A soup built on mung beans, enriched with fennel, butternut squash and leek. Garlic-free, easy to digest and suited to a cleansing course or a light lunch. It pairs the gentle sweetness of the vegetables with spices that support digestion.
- Category
- soup
- Portion
- 350 g
- Yield
- 10 servings
- Nature (TCM)
- neutral
- Nature (Ayurveda)
- tridoshic (vata ↓ · pitta ° · kapha ↓)
TCM: Neutral mung beans and fennel with gently warming squash, leek, ghee and turmeric — a cleansing yet warming and gentle soup.
Ayurveda: Warm, moist and easy to digest — mung beans with ghee calm vata, fennel and asafoetida support agni and reduce bloating; garlic-free, so it's gentle on pitta, too.
Ingredients
- Mung beans (dry, soaked) – 450 g
- Water or vegetable stock – 5.5 l
- Ghee or vegetable oil – 30 g
- Ground turmeric – 5 g
- Asafoetida (hing) – 1 g (2 pinches)
- Fennel bulb – 400 g
- Butternut squash – 600 g
- Leek (white and pale yellow part) – 200 g
- Salt – 15 g
- Ground black pepper – 3 g
- Fresh chives or parsley leaves – 20 g
Method
Mung beans
- Soak overnight, then rinse and cook in the water/stock until half-tender (about 15 minutes).
Base
- Heat the ghee in a pot, add the sliced leek and sauté briefly.
Vegetables and spices
- Add the fennel and squash together with the turmeric and asafoetida. Stir briefly to let the spices bloom.
Cooking
- Add the pre-cooked mung beans, pour in the stock, bring to a boil and simmer for another 20–25 minutes, until both the mung beans and the vegetables are soft.
Seasoning and finishing
- Season with salt and ground black pepper. If you like, blend part of the soup and return it to the pot to make it creamier.
- Sprinkle with fresh chives or parsley leaves before serving.
Serving
Serve warm in bowls as a main course. A piece of whole-grain bread or toasted seeds for sprinkling go well with it.
Key ingredients
- Mung beans (split, yellow dhal)
- Easily digestible plant protein and fibre; in Ayurveda a 'clean' legume suited to detox.
- Pumpkin
- Sweet, gentle and easy to digest; beta-carotene and potassium.
- Leek
- Gentle leek sweetness; prebiotic fibre.
- Ghee (clarified butter)
- Clarified butter without milk proteins; in Ayurveda a carrier of spices and 'agni'.
- Turmeric
- Curcumin — strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects; traditionally supports the liver and digestion.
Why it’s good for the body
- Mung beans are rich in plant protein and easy to digest.
- Fennel supports digestion and eases bloating.
- Butternut squash is a source of beta-carotene, fiber and minerals.
- Leek has a gently cleansing and strengthening effect.
Traditional and functional notes on the ingredients — not medical claims.
Notes
- You can adjust the thickness of the soup by adding or reducing the stock.
- Asafoetida is optional, but it helps a lot with digesting legumes.