Black-eyed beans and red kidney beans are staple foods in the Punjab region of Northern India. Today’s recipe for a curry made with black-eyed beans is a popular dish and easy to prepare. I like to serve it with the cauliflower pilaf, a lovely dish that is also typical of the region. Use a rice cooker to steam the pilaf if you have one. It works perfectly.

Serve this meal with Indian bread, cucumber raita, tomato and onion salad, chutney and pickles.

The curry is quite mild so add extra chilli if you like more heat.

Serves 4

250g (1 1/4 cups) black-eyed beans, soaked for several hours

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 large onion, chopped

pinch asafetida

2 tsp grated ginger

2 tsp grated garlic

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp natural yoghurt (optional)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a small bunch of coriander, chopped

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Cook the beans in plenty of fresh water with 2 bay leaves until just tender. This should only take about 30 minutes, depending on the age of the beans. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the cumin seeds for a moment until they start to crackle and darken. Add the onion and asafetida and fry until golden. Add garlic, ginger, tomatoes, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli and cook for several minutes until tomatoes are cooked. Stir in a cup of water and the drained beans. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Finely add in the garam masala and yoghurt and cook for a couple of minutes. Serve sprinkled with coriander and accompanied by lemon wedges and rice or Indian bread.

Variation with red kidney beans: instead of black-eyed beans use two cans of drained and rinsed red kidney beans.

Cauliflower pilaf

Serves 4

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup basmati rice

1 tsp cumin seeds