Adzuki Beans Curry

Adzuki beans are small reddish beans commonly used in Japanese and Chinese cooking. In fact, the name ‘adzuki’ is of Japanese origin. In the East Asian cuisine, these red beans are common in sweets and desserts, often used as a paste or boiled with milk to make a reduction.

In India, dishes using adzuki beans can be commonly found in Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Referred to as Lal Chavali in Marathi which literally means red cowpea, chori in Gujarathi or ravaa’n in Punjabi, these beans are often used in chaats (Indian street food). I am not quite sure if there are other traditional dishes using these beans. If you know anything more about it, please do write to me and let me know.

I first came across adzuki beans at the local market; though the beans looked familiar to many others, I knew I had not cooked or tasted it before. So a pack of these came home with me and I have been trying out many dishes, especially Indian ones with these red beans.

Recently, I made a batch of the kadai spice blend which is commonly used to flavour Indian curries. And it suddenly struck me to combine this spice blend with the adzuki beans and come up with an Indian curry of sorts.

This adzuki bean curry is as Indian as it gets; the curry paste is prepared by caramelizing onions and aromatics to which tomatoes and finally the spice blend gets added. Just like any other lentil, it is best to soak these beans overnight and then cook the following day to reduce cooking times. And yes, if you have the Indian pressure cooker, life is bliss!

Like I mentioned, the kadai spice blend is quite common in North Indian cuisine and a regular feature in all restaurant menus. Quite a versatile blend incorporating the flavours of coriander, cumin, fennel, cardamom and bay leaf, this blend can be used in other Indian curries too, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

So, here is the method to prepare Indian style adzuki beans curry with kadai spice blend;

Print Recipe

Adzuki Beans Curry

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

• 2 cups adzuki beans soaked overnight
• 2 red onions finely chopped
• 2 ripe red tomatoes finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 inch ginger finely chopped
• 1 tea bag
• 5 sprigs coriander leaves finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp kadai spice blend
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 3-4 tbsp vegetable oil

Kadai Spice Blend:

• 6 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 ½ tsp black peppercorns
• 8 green cardamom
• 2 black cardamom
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 2 dried bay leaf
• 10 dry kashmiri red chillies

Instructions

To prepare the spice blend:

• Dry roast all the ingredients (and as always, take care not to burn). Cool and grind to a fine powder. When dry roasting spices, remove from the pan onto a parchment or baking paper after switching off flame. Never leave it in the same pan itself as the spices continue to roast in the residual heat.

To prepare the curry:

• In a deep pan or pressure cooker, heat oil and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Saute till the onions have caramelized well.
• Add the tomatoes and continue to cook till the tomatoes turn mushy.
• Turn down the heat and add all the spices. Continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the washed and soaked beans along with a tea bag (use an ordinary tea bag and not the flavoured ones). Adding the tea bag is optional; this is only to lend the deep dark colour to the dish and does not really add much flavour to the dish.
• Season with salt and add 2 cups of water. Cook till the beans are done to the consistency you like.
• Remove from heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with rice or flat breads.

Notes

Store the excess spice blend in an airtight container for future use.