Serves 4 to 6
No-one tells you that summer monsoon rains are really cold. After a good Kathmandu night out I felt we could do with making some hearty bean soup and totally misjudged the quantity of beans to soak. Next morning I woke to beans spilling out all over the kitchen and a mildly annoyed mother-in-law. Embarrassed and with a slight air of panic, I cooked all the beans and made a curry leaving everyone to believe that’s what I intended all along.
Ingredients
- 100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried kidney beans
- 100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried yellow peas
- 100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried black eye peas
- 100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried chickpeas
- 100 grams | 3 ½ oz dried green peas
- Water as needed
- 60 ml | ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger (approx.10 grams), finely sliced then cut into very fine matchsticks
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 dried red chillies preferably Kashmiri
- 1 teaspoon Yak Yeti Yak or garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 medium tomato, finely chopped
To finish
- 60 ml l ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
Method
Place all the beans and peas in a large bowl and cover them with 2 inches of water. Soak the beans overnight or for up to 24 hours when you’re ready to cook the beans, throw away the soaking water and rinse them well. To cook the beans, place them in a heavy pan with a well fitted lid, add enough water to cover the beans by 1 inch and set the pan on a high heat until they come to the boil. Boil the beans vigorously for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the heat to a slow boil until the beans are soft, set them aside in a bowl, keep the cooking liquor. Wash and dry the pan ready for the next step.
Make sure the pan is completely dry then, heat the oil to medium hot, add the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, and salt cook until the onion starts to turn translucent. Add the chopped tomato and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato has softened and the oil starts to pool and separate from the tomato. Add the masala and turmeric stir and cook for about 1 minute before adding the beans, add in enough cooking water to cover the beans and the salt stir well and place a lid on the pan, simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Squash a few beans against the side of the pan to thicken the gravy and continue to let the curry simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes.
While the beans are simmering heat the oil in a small frying pan until it’s very hot add the cumin seeds, as soon as they start to pop add the sliced garlic and allow the mixture to fry until the garlic turns golden brown. Quickly pour the sizzling garlic mixture to the beans, it will fizz ferociously, stir well and check for seasoning. Set a curry aside for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
If you prefer to use tinned beans. Use one tin each of five different beans, empty all the beans from the tins discard juice and rinse them thoroughly before using them.