Ten Bean Red Curry

Background

What to do with a new ten bean mix from Waitrose?  I must admit, the colours of the beans are actually what attracted me to the packet and the thought of doing so kind of Italian bean stew or a bean loaf was my first instinct.

But I had just found a second hand book in a charity shop and had read the article of Madhur Jaffrey's new series in Guardian, and decided by the time I had gotten home that evening that that I would "make a curry".

I love vegetable currys, I "like" meat ones, but I love the flavours of vegetable currys as these (to my taste) tend to be more complex.    This bean curry is an amalgamation of a vegetable curry I was quite addicted to in my past and a butter bean korma that I used to make with onions, mint and yogurt.

For the vegetable curry, just leave out the beans, sieved tomatoes and mint and halve the amount of ginger.  I would double the amount of fresh tomato and probably add a couple of handfuls of spinach towards the end.

Currys for me are a layering process.  First the spice mix or paste, then the onion base (if separate) and then the meat and vegetables.  I get in the "zone" when making highly spiced dishes (be it Asian or north African) as I want the foundation of the spices and herbs used to be just right.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I enjoyed making (and eating) it.

Ten Bean Red Curry

 

Ten Beans

 

250 grams of mixed dried beans (Black eyed beans, black turtle beans, butter beans, haricot beans, lima beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, rose cocoa beans, alubia beans and mung beans) - soaked overnight with two changes of cold water.  Then in fresh cold water, brought to the boil for 15-20 minutes with a whole medium onion and then allowed to simmer until tender.  Drain, remove the onion and set aside.

 

Spice paste

• 2 teaspoons Coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons Cumin seeds
• 1 level teaspoon salt
• 1 or two dried chillies
• 2 sticks (approximately 4 cm long and 1.5 cm thick/round each) ginger - grated
• 3 large cloves of grated garlic
• 1 table spoon of melted butter or gee

In a frying pan, dry roast the coriander,, cumin and dried chilies until the coriander and cumin seeds start to change colour.  Take off the heat and in a pestle and mortar (or in a spice grinder) crush and reduce to a rough powder with the help of the salt.   Then add the ginger and garlic and fat and combine for a thick paste.

The curry

• Spice paste
• 20 mls of corn oil
• 1 large onion - roughly chopped
• 100 mls of water
• 2 large red peppers/paprika - roughly chopped
• 2 large ripe tomatoes - cored and roughly chopped
• 150 mls of sieved tomatoes (or plain passata)
• 250 grams of roughly chopped aubergines
• 20 grams of chopped mint

In a deep pan, warm through the spice paste and oil and add the onions on a low to medium heat until softened.  Add a third of the water and reduce until it has the consistency of a "sauce", add a further third of the water and repeat the process a further time using all the water.

Add the peppers/paprika and coat with the spiced sauce and then add the tomatoes.  Turn the heat to low and cover for ten to fifteen minutes, checking and stirring every few minutes.  Add the sieved tomatoes and aubergines, stir thoroughly and cover.   Allow to heat through for a further ten to fifteen minutes and add half of the chopped mint and the cooked beans.  Stir thoroughly and cover and cook for a further ten to fifteen minutes and then add the remaining mint.  Stir in and turn off heat and remain covered.   Allow to stand before reheating to serve (on a low to medium heat) for a minimum of an hour to allow the favours to fully mature through dish.

Garlic Pork with Pinto beans

This is my first late Summer, early Autumn, dish and one that has a number of really good attributes. 

 

The favours in this dish hit you on so many levels.  Try for the large chops or thick steaks for this dish as the portions really do work out wonderfully for four people.   No additional vegetables are needed as a main course and, as this is relatively low maintenance recipe, this is not only great for a supper dish after work (as you can cook it the previous day and then re-heat) but also a great reserve for dinner parties as, unerringly, this is quite a light dish so can be twined with starters, a fish course and a dessert if you feel so inclined.

As you can see from the photographs, I've used Fragata olives and capers for this dish.  As the cooking time is quite long, the waxy quality of black olives helps them hold their shape even when sliced.  The capers are a great way to cut through the earthy favours of the beans and these particular ones were large and juicy!  Always a good thing.

The garlic I've used this time around is elephant garlic and the cloves are huge!  Brilliant in this dish, if you can get a hold of them, as they have milder, almost sweeter flavour, so I've used two.

I've also used what I've knicknamed sour peppers (which are pictured separately), please let me know if you have the proper name for them.  Helpfully, they are described as "Eastern" peppers in my local market.  As my descriptive knickname suggests, they taste sour, rather than bitter and with their seeds they are actually a little spicy.

The reason I've added the Tarragon in two batches during the initial cooking of the vegetables is that it seems to give a deeper flavour.  The addition of sherry or vermouth to the stock just prior to putting this in the oven is optional, but this also enhances the tarragon and is well worth it.

• 1 Kg of Pork, ideally four large chops or thick cut steaks on the bone
• 700 grams of cooked Pinto Beans
• Six plump garlic cloves, halved and sliced thinly
• One medium onion, chopped roughly
• Two medium red paprika, chopped roughly
• One medium white paprika, chopped roughly
• Two medium "sour" peppers, chopped roughly
• 50 grams of black olives, sliced
• Three good teaspoons of capers
• 15 grams of tarragon, roughly chopped
• 500 mls of veg/chicken stock
• 50 mils of dry sherry (or vermouth)
• 25 mls of extra virgin olive oil

In a deep oven/hob dish (at least five litre capacity), warm the oil through on a medium to high heat.  Brown the pork on each side.  You will need to do this in two batches.  Put aside.

Turn down the heat at notch or two and add the chopped vegetables, and only adding half the tarragon  Cook until softened and then stir in the capers and olives and remaining tarragon and stir thoroughly.  Then add the cooked beans and again, stir thoroughly, ensuring the mixture is warmed through completely. 

Then, take two thirds of mixture out of the dish and place the two of the chops/steaks on a base of the mixture, adding a further third of the mixture on top and then adding the final two chops/steaks on top these.  Using the remaining bean mixture to finish off the layers.

Take the stock and sherry (or vermouth) and pour gently into the dish.  Depending upon the dish itself, you may need to add a further 100 ml of water just to bring the levels up to just above the top layer of pork.

Cover the dish and place in a medium to hot oven at 180c for an hour and 30 minutes.

Again, many thanks to Fragata for the above ingredients, please see go and visit them at http://www.facebook.com/FragataUK/ or fragata.co.uk