Review: Kidney Bean Curry

It's Week One of Whip it Up 2009. This week we made kidney bean curry. First, the three questions:

1. Was the recipe easy to follow? - Yes, although it is a little time consuming because it requires soaking the beans overnight. (Of course, you could use canned beans, and that would save you the trouble. Just be sure to give them a good rinse first.)
   
2. Did the dish taste good? - Yes, but it is rather spicy.
   
3. Will you make it again? - Yes, and I will cut the curry paste in half. It was very strong for us. I made this meal on a Sunday afternoon, so I had plenty of time to let the beans cook for over an hour. If I ever want to have this meal on a weeknight I will cook the beans one night and then add them to everything else the next night. A little planning like that can really make this meal get on the table quickly.
   

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups dried red kidney beans
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1-inch piece fresh ginger root, grated
2 tbsp curry paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
14 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

Directions:

1. Place the kidney beans in a large bowl of cold water and then leave them to soak overnight.
2. Drain the beans and place in a large pan with double the volume of water. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse and return the beans to the pan. Add double the volume of water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, then cover and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are soft. This process is essential in order to remove the toxins that are present in dried kidney beans.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok, karahi or large pan and fry the cumin seeds for 2 minutes until they begin to splutter. Add the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger and fry for 5 minutes. Stir in the curry paste, cumin, coriander, chilli powder and salt, and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the beans and fresh coriander, reserving a little for the garnish. Cover and cook for 15 minutes adding a little water if necessary. Serve garnished with the reserved coriander.
   

It is suggested you serve this meal with plain rice.

The recipe comes from this book:

Baljekar, Mridula. Best-Ever Curry Cookbook. London: Anness Publishing Limited, 2005.

This is an excellent book with a rather presumptuous title. I recommend it, and at the time I wrote this post you could buy a copy from Amazon for as little as $.98. I like this cookbook because every recipe includes a large photo of the final dish along with three or four smaller photos of the process. Actually being able to see the food makes a big difference in whether or not I will give it a try.