I LOVE mung beans and rice. And I shared it last Saturday with the woman who came along to the New  Year Radiant Woman Urban Day Retreat in Forest Hill, and they loved it too!

It is a surprisingly delicious meal and is also a perfectly balanced protein dish, easy to digest and very nourishing. I like it any time of year, but it’s especially nice when you want some warming food in winter. It’s also good for the kidneys, colon, and digestive organs, or when food is not being digested thoroughly by the intestines.

This is also used as a 40 day cleansing diet in Kundalini Yoga, with fruit for snacks and Yogi Tea – but why not try a few days of it?

I sometimes roast pumpkin and aubergine and add to it at the end of cooking and I even add some banana if it’s eaten for breakfast during the cleansing diet (which btw I have only managed up to day 17 but it is wonderful to do just for a few days or a week). Sounds weird but it is yummy. I  You can vary the spices according to what you like too (eg. I added cardamon to the spices, and left out the chillies).
I also add anything I fancy to the mung beans/rice to serve e.g. avocado, yoghurt, any oils that are heat sensitive like flax, solstice hot sauce. etc.  Another thing I do is soak the mung beans for a day or 2 so it’s quick to cook and then cook up the onions/garlic/ginger/spices, add the mung beans, rice, water and veg and simmer until done (usually about 40 mins). So I don’t totally follow the recipe below which is from the 3HO website.

I also add a piece of  Kombu seaweed while it’s cooking to help reduce the gas effects of the beans 🙂

mung beans and rice

Ingredients: Serves 4 at least I think!

4 ½ cups water
½ cup whole (green) mung beans
½ cup basmati rice
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup finely minced ginger root
3 cups chopped vegetables

2 tablespoons ghee or oil
¾ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon dried crushed red chilés
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt

Cooking Instructions:

Rinse the mung beans and rice. Add the mung beans to boiling water and cook until they begin to split. Add the rice and cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add the vegetables.

Heat the ghee/oil in a sauté pan and add the onions, garlic, and ginger and sauté until clear. Add the spices and cook 5 more minutes, stirring constantly. Add a little water if necessary. Add this to the cooked rice and beans. You can substitute vegetables as you like, as well as use Bragg Liquid Aminos, tamari, or soy sauce instead of salt. Tastes great with yogurt!