Fresh, spicy, and creamy, this coconut mung bean curry is an explosion of delicious Thai flavours. It's a one-pot, easy vegan curry ready in less than 30 minutes. You'll love it!
Coconut green curry is a famous Thai recipe, and today we'll prepare it with whole green mung beans instead of the classic chicken.
Mung beans are a staple legume in South and Southeast Asia and are used in both sweet and savoury recipes in Indian, Chinese, and Thai cuisines.
Also known as green gram or munggo, these tiny green beans taste sweet and nutty and don't need long to soak and cook. Plus, they're incredibly nutritious, packed with fibres and plant-based proteins.
Mung beans are incredibly versatile, perfect for making soups, stews, and curries. And preparing this Thai bean curry is super simple!
Soak mung beans for a couple of hours and then simmer them in a rich, aromatic broth with coconut milk, green curry paste, and green aubergines. Then, tip in red spur chillies, and Thai basil, and you're done!
Thai green curry paste should be quite easy to find at your local supermarket or Asian food store. It's a fragrant blend of green chillies, lemongrass, basil, and kaffir lime zest — it gives instant flavour to this mung bean curry!
If you can't find green curry paste, you can prepare it from scratch following our instructions in this Thai curry puffs recipe. We used only easy-to-find ingredients; it's ready in less than 5 minutes and fully vegan!
This mung bean curry is a wonderful wholesome dish, comforting and satisfying. You can have it on its own or pair it with a side of steamed jasmine rice, Thai pilaf rice, green papaya salad, or stir-fried morning glory.
And if you're looking for more recipes with mung beans, we think you'll love these vegan mung bean burger and mung bean falafel recipes. Don't miss them!
Ingredients
| Raw Green Mung Beans | 220 g |
| Coconut Milk (canned) | 350 mL |
| Green Curry Paste | 4 tbsp |
| Vegetable Stock | 360 mL |
| Gluten-Free Soy Sauce | 1 tbsp |
| Caster Sugar | 2 tsp |
| Kaffir (Makrut) Lime Leaves | 2 |
| Thai Green Aubergines (or purple aubergines) | 320 g |
| Red Spur Chillies | 2 |
| Thai Basil | 4 tbsp |
Step 1
Rinse the dried green mung beans, add them to a bowl or pot, and cover with water.
Let the beans soak at room temperature for at least 3 hours.
The longer you soak them, the quicker they will cook. Ideally, you should leave them in water overnight (about 8 hours), if you can.
Step 2
For the green curry paste, you can use the store-bought, ready-made green curry paste or prepare it from scratch, following our instructions in these green curry pastries.
Now, heat 120 mL of coconut milk in a pot and, when it boils, tip in the green curry paste.
Stir well and simmer all for 1-2 minutes over low heat.
Step 3
Drain the soaked mung beans and add them to the coconut curry mix, followed by the vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, and kaffir lime leaves (AKA markut lime leaves).
If you can't find kaffir lime leaves, you can replace them with bay leaves and add the zest of one lime.
Step 4
Cover and bring the bean curry to a boil.
Simmer it for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mung beans are tender but not mushy.
The cooking time may vary depending on how long you've soaked the beans for or how old they are.
If needed, let the mung beans simmer a little longer (up to 30 minutes) with some extra stock — and try adding a pinch of baking soda to help them soften.
Step 5
Meanwhile, slice the Thai green aubergines into wedges and julienne the red spur chillies.
If you can't find these two ingredients, you can replace Thai aubergines with purple aubergines or zucchini and swap red spur chillies with red peppers or thin red chillies.
Add the aubergines to the green curry and pour in the remaining 230 mL of coconut milk.
Bring the coconut curry back to a boil, and simmer it over low heat for 5 more minutes.
Step 6
Finally, remove the pot from the heat and tip in the red chillies and fresh Thai basil leaves.
Stir well until the basil leaves are just wilted.
Your mung bean coconut curry is ready!
Divide it among bowls and finish it off with a few basil leaves, sliced chillies, and a drizzle of lime.
Serve the Thai green curry with a side of steamed Jasmine white rice or whole grain rice for extra fibres.
Tips
Other veggies that go well with mung beans in this curry include chopped green beans, snow peas, carrots, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and king oyster mushrooms. Give them a go!