The Mighty Mung Soup

  • 45-60 minutes (20 with a pressure cooker).

Mung beans are the most easily digestible pulse. As they require less energy for digestion, there is more energy available for us to use! They are reknown for their cleansing, healing and strengthening properties and are balancing for vata, pitta and kapha, which makes them the ideal food for a detox. They are pure and sattvic. The whole beans are green in colour and need soaking, you can also buy split mung beans from Indian shops – they are yellow and do not need soaking. As a rule of thumb use 3-4 parts water to 1 part beans.

Don’t worry if you are missing any of the spices or special ingredients, just leave them out: it will still be delicious!

  • step 1

    Soak mun beans in water for 12 -36 hours. The ideal is when they just begin to sprout. Change the water several times. Then drain and rinse before preceeding.

    Put the drained beans in a saucepan, bring to the boil and scoop off as much of the froth as practical, then add the bay leaf, ghee and ginger and spice powders with the water (you can simply add 1 teaspoon of your favourite curry powder). Bring to the boil again and cook on a low flame until tender, 45 minutes. (or in a pressure cooker- 10 minutes). Remove the bay leaf and blend to smooth or to the consistency that you fancy.

  • step 2

    Add the carrot, parsnip and celeriac to the blended mung beans and spice powders. Add Good Salt to your liking (be generous). Cook until the vegetables are tender. (Blend again for smooth soup if desired or keep for texture and colour.

    If doing the Whole Mung Detox, start with just the mung soup and add vegetables later, for keep your interest and for their nourishment.

    For variety and taste, lightly roast the vegtable in the oven before adding. Endless possibilities but PLEASE eat the seasonal vegetables.

  • step 3

    When ready to serve, in a separate pan warm the ghee and fry the cumin seeds for 2 mins, then add the chopped leek if usingĀ then add hingĀ and fry for up to further 5 mins until fragrant.

  • step 4

    Garnish with the greens and puur the spiced oil over the top everything (either at the table – stunning presentation- or in the bowl or saucepan).

    Serve with lime wedges and extra ghee if desired.

    (see a Spring or Autumn Cleanse in menu that revolves around the Wonder Recipe.)