Punjabi Lobia (Black-eyed Bean Curry)

Ingredients:

300g (2/3 lb) dry black-eyed beans (soaked over-night and rinsed)
6 tbsp light olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp cardamom seeds (no pods) partially crushed with pestle and mortar
5 or 6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
8cm (3 in) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
5 fresh green chillies (3, chopped and 2 sliced as a garnish)
1 ½ tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 pinch asafoetida powder
3 onions, peeled and finely chopped
5 ripe medium tomatoes, blended, sieved, seeds discarded
200ml (2/5 cup) passata
1 tbsp mango chutney
1 medium bunch fresh coriander, washed (finely chop stalks, coarsely chop leaves and keep separate)
300ml (1 ¼ cups) reserved liquid from cooking the beans
16 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
2-3 tsp sea salt

Method:

If using dried beans (which is preferable), after soaking over-night cook them in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover by 5-6cm (2 in), bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, until soft but not breaking up. Cool thoroughly in the cooking liquid (this can be done well in advance). Once cool, drain the beans, reserving the cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan over a medium-high heat, add the cumin, coriander and cardamom seeds, stirring regularly. Once sizzling, popping and nicely aromatic (about 90 seconds), add the garlic, ginger and chilli, stirring well. Allow the garlic and ginger to soften and turn golden, about 2-3 minutes. If it starts to burn, turn down the heat a little and stir in a spoonful or two of chopped onions to cool.

Once the garlic and ginger are golden, add the powdered spices and 1 tsp of salt, and stir for 1 minute or so. Stir in the chopped onions and reduce the heat to medium. Once the onions are translucent, about 7-8 minutes, add the tomato, passata and mango chutney, stirring frequently. Reduce the ingredients until thick and jammy and falling away from the sides of the pan (about 8-10 minutes).

Add the coriander stalks, the cooked beans and 250-300ml (1-1 ¼ cups) of the bean cooking liquid or water, and mix well. With the back of a spoon, partially mash some of the beans to slightly thicken and bind everything together. Adjust the liquid to your desired consistency (note that, traditionally, this is cooked as this as a drier curry but works as a wetter one too). Adjust the salt and seasoning and simmer until the beans are heated through. Add some coriander leaves, retaining some for a garnish, then stir through the cherry tomato halves.

Serve garnished with sliced fresh green chillies and the remainder of the coriander leaves.

This curry goes well with basmati rice, roti, paratha, chapatis or flatbread, and a chilli, cucumber and onion salad. Leftovers of this dish just get better and better. When reheating, simply add a splash of water.