I pay attention to my health and diet, as you may already know, but that doesn’t mean I compromise taste or quality in my meals. These mung bean cakes are incredibly delicious, light-tasting but very filling. So if one of your resolutions for 2012 is to eat healthier – we can certainly become BFF’s – and this is one of many light, simple and healthy meals for you.
My diet consists of mainly plant based foods, no meat or dairy and no wheat products. This may seem challenging when cravings call for some good comfort food. This meal is exactly that : comfort food that’s actually very good for you. Try it!
Mung beans are rich in the following nutrients : protein, vitamin C, folic acid or folate, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium, copper, manganese, phosphorus, thiamine. Mung beans are also high in fibre, low in saturated fat, low in sodium, and contain no cholesterol. Because of the wide range of nutrients contained in mung beans, they offer a whole host of health benefits for the immune system, the metabolism, the heart and other organs, cell growth, protection against free radicals, and diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
Is that enough to convince you that these are crazy healthy cakes ;) Let’s get right to the recipe, shall we, so you can make these Asap!
Ingredients for Mung Bean Cakes:
1 cup dried mung beans (I used ‘husked’), cooked separately
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 large carrots
1 tsp mild curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
sea salt and pepper to taste
chickpea flour
olive oil for frying
optional: cayenne pepper (if you want a little spice)
Directions:
Make ahead: Cook the mung beans as directed on the package in about 2-3 cups of water. (they usually require to be rinsed and soaked for a couple of hours or left overnight, or may need to cook longer if you don’t pre-soak). Add salt after they have cooked and strain well. (a great idea is to cook these the night before and placed in the fridge overnight)
Grate the carrots very fine, (I use the slicer in the food processor for the carrots to speed up prep time). Dice the onions and fry on a large skillet on medium heat to a transparent gold colour. Add the garlic and cook for 1 – 2 minutes. Add the carrots and mix and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the mung beans to this and stir well, add the spices and adjust the flavour as necessary. Turn off heat and let stand until it’s cool to the touch. (I usually spread half of this mixture on a large plate to speed up the cooling time.
Spread a coat of chickpea flour on a large plate. Shape your mung bean mixture into a ball and press gently to form a burger shape. Gently press into the chickpea flour and cover all sides. Fry on a large skillet in olive oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes on the one side, and about 2 minutes on the other. Do not move them around during the cooking time, until they are ready to be flipped. (you may place them on a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil a little)
Serve them with Quinoa Rice and a salad.
Quinoa Rice: Boil 3/4 cups of basmati rice and 1/2 cup of white Quinoa. This is a great tasting mix that blends well with most dishes with the added nutrients of quinoa.
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Some of you have spoken/ written, and I have answered with your request for more healthy vegan, gluten-free, anti-candida recipes. I hope you like this recipe and would like me to share more healthy meals right here. I’m a girl of many hobbies but cooking is a real passion that’s creative, fulfilling and lately healing – please tell me what you would like me to share more of and I will be happy to reset my focus ;) Thank you. Ella
Blogger, Recipe Developer, Photographer and Author. Loves healthy food, photography, sunshine and dancing in the kitchen with her two daughters. 
You know, I have never made a thing with mung beans. This is first on the list!
I’m also really looking forward to upcoming recipes!
Thanks Clair, I’ve only recently started with the mung beans ~ it’s good value for a wholesome product. the bag should last me for several months ;)
thanks for stopping by ;) xo
I’ve been meaning to try mung beans — I’d like to sprout them, for a boost of Vit C. Have you ever used them sprouted? Do you think this recipe would work with the beans sprouted?
Sprouting would be fantastic, but for this recipe I wouldn’t recommend sprouted beans. They need to be cooked to softness and drained well – it would be a waste to sprout your beans and then cook all the extra nutrients out, I think. Sprouted beans would be great in a salad though ;)
ps. I should point out that the mung beans I used were ‘husked’, I will add that to my recipe ;)
Thanks for reminding me about sprouting though, I haven’t done it in a while – I love to sprout fenugreek seeds : http://www.pureella.com/sprouting-goodness/
so thanks for the reminder ~ need to get those soaked up asap ;) xo
we eat our mung beans a lot in a lot of ways.. and sometime they do end up in patties! that looks like one hearty meal!
Thanks Richa ;)
Mung beans are new to me but we already love them. Can’t wait to do more with them, you make it sound like the possibilities are endless ;) xo
Everything looks really good and taste I like bean and this salad looks great. And I aaaaalways eat with rice as latinamerican :)
These look wonderful. I love to make big batches of patties like these using whatever beans I have on hand-chickpeas, black beans…and then freeze them for the nights I need a quick dinner. Thanks for sharing.
This is very delicious!
We couldn’t find husked mung beans, so we used the mung beans we could find. The mixture wouldn’t form patties (must be the husks), so we served it on a bed of baby spinach and we liked it a lot! Next time we make it, we will expand our search and get the husked mung beans.
I have 16 days of meals planned so far, and I have been making weekly grocery lists as I go.
Brenda
I’m so glad I found this recipe for Mung Beans. I’ve only used them a couple of times because I dont’ know what to use them in.
I’ve been poking around your blog and it is so full of life and comes off so positive. I love that!
Thanks JoLynn ~ I’m sure you will like them. These are very easy to put together and very versatile.
Thanks for your compliments about my blog – these are very sweet words. Nice to hear ;) xoxo
Hi Ella,
So I tried to make these just now- the mung bean mixture was delicious on its own, but when I tried to fry them they wouldn’t stick together and fell apart before I tried to flip them. Did I use too little oil to sautee the mixture to begin with? Or maybe my oil wasn’t hot enough? I’m not too experienced with frying. My only idea was to add an egg to make it stick, but I was discouraged and I’m just eating the mixture as is (which is pretty awesome). Any kind words of advice to a novice cook? :) Thanks!
Katrine, sorry you had trouble with these…
hm… it could be that you needed more oil…
You need to place them onto heated oil, but not burning.
And also, you don’t want to move these around at all – once you place them down, leave them there until they brown a little. You can flatten them a bit with a spatula if they seem too thick. But don’t move them around on the surface of the pan.
Another issue that you could have is that the mixture could be too moist – strain the mung beans and carrots off well prior to spicing it – squeeze out all the moisture with your hands or over a thick paper towel or cheesecloth
Make sure there is a bit of oil in the pan at all times – the chickpea flour needs the oil to brown nicely and ‘seal’ up the cakes.
Last suggestion…
It could be the pan you’re using… what type do you have?
I have found that stainless steel pans aren’t great for delicate ingredients like this or they will always stick.
Non-stick such as teflon I don’t recommend for health reasons.
I have a cast iron and it’s magically non-stick, no matter what I fry.
Good luck – I have a few more variations of these – will be posting soon ;)
xoxo