A colorful, nutritious sprouted mung bean salad with a lot of textures and flavors going on! Thinking of a quick and filling lunch or a healthy side salad for dinner? This mung sprouts salad with oil-free dressing is the perfect option.
Why You’ll Love This Mung Bean Salad
This is another of my salad recipes that are quite versatile. You can use up any salad vegetables in your fridge, like my easy Italian pasta salad or chana dal salad. Not only vegetables, but you can also add any herbs, nuts and dry fruits you have in your kitchen.
Pair this mung salad with a simple protein like masala egg fry or hariyali paneer tikka for a wholesome meal.
Are you new to beans and wondering if your gut will be okay with it? This is the answer to all your bean woes!
Soaking and sprouting break down mung beans into a form that’s easy to digest. You don’t have to worry about bean bloat and indigestion. So if you’re not used to eating beans, this sprouted moong recipe can be the first one you might want to try.
SPROUTING and COOKING DRIED MUNG BEANS is easier than it sounds. The step-by-step pictures and guidelines below will show you the foolproof way to sprout mung beans and make this salad.
SALAD DRESSING?
Mung bean sprouts have a lot of flavors. So you don’t need an elaborate salad dressing. A couple of spices with lemon juice and honey are enough to make this salad awesome.
Btw, this vegan mung bean salad is yet another of my oil-free salad dressings like the ones in paneer tikka salad recipe and creamy veggie chicken salad with pasta.
This is how you make the sprouted mung bean salad:
Video
Ingredients
(You can find the exact measurements and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this page.)
- Dried mung beans or green gram: If you don’t have the time for sprouting, buy sprouted ones if you can. Or else, soak the dried beans for an hour and steam as per the recipe.
- Strips of coconut: Mung beans taste great with coconut. That’s the reason I use it in my mung bean sprouts curry, too. Unlike the curry recipe which requires fresh coconut, in this salad dried coconut flakes or strips work too.
- Vegetables: I’ve used carrots, cucumber, onion, and tomato.You can use other salad vegetables like bell pepper, celery, and lettuce.
- Other mix-ins: Roasted almonds, cashews or any other nuts. Dried fruits like dates or raisins.
- Herbs: Coriander leaves, mint leaves, spring onions, or a combination of these. Use only fresh ones. Do not settle for dried herbs in this salad.
- Spices: I use chili flakes and pink salt for flavor. You can use black pepper/ cayenne pepper and regular salt.
How To Make Sprouted Mung Beans Salad
How To Sprout Mung Beans
- Rinse and soak dried mung beans in water for about 6 hours.
- Drain the water.
- Use a wet kitchen cloth to cover the bowl and secure with a rubber band. Leave it on the kitchen top overnight, at least for 9 hours.
- Remove the cloth and voila! You’ve made moong sprouts overnight.
- If the weather is not warm enough, the beans may take longer to sprout. If you find that they haven’t sprouted the next day, rinse the beans, wet the cloth, and cover again. Leave them for another 4 to 5 hours until you see small sprouts.
How To Cook Mung Beans
Toss mung beans with 1 teaspoon of water, pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Steam them for 5 to 10 minutes in a steamer.
If you don’t have a steamer, place the bowl of mung beans in a deep pot with 2 cups of boiling water. Close and steam for 5 to 10 minutes.
Add Salad Mix-ins
Finely dice the onions and cucumber. Halve the tomatoes and remove the seeds and pulp. (This will prevent the salad from getting soggy.) Finely chop the tomatoes.
Grate the carrots and zest the lemon. Roughly chop coriander leaves.
Mix everything together with cooked mung beans. Add other mix-ins like raisins and nuts, if using.
Oil free Salad Dressing
Whisk together chili flakes, cumin, salt, lemon juice and honey. Drizzle over the mung beans and vegetables. Toss and garnish with thin strips of coconut!
Recipe Tips
- Scaling: Sprout a big batch of mung beans and store them in the refrigerator (4 days) or freezer (6 months) to save time and effort.
- I prefer Japanese cucumbers since they are crunchier and don’t make the salad soggy.
- Spices: Add ½ teaspoon of chaat masala in addition to the spices in the dressing. It is a favorite spice I use in recipes like Kabuli chana salad and hariyali paneer tikka.
- Variation: Drizzle oil-free green chutney or avocado chutney to make this sprouted green gram salad a healthier, low-calorie alternative to moong chaat.
- Moong dal salad: Substitute sprouted mung beans with moong dal. There’s no need to sprout them, and they cook faster. Steam mung dal for 5 minutes and follow the recipe as written.
- Storing: This mung bean salad is best served fresh. It keeps well for about 4 days in the refrigerator. Store the dressing in a separate container.
- Leftovers: Leftover salad will be good for a couple of days in the refrigerator.
Common Questions About Mung Beans/Green Gram
Do mung beans need to be soaked before cooking?
Mung beans can be cooked without soaking, too. In that case, cooking time will be longer (more than double). Soaking mung beans speeds up the cooking time up to 75%.
Beans are high in protein and fiber. It may be difficult to digest for some people. Soaking breaks down gassy components in the beans and makes them easier to digest. That means less bloating and flatulence.
Is it ok to cook sprouted beans?
Cooking sprouted beans reduces its health benefits, but they would still have a lot of nutrients. If you’re used to eating beans and sprouts, you can digest them well. So you can try eating them uncooked to get the maximum benefits.
If you’re planning to cook mung sprouts, I recommend steaming the sprouted mung (for salads and sides) or boiling/pressure-cooking (for curries) for a short period of time.
What to put in beans to prevent gas?
Apart from soaking and sprouting mung beans, there are more options if your gut is really tender. Try adding a teaspoon of chopped ginger and/or garlic. Both are known to improve digestion.
Or you can use the traditional Indian spice: asafoetida. Also called hing, it is a spice with a pungent smell and used by most Indian cooks whenever we cook beans or dal. Just a few pinches would work wonders for the flavor of the curry as well as your gut.
How do you cook beans without presoaking?
In a pressure cooker: Add 2 cups of water with ¾ cup of (unsoaked) mung beans, secure the lid and cook for 10 minutes after the first whistle.
On the stovetop: In a deep pot, boil the beans with 4 cups of water. Top up with hot water if it starts sticking to the bottom. Cook until soft, which would take about 20 to 30 minutes.
Health Benefits of Sprouted Green Gram
Green moong beans are not only easy to cook and delicious but also have numerous health benefits. (source)
- Mung beans are rich in important vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. Sprouted mung beans contain even fewer calories but have more antioxidants and amino acids than the unsprouted ones.
- They are a good source of antioxidants. Sprouted mung contains as much as six times more antioxidants than regular mung beans.
- The anti-inflammatory properties of mung beans may prevent heat stroke.
- Consuming moong sprouts may Lower “Bad” LDL cholesterol levels, reducing heart disease risk.
- Green gram is a good source of potassium, magnesium and fiber, which have been linked to lower blood pressure levels in adults.
- Moong beans contain soluble fiber and resistant starch, which can promote digestive health. The carbs in mung beans are also less likely to cause flatulence than those of other legumes.
- Green gram is high in fiber and protein and contains antioxidants that may lower blood sugar levels.
- Mung beans are high in fiber and protein, which can help you lose weight.
- Mung beans are high in folate, iron and protein, all of which women need more of during pregnancy.
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Collection of Indian Salads and Dressings
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