Bean Coconut Curry

Ingredients :

1.      Vegetable oil                         - 2 tablespoons

2.      Cumin seeds                         - 1 tablespoon

3.      Black mustard seeds            - 1 teaspoon

4.      Cloves                                   - 5 whole

5.      Grated fresh ginger              - 2 tablespoon

6.      Grated fresh garlic (3-4 large cloves) - 1 tablespoon

7.      Onion sliced thin                    - 1 large

8.      Salt                                         -   (As required)

9.      Sugar                                     - 2 teaspoons

10.     ground cumin                         - 1 teaspoon

11.     turmeric                                 – 1/4 teaspoon

12.     Chilli powder                         -  1/2 teaspoon (or to taste)-

13.     Shredded coconut - 1/4 cup

14.     Tomato                                - 1 chopped

15.     1/2 red bell pepper sliced

16.     1 pound fresh green beans trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces

17.     1/3 cup vegetable stock (or water)

18.     1/4 cup plain yogurt

19.     minced cilantro for garnish

How to make it :

1.  Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, and cloves. Stir around until the spices start to make a crackling noise. Add the garlic and ginger and give it a coupe stirs. Add the onion, salt and sugar, turn down the heat to medium low and fry stirring periodically until the onions are soft and starting to brown.

2.  Add the cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, coconut, tomato, bell pepper green beans and stock and stir to combine. Partially cover with a lid and cook until the green beans are tender (about 15-20 minutes). You want them cooked longer than if you were just blanching them so they absorb the flavor of the curry, but they shouldn’t be mushy either.

3.  When the green beans are done, taste for salt and spice and adjust as needed. When the flavor is to your liking, turn off the heat and stir in the yogurt. Top the green bean curry with minced cilantro and serve immediately with some basmati rice or roti/naan.