Make tasty whole green moong dal without onion and garlic in your Instant Pot pressure cooker. No soaking required. It is protein-rich and healthy too.
Wash the dal 2-3 times under cold tap water and drain excess water.
Warm ghee in the Instant Pot on sautee mode
Once hot, add everything called in the tempering section in the order written.
Immediately add in ½ cup water.
Let it cook for 10 seconds.
At this point, you may remove 2-3 tablespoons tadka to add it later after cooking. (See Notes)
Add in the moong bean dal and remaining water.
Add in salt and sugar.
Give it a stir.
Cancel saute mode and close the pot with the lid.
Make sure the black knob is turned to the SEALING position.
Press Manual, cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 13 minutes followed by natural pressure release.
Once the silver pin drops down (takes approx. 15 minutes), open the lid carefully.
Stir well and smash some moong to check if it’s done.
Moong dal will thicken after cooling.
Pre-soaked green moong dal
If using pot in pot method to cook rice then do the following.
Soak the moong dal 2-3 hours in warm water to match the cooking time with rice.
Wash rice and fill in with fresh water. The ratio I follow is 1:1.5 (rice: water)
No need to soak rice.
Follow the steps above to cook moong dal until (give it a stir).
Place a long leg trivet inside the pot.
Top it with a rice bowl covered.
Close the lid and follow the instructions mentioned in the soaking method above.
Cook on manual HIGH PRESSURE for 4 minutes followed by natural pressure release.
Notes
You can reserve few tablespoons tadka/tempering to top it later on.I do that because my kids eat less spicy food. So I remove some tadka and add for us towards the end.I have used all optional marked ingredients. Use it if you have.
Possible substitutes
Kokum is used for a tangy flavor. Swap it with ½ teaspoon of amchoor powder.Or use freshly squeezed lemon juice towards the end.Adjust chilies and spices to your spice level.
Make it Vegan!
Simply swap ghee with coconut oil.
Useful tips to make delicious Moong Bean Curry
Soaking mung bean for 3-4 hours will cut down the cooking time.
Add some vegetable stock to eat this dal like a soup.
Moong dal thickens after it's cooled. So add more water to hydrate and adjust the consistency if needed.
Storing cooked green moong dal
You can make a big batch of moong bean curry and freeze in single-use portion size containers up to 3 months.