Instant pot cherupayar thoran (poriyal) is a South Indian Kerala style dish prepared in the instant pot pressure cooker using whole green mung beans (green moong dal), coconut and spices as the main ingredients. This makes a very delicious, easy, healthy lentil side dish with rice which is perfect for a vegetarian or vegan diet as this is an easy vegan side dish.
Cherupayar thoran can be easily prepared on the stove pan using a pan or pressure cooker too, and with instant pot its super easy to make!
You can see the stovetop version of cherupayar thoran here. Vanpayar thoran and vanpayar mezhukkupuratti (stir fry) are other easy, similar dishes made using vanpayar or red adzuki beans (cowpeas).
If you love instant pot Kerala recipes, try this instant pot Kerala sambar as well, which is so delicious, healthy and easy to make!
Also I have made this Kerala parippu curry (coconut moong dal) in instant pot and also cabbage thoran (cabbage poriyal or cabbage with coconut) in instant pot which are both popular Kerala style dishes!
Cherupayar is the malayalam word for green moong dal (mung beans) in Kerala and it is also known as pachai payaru in South India.
I have this post on how to cook mung beans here if you want a detailed guide on how to cook green moong dal or cherupayar on stove top or instant pot.
To prepare this cherupayar thoran, you do not need to soak the green mung beans in water in advance.
If you soak the mung beans, it may overcook and the mung beans can turn mushy.
So it’s a good idea to reduce the cooking time in case you decide to soak the mung beans in water in advance.
I also have this instant pot green mung bean curry here which is also very delicious and healthy dish.
We do not want the mung beans to be mushy for this dish.
Its a dry side dish so you just add the washed green mung beans directly to the instant pot and cook.
In fact, I never soak green mung beans for any recipes because its so easy to cook without soaking and you do not have to soak it unless you want to mash it for some recipes.
Because they are so easy to cook and can get mushy if you cook for longer time or if you use too much water to cook or if you soak it in advance.
Green mung beans is one of the most easy things to cook and its delicious and healthy as well! So I most often cook this in my home and use it in different recipes.
See more green mung bean recipes in this blog:
instant pot green mung bean curry
cherupayar curry Kerala style recipe
cherupayar curry without coconut
cherupayar thoran stovetop recipe
cherupayar kaya curry (raw banana curry with mung beans)
How To Make Instant Pot Cherupayar Thoran?
To make this instant pot we need green mung beans (whole mung beans with skin), coconut (freshly grated or dry shredded unsweetened) and few other ingredients.
As you can see, the main ingredients are green mung beans and coconut.
If you have access to freshly grated coconut you can use that, as that is what we use traditionally to prepare this cherupayar thoran in Kerala.
If you use grated coconut, you have to coarsely grind the coconut along with the spices to prepare this dish.
However, I have found that if use powdered coconut or shredded coconut (dry and unsweetened) its easy to add along with other ingredients even without grinding the coconut as the flakes are small.
So here are all ingredients we use to make this cherupayar thoran in instant pot.
ingredients to make cherupayar thoran in instant pot
2 cups whole green mung beans
2 cups grated or shredded coconut (unsweetened) may add little more if you wish
salt as needed
2 cloves garlic crushed
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 green chilies optional
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon red chili powder
3 cups water
for seasoning (optional)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 string curry leaves (make sure there is no water in the leaves)
5 dry red chilies broken
Step by step instructions to make cherupayar thoran in instant pot pressure cooker
To make the cherupayar thoran in instant pot, follow the below steps (this is a quick and brief explanation on how to prepare the dish, you can read the detailed instructions and ingredient list in the recipe card).
First we can make the Kerala style seasoning in the instant pot (you may even skip this if you do not want to add the seasoning).
To make the seasoning, use the saute function (this is explained in the recipe card).
Once the seasoning is prepared, add the green mung beans to the instant pot (if you skip making the seasoning, you can directly add the mung beans to the pot).
Also add the spice powders, salt and water, mix well.
Then grind the coconut coarsely with cumin seeds, green chilies and garlic and add this mixture also to the pot, mix everything well.
Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position and cook in high pressure for 5 minutes.
Do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then do a careful and gradual manual pressure release.
Stir the contents very well, and the cherupayar thoran is ready to serve.
You can enjoy with rice and any curry as you like.
If you do not grind the coconut while you are ready to cook the mung beans, you can also just cook the mung beans in the pot and once the cooking is done, add the grind coconut mixture, stir well and saute the contents for about 2 minutes.
The coconut mixture do not need much cooking, so its okay to add the mixture at the end of the cooking if that is more convenient for you.
So here is the detailed recipe for instant pot cherupayar thoran.
Instant Pot Cherupayar Thoran (Indian Kerala Mung Bean Recipe)
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole green mung beans
- 2 cups grated or shredded coconut (unsweetened) may add little more if you wish
- salt as needed
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 green chilies optional
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 3 cups water
for seasoning (optional)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 string curry leaves (make sure there is no water in the leaves)
- 5 dry red chilies broken
Instructions
- Add the oil to the inner pot of instant pot, press the saute function and adjust to medium.
- Add the mustard seeds, when it splutters, add the broken dry red chilies and curry leaves, fry for a few seconds. Press the 'cancel' button so the saute function will stop. Now this is to prepare the seasoning, if you do not want it you can just start with the following steps. Or you may also add the curry leaves and dry red chilies also along with the other ingredients as we add them instead of frying them initially (do not add mustard seeds without spluttering as they will taste bitter).
- Add the whole green mung beans to the instant pot.
- Also add the all the spice powders and salt, mix well.
- Add the water and mix the contents.
- Grind the coconut with cumin seeds, green chilies and garlic together to make a slightly coarse mixture (do not blend it too smooth). You only need to grind it for a few seconds, so they get mixed together. If you do not want to grind, you may use finely shredded coconut (without using cumin seedand add green chilies and garlic separately.
- Add the grind coconut mixture also to the pot, close the pot with lid in sealing position.
- Press the manual, cook in high pressure for 5 minutes. It will take a few minutes for the instant pot to build up pressure inside and start the cooking. Once the cooking is done, the pot will beep.
- Once the cooking is over and the pot beeps, press the ‘keep warm/cancel’ button and wait for a natural pressure release of about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of NPR (natural pressure release), you can carefully do a manual pressure release.
- Once the pressure is all released, open the lid carefully, and mix the contents. The delicious green mung beans with coconut is ready to be served, enjoy as a side dish with rice along with any other curry like sambar, moru curry etc or you can enjoy just with rice or puttu or enjoy it as it is if you like.
Such an easy and quick Thoran recipe! Thank you so much!
Yes, it is super easy to make in instant pot! Thank you so much for your feedback 🙂