Dinner tonight made with the first picking of runner beans from our garden. I’ll post the Egg Curry recipe separately but here’s the Runner Bean Thoran recipe courtesy of Meera Sodha. For years Madhur Jaffrey was my go to for Indian recipes then I found Meera and now she’s my Indian cookery guru! This recipe if for 4 people, I halved everything since there were only two of us tonight.
2 tbsp fresh or desiccated coconut
600g runner beans (around 700-750g before trimming)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
15 fresh curry leaves
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 green finger chilli, thinly sliced
2.5cm ginger, grated
6 shallots, finely sliced
120g baby plum tomatoes, chopped (or just good, ripe toms)
½ tsp ground turmeric
¾ tsp salt (or to taste) and ½ tsp ground pepper
If you’re using desiccated coconut, put it in a bowl and cover with a couple of tablespoons of hot water. Leave to soak to one side.
Wash your beans, top and tail them, remove the sides (where the fibrous stringy bits are) and cut into 4cm slices. Leave to one side.
Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan and when hot add the curry leaves and mustard seeds. When they start to crackle, add the garlic, chilli and ginger. Stir fry for 2 minutes then add the shallots and cook for around 12-15 minutes until they are soft and browning.
Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes then add the turmeric, salt and pepper and stir to mix. Next, throw in the beans and a few tablespoons (50-70ml water), stir and pop the lid on. Cook the beans until they’re soft and have just lost their crunch, which will be around 6-8 minutes. Drain the coconut and fold into the beans. Serve fresh and hot.