Lima beans curry

Lima Beans Curry

Lima beans are white or cream-colored beans and they are also known as butter beans. These beans are native to Central America. When cooked, these beans have a soft texture that blends very well with spices. Like Rajma (kidney beans) lima beans are first boiled then simmered into spicy gravy made with onion, garlic, tomatoes and traditional Indian spices.

Lima beans are a very good source of dietary fiber and a fat free source of protein. They are available in small and large sizes. Lima beans are not very popular in North Indian cooking, but they make healthy dietary additions to lunch or dinner menu. You can make a delicious dish by cooking them with spices and herbs. Lima bean curry goes well with rice, roti or paratha.

Ingredients for boiling Lima Beans:

1 Cup Lima beans (small or large)
1 Bay leaf
1 Teaspoon vegetable oil
1 Teaspoon salt or to your taste
4 Cup of water or as needed

Ingredients for onion masala:

2    Medium onions
2    Teaspoon minced garlic
1   Medium green chili –chopped
  (Remove the seeds and membrane to reduce the heat)
2 Medium ripe tomato
2 Tablespoons plain yogurt (optional)
1    Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2    Teaspoons coriander powder
½   Teaspoon red chili powder
½   Teaspoon turmeric powder
½  Teaspoon garam masala or to your taste
2    Tablespoons teaspoon of vegetable oil
1 Teaspoon salt or to your taste

For garnish:

2 Tablespoon chopped onion
½   Cup chopped Coriander leaves

Cooking measurement conversion
Measurement converter

Lima Beans (White Beans)

Onions, Tomatoes, Ginger, Garlic, Green Chili, & Coriander leaves

Bay leaf

Water

Salt

Oil

Coriander powder

Oil

Yogurt

Red chili powder

Ginger-grated

Garam masala

Turmeric powder

Green chili-chopped

Directions:

1. Remove if there are any small stones, debris or damaged beans. Wash and soak
the beans in water for few hours before cooking (If beans are not soaked they
take long time to cook).

In a bowl add Lima beans

Wash lima beans

Soak Lima Beans in water

2. After soaking Beans double in size.

Lima Beans are soaked

3. Drain the water out from the soaked beans than wash and rinse them. Place
the Beans in pressure cooker.

In a pressure cooker add soaked beans

4. In the soaked beans add 4 cups of Water, Salt, Bay Leaf and 1 teaspoon of oil.
(When beans are boiling they creates lot of foam and the foam comes out from
pressure cooker to prevent that it is a good idea to add little oil)

Add water in soaked beans

Add Bay leaf

Add salt and mix

Add oil and mix

5. Close the lid of pressure cooker with the weight and cook on medium heat.

6. In about 8 to 10 minutes pressure cooker will start steaming, turn the heat
down and let the beans cook for 10 to 12 minutes, turn the heat off and wait
until steam goes down. (Difftrent brand of cooker requires different cooking
time)

7. While beans are boiling prepare onion masala (See bleow)

Close the Pressue cooker

8. Once the steam of pressure cooker goes down open the lid, and check if
Beans become tender. If beans did not become tender then close the pressure
cooker and cook little longer)

Open the pressure cooker

Check if the beans are cooked

9. Transfer cooked onion masala from frying pan to the cooker, with the cooking
spoon mix the masala with the beans and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. If needed
add some water and mix. keep the heat to medium, stirring periodically

Add onion masala

Mix onion masala with beans

Onion masala cooked with beans

9. With the spatula mash some of the Beans, this will thickens the gravy and the
onion masala and beans will blend in together.

With the spatula mash some beans

10. Once beans become tender and gravy start becoming thick add chopped
green chilies, grated ginger and garam masala and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.

Add grated ginger & chopped green chilies

Mix ginger and green chili with beans

Add Garam masala and mix

11. If gravy seems to be thick add some water and cook for few minutes. Once
you have the desired consistency of gravy, turn the stove off.

Lima Bean curry is cooked

12. When ready to serve heat beans and sprinkle some of chopped croinder leaves
and mix and cook about a minute so that coriander leaves mix well with the
beans.

13. Transfer the beans into a serving dish and garnish with fine chopped coriander
leaves and some fine chopped onions.

Sprinkle coriander leaves

Mix coriander leaves

Lima bean curry is ready

Lima Bean curry

How to make onion masala:

1. Chop onion and garlic in small pieces.

Chopped onion

Chopped Garlic

2. Use a chopper or food processer to mince and garlic. Add chopped onion and
garlic in a blender and minced onion and garlic. Mixture should be coarse.

Add chopped onion & garlic in a chopper

Minced onion and garlic

3. On high heat add 2 tablespoon of oil oil in a nonstick frying pan or a heavy
     bottom stainless steel frying pan. Add onions and garlic puree and sauté, while
    periodically stirring. Onions will have a lot of water so for the first 8 to 10
    minutes keep the heat high so that all the onion water evaporates quickly.

In a pan add oil

Add minced onion and garlic

Mix minced onion, garlic with oil & fry

Let the onion, Garlic fry

Add chopped tomatoes in a chopper

Puree Tomatoes

10. Once the onions become light brown add Coriander powder, Red chili
powder, Turmeric powder and mix with the fried onions and fry for few
seconds.

Onion become light brown

Add coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder

11. Add tomato puree and yogurt.Wth the tomato puree and yogurt onion masala
    become watery turn the heat to high for 2 to 3 minutes, so that water evaporates
    quickly, and then turn the heat down. Frequently keep stirring the onion
     masala.

Mix spices with fried onions and fry

Add tomato puree

Mix tomato puree with fried onion and spices

Add yogurt

Mix yogurt well with fired onion and spices

Let the masala cook

12. In about 5 to 6 minutes tomato puree and onion will blend together.

13. Once all the water has evaporated and you see the oil in the pan that means
masala is done. Turn the stove off.

Onion masala is ready

Tips:

1. Cook lima beans in pressure cooker, otherwise it takes too long to cook the
    beans.

2. After opening the pressure cooker beans should be tender, if they are not then
    close the lid of pressure cooker and cook again.

3.   Do not cook the beans for too long they will get mushy. Unlike other beans
      these beans take less time to cook

4. If you did not plan it and you do not have enough time to soak the beans, try power soaking method.

Tadka:

Tadka is a type of tempering with spices, garlic and chili fried with ghee or butter.
It is added to curry to enhance its flavor, aroma, and visual appeal and also contribute to nice rich color to dish.adka also often include green chilies, ginger and other spices of your taste.

Heat lima bean curry before serving and add tadka to the dish.

1. In a pan add ghee or butter and heat on low heat.

2. Add minced garlic and fry.

3. Add Kashmiri red chili powder and fry. (Kashmiri chili is mild and give nice color to dish.

4. If you like ginger and green chili then add and fry.

In a pan add ghee or butter

Fry garlic

Fry chili powder

Add minced garlic

Add Kashmiri chili powder

Garlic, Chili tadka

Add tadka in lima bean curry

Mix Tadka with Lima bean curry

Lima Bean curry

Please take the time to let me know what you think about my recipe. Your comments would be helpful to me to improve the recipe.

Thank you

Geeta Seth

Other recipes:

Chole (chick pea curry)                            Palak paratha (Paratha with spinach)

Rajma (Red kidney beans)                        Methi paratha
                                                                   (Paratha with fenugreek leaves)

Black beans                                               Boiled white rice

Power soaking the beans                          Poori