for a perfect meal. It is warming and filling, creamy and chunky, spiced but not spicy. Serve it with rice, fresh naan or toasted bread for an easy weeknight meal! Or enjoy it as a soup. In either ways it's sure to nourish your body and soothe your soul. Instant Pot Video Recipe and Pressure Cooker Stove Top recipe. Gluten-Free. Vegan option included.

Ingredients

1 cup Whole Green Mung Beans (soaked or unsoaked)
1 cup fresh Tomatoes, chopped ot 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh Ginger, grated
2 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
2 cups Water
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon fresh Lemon juice
Cilantro to garnish

Spices

Instructions

Instant Pot Green Moong Dal Recipe

Step 1 : Prepare ingredients

Rinse and soak the green mung beans for atleats 20 minutes if you have the time. If you don't have time to soak you could always use unsoaked beans. I have shared the adjusted time in Step 3 below.

Chop the tomatoes, grate the ginger, get the spices and other ingredients ready.

Step 2 : Saute

Using the saute function, heat ghee or oil in the inner pot. I prefer to use ghee when making dal for it's rich taste and aroma, however you are free to use oil as well.

Once the oil is hot, temper it with dry spices like cumin seeds, cloves, black peppercorns, whole red chilly, turmeric & coriander power.

Throw in the tomatoes, ginger and green chilie and saute for about 5 minutes.

Add the green mung beans, salt and water. Scrape the bottom thoroughly for any food particles that might be stuck.

Step 3 : Pressure Cook

Stove Top Pressure Cooker Green Moong Dal Recipe

Follow the same steps as listed for an electric pressure cooker.

Unsoaked mung beans, pressure cook for upto 4 whistles

Soaked mung beans, pressure cook for upto 2 whistles.

Notes

Instant Pot Pressure Cooking Times

Soaked Beans : 15 minutes

Unsoaked Beans : 20 minutes

Stove Top Pressure Cooking Times

Soaked Beans : 2 whistles

Unsoaked Beans : 4 whistles

Spices - If you don;t have spices handy, you could always add garam masala to enhance the flavor of the dal.

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Nutrition Information

Yield 4Serving Size 1
Amount Per ServingCalories 176Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 16mgSodium 181mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 7gSugar 4gProtein 5g

All information and tools presented and written within this site are intended for informational purposes only. We are not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on TheBellyRulesTheMind.net should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though we try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of our ability, these figures should still be considered estimates.

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