Mung beans (pronounced “moong”) are a legume similar to lentils. Compared to red lentils, they’re sweeter and slower to cook.

I recommend split beans, which speed up cooking. Here’s how they stack up:

serving	cost	calories	net carbs	fat	fiber	protein	sugar
1/4 cup	~$0.341	180	23	0	8	12	3

Their Hindi name is moong and as with lentils, “moong dal” means “split mung beans”.

In East Asian cuisine, “bean sprouts” are often grown from mung beans. Sprouting them at home is supposed to be easy, though I’ve never tried since it requires whole beans.