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This bean curry is both vegan and gluten free which makes it a crowd pleaser and easy to scale up for a party

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

100 grams | 3 oz dried kidney beans

100 grams | 3 oz dried yellow peas

100 grams | 3 oz dried black eye peas

100 grams | 3 oz dried chickpeas

100 grams | 3 oz dried green peas

Water as needed

60 ml | cup vegetable oil

1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

1 inch piece fresh ginger (approx.10 grams), finely sliced then cut into very fine matchsticks

2 teaspoons salt

2 dried red chillies preferably Kashmiri

1 teaspoon Yak Yeti Yak or garam masala

teaspoon ground turmeric

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

To finish

60 ml l cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

Method

Place all the beans and peas in a large bowl and cover them with 2 inches of water. Soak the beans overnight or for up to 24 hours when you're ready to cook the beans, throw away the soaking water and rinse them well. To cook the beans, place them in a heavy pan with a well fitted lid, add enough water to cover the beans by 1 inch and set the pan on a high heat until they come to the boil. Boil the beans vigorously for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the heat to a slow boil until the beans are soft, set them aside in a bowl, keep the cooking liquor. Wash and dry the pan ready for the next step.

Make sure the pan is completely dry then, heat the oil to medium hot, add the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, and salt cook until the onion starts to turn translucent. Add the chopped tomato and continue to cook, stirring until the tomato has softened and the oil starts to pool and separate from the tomato. Add the masala and turmeric stir and cook for about 1 minute before adding the beans, add in enough cooking water to cover the beans and the salt stir well and place a lid on the pan, simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Squash a few beans against the side of the pan to thicken the gravy and continue to let the curry simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes.

While the beans are simmering heat the oil in a small frying pan until it's very hot add the cumin seeds, as soon as they start to pop add the sliced garlic and allow the mixture to fry until the garlic turns golden brown. Quickly pour the sizzling garlic mixture to the beans, it will fizz ferociously, stir well and check for seasoning. Set a curry aside for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Substitutions: -

Beans and peas: - brown chickpeas, cow peas, pinto beans, white kidney beans or haricot beans. You could also make the curry with 1, 2 or more different types of beans and peas, you would need to adjust the quantities so you have 500 grams of dried for this recipe

Dried beans - use one tin each of five different beans. If you are using tinned beans, empty all the beans from the tins, discard juice and rinse them thoroughly. Use water instead of the cooking liquor.

I don't recommend using lentils as part of the mix in this recipe, they will melt into the gravy too quickly

You can cook the beans in a pressure cookier according to the manufacturer's instructions.