Mung Bean Chilli

2014-12-06
  • Prep Time : 5m
  • Cook Time : 45m
  • Ready In : 50m

I avoid eating meat through the weekdays and am always looking for opportunities to cook chickpeas, mung beans and the like through the week.

Now these grains are really hard and take forever to cook.

I have grown up watching my mother plan ahead for meals – say eg- she wanted to make chickpeas or mung on a ceratin day, then the earlier night, she would soak the grain – that would double and soften and then the next day, it was pressure cooked. If you tried to cook these on the hob in just a saucepan or a wok, it would  take you a couple of hours at least.

In this recipe, I have used  mung bean directly without soaking, and believe me a pressure cooker simply blasts them. They are so perfectly cooked.

I cooked these in Instant pot, my latest kitchen gadget- it’s is stylish and really efficient. Just takes all the stress out of pressure cooking.

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Ingredients for the Tempering/ Tadka

Bay leaf- 2-3

Cloves- 3

Green cardamom- 4

Cinnamon- 1 inch

Oil- 2 tsp

Other Ingredients

Mung beans- 1 cup

Onion, finely chopped- 1/2 cup

Tomatoes, finely chopped- 1/2 cup

Potatoes, diced- 1/4 cup

Carrots- 1/4- 1/3 cup

Ginger paste- 1 tbsp

Garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Turmeric- 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Garam masala- 1/4 tsp

Water- 31/2  cups

Salt- to taste

Method

Wash the mung beans and chop up the onions, carrots and  tomatoes.

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Put the Instant Pot on Saute mode and add some oil. The Instant Pot heats up really quick.

As soon as the oil is hot, add all the spices mentioned above for tempering/ Tadka. Add in the onions, add a bit of salt and sweat the onions. When they turn pink, add the ginger garlic pastes, turmeric powder, chilli powder, and mix well. Add the tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and mix well. Add the remaining salt and garam masala. Add water. Remember to add at least 31/2 cps water, since the mung almost doubles on cooking. Also you need to provide for cooking the vegetables and account for some amount of gravy in the dish, otherwise it will be extremely dry and the mung will  not have any taste on the inside.

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Now select the Multigrain option and let it cook.

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After the 40 minute cycle, the Instant pot switches itself to Keep Warm mode, where you can leave it as long as you need. The pressure would have lowered by now, so the vent is easy to remove.

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Enjoy!

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Serve hot with rice, rotis or parathas!

This Instant pot would make a perfect Christmas present!

Get yours here:

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