Quick and Easy Bean Curry

Hi everyone!

Today I thought I’d share my favourite curry recipe with you. I love making this dish because it’s quick and easy, inexpensive to make (I use mostly supermarket own brand ingredients), healthy, and it’s even vegan! I’ve had lots of compliments on this dish when I’ve made it for family and friends, so thought it was worth sharing with you!

Amounts are suggested for 4 people.

Ingredients:

1 large tin of mixed beans (you could also use a large tin of chickpeas (pre-cooked) if you prefer), drained

500g (carton) passata

1 curry paste pot of your choice (I use Patak’s tikka pots)

½ large onion, diced

150g spinach

200g uncooked basmati rice

Optional:

Coconut milk

Spices or garlic

Mango chutney

Indian snacks (e.g, samosas, bhajis, pakoras, etc).

Method:

1.       Put the rice into a large sieve and rinse 2-3 times under cold, running water. Add to a large a large pan of boiling water. Let the water return to the boil, then turn down the heat, cover the pan, and leave the rice to simmer for 20 minutes.

2.       If you’re having any extra snacks, like samosas, bhajis or pakoras, cook them in the oven to be ready at the same time as your rice.

3.       In a large frying pan, heat some oil on a medium heat, and add your onion.

4.       Once the onion has browned slightly, add your paste pot, and 50ml of water. Stir into the onion and simmer for a minute.

5.       Add the passata to the frying pan, mix into the paste, and simmer for a minute.

6.       At this point you can either add a dash of coconut milk if you’d like the curry extra mild and creamy, or you can add any spices or flavourings such as garlic to flavour as you wish. Stir them well into the sauce.

7.       Add your beans or chickpeas to the sauce, mix in well, and cook on a medium to high heat for 2-3 minutes.

8.       Add the spinach, mix in, and simmer on a low to medium heat until the rice is cooked.

9.       Remove rice from the heat and drain.

10.   Serve up the rice, curry and snacks.

11.   You can add mango chutney if you like.

The finished product

This tomato based curry takes only 25 minutes to make and goes down well with meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans alike!