Beans, the musical fruit

Beans, beans, the musical fruit

The more you eat the more you toot

The more you toot the better you feel

so let's eat beans at every meal

This rhyme reminds me of a less sophisticated version of one of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, which I love to this very day! I just read a couple of his poems out aloud and was tickled pink! Feel free to read 'Jack and The Bean Stalk', but promise to do the voices, it really is worth it.

Historically, legumes have been the majority share holder in any vegetarian Hindu diet, so I guess that rhyme was wholly correct. Green Beans, Red Beans, Sugar Beans, Haricot and others, have all played a pivotal role in sustaining a meat free existence. 

Every glossy mag this side of the millennium has been preaching the pro's of beans as a healthy meat alternative. So we all know that legumes are high in protein and are beefed up with extra fibre and micro-nutrients. They're also a low GI food, which means that you will feel fuller and have sustained energy. And if all of that isn't convincing enough - for reasons that a beyond my complete comprehension, vegetarians seem to be slimmer. I guess that they look for food groups other than potato and perhaps that rippled inter-cellular fat content that meat prides itself on, is simply not present in a humble veggie. 

Now, whilst I do love "a good beans chow" with roti and accoutrements, I've decided to take a tried and tested recipe for Beans Curry and give it a twist by filling a whole wheat pita with salad, Beans Curry and topping it with Raita. Looking pretty gooood, if I do say so myself.

Now, here's an approximate recipe for the Beans Curry and Raita. A reason to love cooking is that it's not an exact science, so give it a go and taste while you cook!

1½ cups of boiled sugar beans (makes sure to boil them with 2 cloves of garlic)

½ medium sized onion

½ small tomato

½tsp mustard seeds

¼ garlic & ginger

cinnamon stick

3-4 curry leaves 

asafoetida 

1tsp curry power

chilli to taste

In a thick based pot, heat some oil, place the curry leaves, mustard seeds and cinnamon into the pot. Allow to infuse oil. Add the onion, chillies, some salt and allow the onions to turn glossy. Add in a pinch of asafoetida and the garlic and ginger. Now, put the beans into the pot, followed by the curry power. Add salt to taste and serve. 

The Raita is a yoghurt salad that is served with almost all Indian Mains. Use ½cup of a plain yoghurt of your choice. In a petle and mortar, grind a few sprigs of dhania (corriander) and half that amount of mint with some salt and a pinch of sugar.  A variation would be to add some de-seeded and cubed cucumber.