Dried beans are a miracle: a fistful of hard stones that expand into an abundance of yielding, luscious nuggets that soak up the flavour of whatever they’re cooked with. They are also nutritional powerhouses packed full of protein, fibre and essential nutrients – they’re good for us, and for the planet, too. Beans and pulses have a low carbon footprint compared with meat proteins, require little water to grow and improve the health of depleted soil. They’re cheap, humble and dependable. These recipes showcase their magic.
Punjabi rajma with crisp onions and saffron rice (pictured top)
For north Indians, rajma, or dense, fudgy kidney beans cooked in a richly spiced sauce and served with crisp onions and saffron-flecked rice, is nostalgia in a bowl. I like it with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and some lime pickle.
Prep 30 min
Soak Overnight
Cook 1 hr 50 min
Serves 4
300g dried kidney beans
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp ghee (or a neutral oil such as rapeseed, to make the dish vegan)
1 black cardamom pod, bruised
1 cinnamon stick, broken up
1 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
2 red onions, peeled and very finely chopped
4cm piece peeled ginger, 4 peeled garlic cloves and 1 small green chilli, all blitzed to a paste
⅛ tsp ground cloves
1 heaped tsp anardana (ground dried pomegranate), or amchoor
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and pureed
1 tbsp dried fenugreek
Lime juice, to taste
A handful of finely chopped coriander
For the crisp onions
2 red onions, peeled and very finely sliced (use a mandoline, if you have one)
Neutral oil, for deep frying
For the saffron rice
200g basmati rice, washed in cold water until the water runs clear
1 tbsp ghee (or neutral oil to make the dish vegan)
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
A pinch of saffron, crushed and soaked in 30ml warm milk
Soak the kidney beans overnight in cold water mixed with the bicarb. The next day, drain, put the beans in a large saucepan with plenty of fresh water, and cook for 45 minutes to one hour, until tender. (If you have one, a pressure cooker will cut the cooking time in half.) Once cooked, drain and set aside.
To make the crisp onions, heat enough oil to come 2cm up the sides of a pan. Once hot, fry the onions in batches until crisp, then drain on kitchen paper.
For the rajma, heat the ghee in a large, deep casserole and add the cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and bay leaves. Once fragrant, add the onions and fry over a low heat until caramelised – a good dark, sticky caramelisation will take between 20 and 30 minutes. Add the ginger-garlic-chilli paste, stir-fry until fragrant, then add the cloves, anardana, ground ginger, chilli powder and turmeric, and fry for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, cook over a low-medium heat for seven or eight minutes, then stir in the fenugreek. Add the drained kidney beans with 800ml water, season with salt, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the rice. Heat the ghee in a saucepan, add the onion and cumin, and fry over a low heat until the onions are caramelised. Add the rice, season and fry until nicely toasted. Add 400ml boiling water, cover with a tight lid, turn the heat to low and cook for eight to 10 minutes, until the rice is cooked through.
Turn out the rice on to a platter and drizzle over the saffron milk, so some of the grains get stained orange and some stay pearly white. Squeeze the lime juice into the kidney beans, scatter over the coriander and serve with the rice and piles of crisp onions.
Butter beans with harissa, preserved lemon and gremolata breadcrumbs
I love the contrast of the creamy interior of the butter beans with the crunch of the gremolata. This is especially good served at brunch with a poached or boiled egg on top and a stack of toast to mop up the delicious sauce.
Prep 20 min
Soak Overnight
Cook 1 hr 50 min
Serves 2
200g dried butter beans
1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1 tsp coriander seeds, coarsely crushed
1 tbsp dried mint
2 preserved lemons, rind only, finely chopped
A pinch of saffron
2 tsp harissa (I especially like Belazu’s smoked chilli harissa)
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and pureed
400ml hot vegetable stock
For the gremolata crumb
A good drizzle of olive oil
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
The zest of 1 lemon
2 slices of sourdough bread
Put the butter beans in a large bowl of water, add the bicarbonate of soda and leave to soak overnight.
The next day, put the beans in a saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil and simmer rapidly for 45 minutes to an hour, until just tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof casserole and fry the sliced onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and coriander seeds, fry until the garlic is soft and fragrant, then add the dried mint and preserved lemons and fry for another minute. Add the saffron and harissa, fry for two minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook briefly. Pour in the stock and the cooked beans, season to taste and bring to a boil. Partially cover the pan, turn down the heat to low and cook for 45 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the beans are meltingly tender.
While the beans are cooking, heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a small frying pan over a low heat. In a food processor, blitz the bread to coarse crumbs, add the garlic, parsley and lemon zest, and blitz briefly to combine. Fry in the hot oil, tossing the crumbs in the pan, until the garlic is fragrant and the bread is crisp.
Ladle the beans into two bowls, scatter over the gremolata crumbs and serve.
