Weeknight · Instant Pot · about 35 minutes

Curried Mung Bean Soup

Name: Curried Mung Bean Soup
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 200 g dried mung beans; 1180 ml vegetable broth or water; 2 carrots; 2 celery stalks; 1 can chopped tomatoes; 1 tbsp curry powder; 2 tsp ground turmeric; 1 tsp red pepper flakes; 1 tbsp oil; 6 g Diamond Crystal kosher salt; 30 ml fresh lemon juice; 10 g fresh cilantro

A cozy, lightly curried mung bean soup — no soaking needed, all from the pantry, pressure-cooked soft with tomato, carrot, and warm spice. Vegan, gluten-free, and easy on a low-spoons day.

~35 min total 15 min pressure Instant Pot method

Spoon cost

Time ●●○○○ Anytime

Instant PotVeganGluten-Free

Servingsamounts scale to match

Units

Ingredients

Bloom the spices, then no-soak pressure cook. Toasting the curry powder and turmeric in oil for a minute wakes them up; mung beans cook through from dry in about 15 minutes under pressure, so there's no planning-ahead soak. Stir in lemon at the end to lift it.

Easier, if you like

Stovetop: simmer everything 35–45 minutes until the beans are soft, adding water as needed.
Make it heartier with a handful of spinach or a cup of cooked rice stirred in at the end.

Method

Cook's notes

No Instant Pot? Soup pot, same steps: after everything is in, simmer covered, 45–50 minutes, until the mung beans are completely tender and starting to split. Check at 30 minutes and add water if it's tightening.

No soaking — mung beans are small and cook from dry in one short pressure cycle plus the natural release.

It thickens as it sits; loosen leftovers with a little broth or water.

A splash of coconut milk at the end makes it creamy and a touch richer.

Provenance: adapted from a mung bean soup on Archana's Kitchen, tuned for the Instant Pot and the pantry.

Vegan and gluten-free as written

Vegan / gluten-free: it already is — use a GF bouillon if you cook in water.

Milder: drop the red pepper flakes and use a mild curry powder.