Curried beans- aka Bunny Chow
South African curried Beans -AKA Bunny Chow.
By Madhur Jaffrey
It serves 4-6, But I usually double the recipe, so I have a lot for the week. Sometimes I freeze some for when I am feeling lazy. I typically double the beans right off the bat for any recipe..because never enough beans. Seriously.
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups dried pinto beans OR small-medium white beans (such as cannellini), rinsed and drained. I cook for 10 min in my pressure cooker and let sit for 20. I like my beans soft.
Prep and set aside.
1 medium onion, quartered lengthwise and then cut crosswise into thin slices
3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
2 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 cup peeled and finely diced tomato
I usually add the below spices in a bowl together as they go in at the same time.
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp hot curry powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil
A generous pinch of ground asafetida -Optional but super exciting taste.
½ tsp whole brown mustard seeds
½ tsp whole cumin seeds
¼ tsp whole fennel seeds
10-15 fresh curry leaves, if available. Optional.
1 ¼ tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp garam masala or a few pinches of ground cloves, ground cinnamon, and ground black pepper
Crusty rolls/bread or white rice. (optional)
Pickles or relish for serving (optional)
Method:
Cover the beans generously in water and leave to soak overnight. Drain the next day, and put in a heavy, lidded pan along with 6 ½ cups of water and bring to a boil. Partially cover with the lid, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Add a bit of additional boiling water if the beans run dry.
Chop onions, garlic, and ginger--set aside.
Mix the cumin, coriander, turmeric, curry powder, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
Pour the oil into a large, lidded pan and set over medium-high heat. Cook for about a minute until the oil is hot, then add the asafetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and fennel seeds. Follow them quickly with the onion and curry leaves so the fennel does not burn. Stir and fry until the onion is lightly browned. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for a minute. Add the ground spices from the bowl and stir for 10 more seconds. Stir in the tomatoes. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add in 2 cups of water, salt, lemon and garam marsala: cover and simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15.
Add the beans to this mixture. Stir, bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered on low heat, for 20 minutes, repeatedly stirring to keep the beans from burning on the bottom.
To attempt a "bunny," laterally cut off the top crusts of the rolls. Remove the insides from the bottom halves, fill them with beans, and top with pickles. Now put the "lids" back on. Alternately, serve beans in a soup plate and offer crusty bread and relishes on the side. Enjoy!