I always have green beans in my fridge or freezer to make this easy and delicious Indian green beans sabzi. It is my go-to recipe when I need a simple vegetable side dish for dal and rice because it needs just a few ingredients and is ready in minutes.
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Weeknight-friendly green beans sabzi
This green beans sabzi is one of my easiest recipes, and it's also one most requested by my family and friends. Desi will ask for it ever so often, and even those who don't love this versatile veggie can't help but take a second helping. "You actually made green beans taste good," my friends Shanté remarked the first time she ate them - a high compliment from a self-avowed green bean hater.
I can't take all the credit, though. I learned this recipe from my blended Konkani-Maharashtrian family, and I've made almost no changes to it other than substituting red pepper flakes for the dried red chili peppers my mom and aunts used.
A "sabzi" in Hindi is a dry curry or side dish that's served with a meal of dal and rice or dal and roti. Sabzis can be as elaborate as baingan bharta or bhindi masala, but most sabzis made on weeknights are simple, like this sauteed okra or cabbage curry. This green beans sabzi falls in the latter category, and it's as tasty and nourishing as all of these other recipes.
You can use fresh or frozen green beans for the sabzi and you need just six other ingredients, including mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, asafetida, which is optional, red pepper flakes, and unsweetened, grated coconut. If you make it with frozen, pre-cut green beans you don't even need your chopping board.
I like to sauté the green beans until they are perfectly tender, with a barely-there bite. For even more tender beans just sauté a little longer. The urad dal lentils, which turn lightly gold, add a nice crunch, and the red pepper flakes add a bit of spice to complement the neutral beans. Coconut adds freshness and sweetness to finish the dish. There's so much reward here for so little effort! I can't wait for you to make it.
Love green beans? You might enjoy this traditional south Indian favorite from my Tamil family: green beans paruppu usili, made by sautéing green beans with a spiced lentil paste.
Recipe card
Easy Indian Green Beans Sabzi
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal (black gram dal)
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing, optional)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use less for less heat)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves (small leaves stripped from the central stem)
- 16 oz green beans (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut (grated)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and asafetida. When mustard seeds sputter, add the urad dal and curry leaves and saute for a few seconds until the lentils are a light golden-brown. Add the red pepper flakes and mix them in.
- Add the green beans to the skillet along with salt to taste. Mix, then cover the pan with a lid, turn heat to medium-low, and let the beans cook until they are tender. Stir them occasionally to make sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- When the beans are done, check salt and add more if needed. Stir in the grated coconut. Turn off heat and serve hot.
Nutrition Information
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Recipe FAQs
Yes, string beans or snap beans, which are available year-round at the supermarket, French green beans or long beans will all work!
You can substitute curry leaves with two tablespoons cilantro. Add them to the pan at the same time as you would add curry leaves.
Green beans sabzi is delicious with roti or dal-chawal (dal and rice). I serve it with a simple dal, like this dal tadka, and basmati rice for a weeknight meal, preferably with a bit of lime pickle to spice things up a bit!
Refrigerate the sabzi for up to four days. Freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to four months. Reheat before serving on the stove top or in the microwave.
Shivaya Prema says
Oh how fun is this, it's my Mom's recipe, with a slight twist (safe doesn't put the urad dal, and we use mounds of turmeric, and a bit of onion)
Will try it your way 🤗
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi, we never added onions but that sounds delicious! I have to try it that way too.