Recipe: Vaal Or Butter Beans Curry

Sometimes the most difficult meals to make are the everyday meals.

Everybody is looking for some excitement on their plate, day after day, come rain or shine, or hail, and keeping the food surprises going, and having always a bunch of satisfied customers within the family, is often a huge challenge.

Cooking with types of beans, pulses, lentils, legumes is also a tough call.

Wondering how to make that larger variety of the nutrient-packed vaal in a tasty way?

Try Nilanjana Mhatre's swadisht (yummy) take.

Simple Vaal or Butter Beans Curry

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• 1 cup large vaal or white double bean, soaked overnight and boiled till tender
• 2 onion, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste, optional
• 1 tbsp oil
• ¼ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• 1½ tsp dhania or coriander powder
• ¾ tsp jeera powder
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp
• Water
• 1 tsp paav bhaji masala
• Pinch kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves, optional

Method

• In a kadhai or large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and fry the onions till soft.
  Add in the tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste and fry over medium-low heat till the onions and the tomatoes are reduced to a paste.
  Add in the boiled vaal and the salt fry a few minutes.
  Now add enough water to have a watery curry consistency.
  Bring to a boil and add all the dry spices.
• Serve with steamed rice or hot rotis.

Editor's Note: Instead of double beans, use fava beans or lima beans or the smaller variety of vaal. Or even black small chickpeas or chana.

You can reduce the number of tomatoes to 2 and use a pinch of aam choor or dried mango powder.

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Lead image: Kind courtesy Andrew Fogg/Wikimedia Commons