Brown Chori with Kidney Beans

This variety of pulse are known as adzuki beans. They are small, oval shaped beans which come in a red or brown variety. These beans are rich in fibre and protein and have a wonderful sweet nutty flavour and creamy texture. Brown chori are a versatile pulse and make a great addition to soups and salads and can be used to make fritters too. I have cooked them in onions, tomatoes and basic Indian spices for this recipe to give it a mild curry flavour and added kidney beans to enhance the creamy texture.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 cup brown chori (cow peas)

½ cup kidney beans (you can use canned too)

2 tbsp. oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

Small dried red chilli

1 medium chopped onion

Salt to taste

1 ½ tsp garlic paste

2 tsp ginger paste

¼ tsp turmeric

1-2 tsp chilli powder

3-4 tsp coriander cumin powder

1 large fresh tomato chopped

Instructions

Wash chori and kidney beans thoroughly under water and place into a pressure cooker.

Add a little salt, 1 tsp of ginger, 2-3 cups of water and pressure cook for about 25-30 minutes.

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, soak overnight and boil in pan with plenty of water until it is cooked.

Once cooked, I usually put the pressure cooker under cold water before carefully releasing the pressure and opening the lid.

Don’t drain out all the water.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them pop.

Then add the cumin seeds, dried red chilli and leave to sizzle for a bit.

Add chopped onions and sauté until they are golden brown.

Next, add the garlic paste, rest of the ginger paste and sauté for a few seconds.

Then add turmeric, chilli powder, coriander cumin powder, salt to taste and tomatoes.

Mix well, cover pan and leave to cook until the tomatoes have softened.

Now add the cooked chori and kidney beans with the water in which it is cooked.

You can add a little more water if you think it needs it.

Stir well and leave to simmer for about 10-15 minutes until it looks nice and creamy and not too watery.

I usually thicken the sauce by mashing some of the beans with the back of the spoon.

Serve garnished with fresh coriander with chapatti, or brown rice.