Recipe courtesy of TV chef and cookery writer, Anjum Anand
Sunday Lunch Kidney Bean Curry
This has always been one of our staple Sunday lunches. It may sound boring but it is a Punjabi stalwart and one that meat-eaters and vegetarians alike love. It seems to be one dish that Indians across India also appreciate regardless of their own regional cuisine and one I get requests for online. So here it is, not great on paper, great on the plate. I really prefer to use dried kidney beans here as they really add a lot more flavour and have a better texture than the canned ones. This does require soaking and a long cook in the morning, but aside from some fore-thought is not more difficult but is a lot more rewarding. Having said that I do used canned kidney beans some times but the sauce needs some help, see below for what to increase. Serve with plain basmati rice.
Serves 3-4
200g dried kidney beans, soaked overnight (for canned, see below)
4 tbs. vegetable oil
1 small onion, blended until fine
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled
14g ginger, peeled and quartered
2 medium-large, quarteredblended until smooth
1 ½ tsp. coriander powder
1 rounded tsp. cumin powder
¾ tsp. garam masala
¼-1/2 tsp. red chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste
Large handful of chopped coriander
Throw away the soaking liquor and cook the beans in plenty of boiling water for 1 ½-13/4 hours. After 11/4 hours start the rest.
Blend the onion with a little water until it is smooth. Pour into a measuring jug or other. Blend the ginger and garlic in the same way.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add the onion paste and cook until really well browned, they will literally look like chocolate, stir often as they start to brown. Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook until you can smell that the garlic is cooked, around 1 minute once the water has dried up. Meanwhile, blend the tomatoes until smooth and then add them to the pan with the spices and seasoning. Cook this on a medium-low flame until it is completely cooked through and is very thick, resembling tomato puree, around 25 minutes.
Add the cooked kidney beans and stir for 1 minute Add 450ml of the cooking water or bring to a boil and simmer for a 5-6 minutes. Add the chopped coriander, taste, adjust seasoning and serve.
Cooking canned?
Use 2 400g cans; drain and rinse. Use 1 medium onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 20g ginger and add a little more cumin, coriander and garam masala powders. The rest of the method is the same. There will be a slightly thicker sauce.