Anita Ojeda 
Ever wondered what to do with mung beans? Me, too! We love Indian food, so when my daughter’s local Sam’s Club had mung beans on sale, so I bought some and created this recipe. You don’t have to have an Instant Pot to make this mung bean curry with coconut milk, but it sure makes it simple!
Instant Pot Mung Bean Curry with Coconut Milk
Last summer I tried cooking with mung beans for the first time. Our daughter and her family had just arrived in Alaska—weeks ahead of their furniture and kitchen supplies. I had come along for the ride and to help with our grandson. We camped in their condo for three weeks but wanted to save money by not eating out.
She had brought her Instant Pot with her, though, and the local Sam’s Club had mung beans, black garbanzos, and green lentils on sale. I grabbed a bag of each and went to work creating a curry to cook in a hurry in the Instant Pot.
We found some brown basmati rice, which we discovered also cooks up nicely in the Instant Pot, too. We had everything we needed for an Indian-themed, heart-healthy meal. We like our curry hot, but you can control the heat by adjusting the number of jalapeños and the amount of crushed red peppers. The recipe is on the hot side, so if you think ketchup is spicy, you might want to leave out the crushed red peppers altogether!
Try this tasty mung bean curry with coconut milk. The recipe takes hardly any time when you make in in your Instant Pot. #vegetarian #glutenfree #instantpot Click To Tweet Print
Instant Pot Mung Bean Curry with Coconut Milk
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
Description
The key to this curry is including three different types of pulses. Use mung beans and two other types. I love black garbanzo beans and black lentils.
Ingredients
- 1 cup mung beans, dry
- 1 cup black garbanzos
- 1 cup black lentils (or French green lentils)
- 5 cups boiling water
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 jalapeños, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon coriander powder (or seeds)
- 2 teaspoons fenugreek powder (or seeds)
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder (or seeds)
- 1 teaspoon tumeric
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 2 teaspoons crushed red peppers
- salt to taste
Instructions
Add the three types of pulses (mung beans, garbanzos, and lentils) to a medium-sized bowl and pour boiling water over them. Put a plate on top to trap in the heat and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. OR, you can soak them overnight in cold water.
Turn the Instant Pot on and hit the ‘Sauté button.
Peel and crush three cloves of garlic, chop a medium onion (I prefer the white ones), and two jalapeños. Heat the olive oil for a minute in the Instant Pot before adding the vegetables and sautéing them until they’re tender.
Turn off the Instant Pot and add the spices (I have a coffee grinder that I use just for spices because milling the seeds helps preserve the freshness). You may use either powdered spices or the seeds.
Drain the pulses (mung beans, garbanzos, and lentils) and add them to the Instant Pot. Cover with water. Put the lid on (and make sure the vent is closed), and select ‘Pressure Cook’ and set the time for 30 minutes.
Turn the Instant Pot off when the time is up and use the natural release method. After about ten minutes, if the pressure hasn’t dropped, open the vent (being careful not to burn yourself).
Add two cans of coconut milk (light or regular) and salt to taste. Stir well and serve over brown basmati rice.
I usually freeze half of it for later. If my freezer is full, I divide the batch in half and freeze one half without the coconut milk
Notes
You can make brown basmati rice in your Instant Pot, too. The key is to soak the rice for 15 minutes before you put it in the Instant Pot.
For eight servings, you’ll need 4 cups of brown basmati rice, 6 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
Pour the rice into a bowl and fill with cold water. Let it soak for 15 minutes and then strain it with a fine-mesh strainer. Add it to the Instant Pot, along with the water, salt, and oil.
Close and lock the lid of the Instant Pot. Press ‘Manuel’ and use the + and – buttons to set the timer for 4 minutes of pressure cooking time. Once the Instant Pot finishes cooking, allow the rice to stay at the ‘keep warm’ setting for ten minutes. After ten minutes, press ‘cancel’ and open the vent to finish releasing the steam. Fluff and serve.
- Category: Entreé
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Indian
Keywords: Instant Pot, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, GF, Vegan, Spicy, Indian, Mung Beans, Pulses
For more heart-healthy vegetarian recipes, check out the landing page for this series.
This sounds yummy, Anita! And I think I’m sold on the benefits of the Instant Pot as well!
What exactly are mung beans?
So, mung beans are part of the legume family (which makes them a pulse). They are a little smaller than a pea.
Ok I made this tonight. First of all, it makes a lot of food! I was able to store two containers in the freezer, and leave one out to work through this week. Secondly, I used one can of coconut milk (regular) for the entire batch, and found it to be plenty!
Thank you for making cooking optional for the foreseeable future! And the aroma is delicious! Can’t wait to enjoy this with basmati rice.
★★★★★
Thank you for your kind words, Portia! I love having food prepared ahead ;).