Mung beans are the most easily digestible pulse. As they require less energy for digestion, so there is more energy available for us to use! They are re-knowned and praised for their cleansing, healing and strengthening properties and are balancing for vata, pitta and kapha. They are the ideal food for a detox. (see Cleanses). The whole beans are green in colour and need soaking. Soaking a few hours is good but best is to soak them until them just begin to sprout, sometime 24+ hours. I find the soup from sprouted mung is especially sweet and nourishing.

You can also buy split mung beans (yellow mung) from Indian shops – they are yellow, having had the green skins removed and do not need soaking. The yellow split mung is used in kitcheree.